After joining the San Diego State community in June 2018, President Adela de la Torre will have her official inauguration on Thursday, April 11.
The event will last from 2 to 4 p.m. in Viejas Arena. All university community members are encouraged to attend, including the public. The day has been deemed an “informal non-instructional day,” meaning professors are encouraged to allow students to leave class to attend the ceremony.
The ceremony will feature musical performances as well as speeches from California State University Chancellor Timothy White and de la Torre herself, according to the inauguration website.
Aside from the ceremony, the day will start early with a Student Research Symposium open house event from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center. Then, there will be a campus-wide celebration following the ceremony from 4 to 5:30 p.m. All of these events are open to the public, according to the inauguration website.
Parking for the event will be complimentary in all campus parking structures. For directions and additional transportation information, visit the inauguration website.
Anybody who has been on campus since the start of the semester is likely aware of the event, as it has been advertised on everything from the coffee sleeves at the Aztec Markets to a large balloon hovering over the bookstore. This has caused many people to question the cost of the inauguration.
University officials say they did not use any state or tuition dollars to fund the event, but that the money is instead coming from Aztec Shops, the SDSU Research Foundation, Associated Students and The Campanile Foundation. This support totaled $162,000, with $113,00 of that going towards the venue and equipment and another $16,000 for transportation and police costs.
The reception that will be held prior to the ceremony cost the university “no more than $5,700,” which was entirely funded by Aztec Shops according to the website.
The presidential medallion, designed by SDSU School of Art + Design student RexArthur Ramos, will be paid for by de la Torre herself for a total of approximately $5,000.
