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Staff, faculty and students gathered to officially welcome Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter to Syracuse University on Tuesday.

The reception took place in the Ilene and David Flaum Grand Hall, located in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. Several SU leaders and community members, including Ritter, spoke at the event.

Kira Reed, an associate professor of management and a member of the provost search committee, opened the event by talking about the provost search.

“We shared our aspirations for Syracuse University and what we could become with a vice chancellor and provost such as Gretchen Ritter,” Reed said.

In his opening remarks, Chancellor Kent Syveurd thanked the members of the provost search committee. He especially thanked John Liu, who served as interim chancellor and vice president for the past 22 months.

“Twenty-two months? More like five years,” the chancellor joked. “John’s leadership really has been critical to our university’s success in very challenging times.”

Before introducing Ritter, Syveurd described her as an experienced academic leader who has a deep sense of empathy towards faculty, as well as students. He also said that he trusts that the SU community will guide the new provost through the obstacles ahead which come with running a university.

“There will be bumps in the road ahead as there always are in a great university, and we need to support our provost through each of them,” he said.

After Syveurd gave his remarks, he introduced the new provost and vice chancellor. As Ritter made her way up to the stage, she received an extensive round of applause from the audience.

Ritter — an upstate New York native — said she remembers even when she was an administrator at other schools, including the University of Texas at Austin, hearing about the excellence of SU’s various programs.

“Wherever I went, it seemed that people were sharing their impressions of the depth and breath of academic and creative excellence at Syracuse University,” she said. “Looking back at it now, I should have figured out that the universe was trying to tell me something.”

Ritter said that during the hiring process of her new position, she learned that SU is a community of people who thoughtfully listen to each other.

“I saw a campus community that is committed to public service, that cares deeply about the success and well-being of students, that has embraced inclusive excellence and that is hungry for the opportunity to prioritize academic excellence,” she said.

Ritter recalls one of the first phrases that she heard during her interviews for provost was the phrase “I bleed orange.” She jokingly called the phrase a little frightening.

Ritter said that over the months ahead, her first priority is getting to know the faculty and students at Syracuse.

“I look forward to going on tours, visiting classes and studios,” she said. “I want to thank you in advance for sharing with me your insights on what makes Syracuse special.”

One core value she said she’ll emphasize in particular is that students and faculty need to support one another.

Ritter said her focus is on the faculty and students because it is through the research and creative excellence of faculty that knowledge is expanded at SU. Additionally, by enabling the talents and visions of students, the university can enrich the world with emerging leaders.

Before closing out her speech, Ritter returned to her idea of the universe telling her she was destined to be at SU.

“So what the universe was telling me from all those years. It turns out that I was destined to return to upstate New York and become part of this community,” she said. “I’m humbled and grateful to be your new provost.”

Published on October 12, 2021 at 11:09 pm

Contact Siron: sthoma10@syr.edu | @sironthomas