UC Berkeley Inaugurates 10th Chancellor: Nicholas Dirks

By Laura Dixon, Bay City News Service

Students, staff and alumni at the University of California at Berkeley today celebrated the inauguration of the school's 10th chancellor, Nicholas Dirks.

Dirks, who has been on the job since June, was officially sworn in with the help of other academics, state leaders and the university's new president, former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, during a ceremony before a packed house at the university's Zellerbach Hall.

The son of a Yale professor and University of Santa Cruz vice chancellor, Dirks himself went on to become a professor and administrator at several top universities -- most recently leaving his post as dean of faculty at Columbia University.

During his inaugural address this afternoon, the new campus leader outlined his vision for the university and his hopes for a brighter future after recent years of budget cuts and student protests.

"As the nation and our state emerge from years of financial calamity, from a time that has witnessed a massive and unprecedented level of disinvestment in public higher education, it is clear that Berkeley has managed to do far more than simply weather the storm," Dirks told the audience.

Still, the new chancellor said, the university should do more to rebuild the public's trust in the value of education.

"When students graduate with debt and uncertain job prospects, it is small wonder that we are being asked to measure the literal value of a degree in the form of jobs and earnings," he said.

Dirks said he plans to focus during his first few years as chancellor on undergraduate curriculum and research opportunities for all students.

He also pledged to make the university more accessible to a wider array of students, faculty and staff.

In order to do that, the university must offer more financial aid, better student advising and expanded student services, Dirks said.

During today's inauguration ceremony, the new chancellor wore a gleaming gold medal bestowed by Napolitano, who also gave him a hug before his address, leaving the stage amidst a standing ovation from the audience.

However, not everyone was pleased to see the former Obama administration official.

A short time after she appeared on stage, about a dozen students scattered throughout Zellerbach Hall stood up and chanted in protest against her appointment as UC president.

The group continued chants of "Hey hey! Ho ho! Napolitano's got to go!" as she stood silently behind a podium.

Throughout Napolitano's visit this afternoon, more than a dozen students affiliated with civil rights group By Any Means Necessary gathered outside Zellerbach Hall shouted similar slogans and hoisted signs denouncing her new position within the university, citing the record number of U.S. deportations under her watch.

BAMN organizer and UC Berkeley Law School alumni Ronald Cruz said Napolitano's appointment as the UC system's president "sent a message of disrespect and fear to every Latino, every immigrant, every international student and staff member."

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