Watch President Bernhardt’s Inaugural Address
Full Transcript of President Bernhardt’s Inaugural Address
This is the honor of a lifetime and a dream come true. Thank you, Eric, and thank you to the Board of Trustees for selecting me and supporting me as the 13th President of Emerson College.
Thank you as well to my fellow Emersonians—the students, staff, faculty, administrators, alumni, and friends who are with us this morning, in person and online. It is truly wonderful to be among you.
I am so grateful for the countless colleagues who planned, led, performed at, and attended this week’s inauguration events, especially all the incredible speakers and performers here today. It’s been inspiring to “Celebrate Emerson” together, as we certainly have much to celebrate.
I’m deeply honored to share this celebration with leaders from our great city and delegates from colleges and universities in Boston and around the world. Your presence honors us and our institution’s mission.
And finally, I want to thank my family, friends, and former colleagues who have come to share this extraordinary experience. Your presence today feels so meaningful and fitting because there’s something about Emerson that feels like family and reminds me of home.
I grew up in central New Jersey in a family of big-hearted and passionate people with colorful stories to tell. My late mother, Rochelle, was the daughter of immigrants and went on to become her high school valedictorian, then a college graduate, special education teacher, caring wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to many.
On the other hand, my late father, Lewis, also the child of immigrants, was wicked smart but started as a bit of a screw-up, at least early on. With my mother’s help, he got his act together, served his country overseas in military intelligence, earned college and graduate degrees, and developed a life-long love for books, jokes, and food, especially Chinese food.
Of all my happy memories of childhood, our fantastic family dinners stand out the most. Almost every Sunday night, my family piled into the car and drove to a Chinese restaurant called “A Kitchen,” where we enjoyed our favorites like moo shu ro and five-flavored chicken, and we often experimented with new dishes.
I also fondly remember the wonderful dinners of my youth spent with my closest relatives and family friends for every major holiday. These evenings were filled with incredible meals and robust conversations about politics, world events, children’s successes, and the occasional dirty joke.
These gatherings felt like a celebration of life, love, and togetherness. And for a precocious kid, there was nothing better than sitting in the warmth of these raucous gatherings, thrilled and captivated by these complex characters with their big personalities and razor-sharp wit.
Over the last 30 years, my work has taken me to great cities and college towns, where I’ve worked with many wonderful people. Yet, all that time, I was still searching for that feeling of exuberance—of sharing a table with intelligent, creative, passionate people who share a common bond and want to make a difference.
And I have to say, I’ve found that feeling again…right here at Emerson. I’ve heard countless students and alumni say Emerson is where they found their people, their place, and their voice. And that’s precisely how I feel today.
I’ve played many interesting parts in my life so far. I’ve been a soccer player, a theater kid, a class clown, and a trumpet player. I’ve been a student leader, a university staff member, a professor, and an administrator. And I’ve even been a Deadhead. But when you put them all together, these distinct roles have helped prepare me for this very moment in this exceptional place.
I realize now, that in terms of my beliefs, my priorities, and my values, I’ve always been Emersonian. That’s why being here feels like coming home, and I’m so glad to be home.
I’m deeply honored to be part of the Emerson community of leaders, scholars, artists, storytellers, and professionals and to follow in the footsteps of my three immediate predecessors, Jackie, Lee, and Bill, whose enormous shoes I will try to fill. Were it not for their visionary thinking and leadership, we would not have the opportunities for excellence that we do today. So please join me in thanking them for their inspiring and impactful work!
The future potential for Emersonians and Emerson College is nearly limitless because of the talent and passion of our extraordinary people. Our students, faculty, staff, and alumni have elevator bios overflowing with accomplishments that take more floors to explain than our tallest building. Emersonians are also known for their caring and kindness, and I’m immensely grateful for the warm welcome I’ve received since arriving here in June.
During my first nine months on campus, I’ve spent much of my time listening and learning about what makes this college so special. In countless conversations with our community, I’ve focused on what it means to be an Emersonian and, by extension, what it means to be Emersonian.
This week, we kicked off the inauguration events with the Southwick Oratory Recital, led by Communication Studies, to celebrate our unique history. In 1880, Charles Wesley Emerson founded the Boston Conservatory of Elocution, Oratory, and Dramatic Art, which later became Emerson College. He believed that a person’s deepest beliefs were made more meaningful by how they were expressed.
