Students, faculty and staff are invited to a historic day featuring an inauguration ceremony and post-event celebration marking the official installation of SUNY Oswego President Peter O. Nwosu on Friday, Sept. 27.
The official inauguration will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sept. 27 in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall –- named for the president immediately preceding Nwosu.
Faculty and staff are invited to join the academic procession in academic regalia to add to the spirit of the ceremony. Those interested in doing so should RSVP via this link by Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Note that no RSVP is required for students, faculty, staff, emeriti or community to join the audience as President Nwosu and distinguished guests share their vision and passion for Oswego’s future. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
After the inauguration, the campus will host a celebration starting at 3 p.m. including musical performances, food trucks, games and more.
SUNY Oswego’s Auxiliary Services sponsors the post-inaugural reception outside the Marano Campus Center and throughout the heart of campus by Lake Ontario.
President Nwosu welcomes all students, faculty, staff, alumni and community to join the celebration that will include West African cuisine inspired by Chef Kuukua Yomekpe, owner of Ithaca’s Asempe Kitchen, and 1977 graduate Sam Lupo’s Lupo’s Spiedies from Binghamton. Additional options will include food trucks from the area and the university’s dining services team, along with special guest chefs in staff members Rod Andrews, showcasing his Alabama white sauce chicken, and Joey Tse, with his special shrimp lo mein.
Members of the campus community are also invited to share congratulations and best wishes to President Nwosu on this historic occasion.
For those unable to attend, the event will stream live on the university’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/sunyoswegovideo. Student-run radio station WNYO also will do an audio livestream.
Post-event celebration
Musical entertainment, sponsored by Pathfinder Bank and Auxiliary Services, will include performances by Atlas, performing party music across the decades, and by Wacheva Cultural Arts, Inc., featuring traditional African dance and drumming.
Auxiliary Services –- in partnership with Student Orientation and Family Engagement, Student Engagement and Leadership, Campus Recreation, and Campus Events and Conference Services –- is arranging a variety of games and interactive activities as well.
The inauguration serves as the centerpiece for a week of activities that celebrate the strengths of the campus –- including Founder’s Weekend, Green and Gold Day, the Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit, the Return to Oz Reunion of Color –- as well as launching a new tradition in an annual Sheldon Lecture on Leadership and Service.
Officially beginning his tenure on Aug. 15, 2023, Nwosu is both the first president of color and the first immigrant to take the helm of the institution founded by Edward Austin Sheldon in 1861, which became the vanguard of a revolutionary Oswego Method of interactive education. A scholar from Nigeria, President Nwosu is keeping the institution’s innovative legacy going by launching Vision 4040, which will double the number of Oswego degrees by the year 2040 while meeting the needs of a transforming Central New York.
The inauguration ceremony also will include keynote speaker and Nwosu’s educational mentor, Donald Taylor, an emeritus professor from California State University, Sacramento; student musical performances and readings; and more.
For more information about SUNY Oswego’s inauguration and week of activities, visit oswego.edu/inauguration.