At Emerson, speech and voice are paramount. We know that “how” a thing is communicated or performed is just as significant as “what” is communicated or performed. This has always been a place where deeply held convictions are encouraged. At the same time, showing mutual respect, civility, and honoring our similarities and differences are essential to upholding our values. Holding simultaneous beliefs in free expression while ensuring community respect…that, my friends, is Emersonian.
Our students and alumni are certainly not shy about grappling with big ideas. Just think about genre-expanding works like Everything, Everywhere, All at Once; The Matrix; and What We Do in the Shadows…all ushered into the world by Emersonians. These works are typical of the expansive imagination and creativity we cultivate here. Showing limitless creativity…is also Emersonian.
That ethos extends into the academic realm, as well. Emersonians actively encourage each other to innovate and experiment without necessarily knowing the outcome. At the root of the word encourage is courage. Courage is what’s needed to make a breakthrough, both inside and outside the classroom. This fearlessness leads Emersonians to pursue creative and scholarly works that can challenge the dominant narrative, like a play that explores the relationship challenges of gender transition, stories that call out systemic racism in our society, or research that explores media activism and grassroots organizing. To bravely present bold ideas that can expand our minds and touch our hearts…that is Emersonian.
Another unique quality of Emerson is the central role that humor plays in our history and our training. We currently have more than ten comedy troupes, and our alumni roles are filled with comedy legends. It’s no wonder we were the first college in the country with a Comedic Arts major and that our library archive contains interviews with comedy greats, including an hour-long interview with Weird Al Yankovic. Making people laugh and recognizing that comedy is an art form…that is Emersonian
As a child in the 1970s, my parents let me put their old black-and-white TV in my bedroom. From an early age, I was captivated by hysterical and thought-provoking shows like All in the Family, Sanford and Son, and The Jeffersons, and I wanted to be cool like the Fonz. Later on, I spent many hours laughing together with Friends, Will & Grace, and America’s Funniest Home Videos. In other words, I grew up on content created and performed by Emersonians, and they shaped who I am today. Telling powerful stories to bring us together through humor and emotions…that is Emersonian.
There’s generosity in making people laugh, and that spirit cuts across our entire community. In the words of Charles Wesley Emerson, with generosity comes a dedication to the service of humanity. That commitment from our founder is very much alive and well at Emerson today.
Consider the Robbins Center, which has served the Boston community for over 70 years, treating children and adults for communication disorders. We’re incredibly proud of their outreach work, which continues to make a huge difference for people throughout Boston.
Or, consider the strong community partnerships served by the Elma Lewis Center, HowlRound in the Office of the Arts, and the Emerson Engagement Lab. Also consider the Emerson Prison Initiative, which offers Emerson degrees to incarcerated individuals in courses taught by Emerson faculty. To be sincere in our desire to lift people up, to embrace strategic partnerships, and to be generous with our time, expertise, and voice…that, too, is Emersonian.
As many of you know, 2030 will mark the 150th anniversary since our founding—Emerson College’s sesquicentennial—and we are working right now to prepare for that major milestone.
We’ve recently launched an institution-wide strategic planning process. We are seeking ideas from everyone in our community, including you. When today’s program is over, we invite you to share your big ideas by scanning the QR code on page 16 of your program.
Although we won’t finalize our plan until the fall, I’d like to share a few observations I’ve made based on my first nine months at Emerson.
First, it’s clear that we need to prioritize innovation and address the new technologies shaping our future. Generative AI will enormously impact all aspects of our work, our fields, and our society, and our Presidential Working Group is developing a roadmap for how we’ll ethically and strategically engage AI in our classes, curricula, programs, and industries. We must do the planning and the work now to ensure that Emersonians can continue to lead in this rapidly changing world.
Second, Emerson must continue strengthening our reputation and engagement, both nationally and internationally. Boston is and always will be our home, but our footprint and impact extend far and wide. We must continue to strengthen our ELA campus and support our alumni in Los Angeles, who have made so many crucial contributions to the media and entertainment industries.
Kasteel Well, our 14th-century castle in the Netherlands, will soon celebrate its 40th anniversary as an Emersonian outpost and embassy. We must keep building bridges for Emersonians to engage around the country and the world while attracting more students and partners from more places here to Boston to make their own mark on the Emerson story.
Third, we must model our values, including our long-time commitments to equity, social justice, sustainability, and interdisciplinarity. We will do so by building on our strengths, including our Social Justice Collaborative, Internationalization and Equity programs, and our Teach-Ins on Race and Sustainability. We’ll also expand our cross-cutting academic programs, modeled on our Interdisciplinary Studies major in the Marlboro Institute, and our cross-cutting majors in Business of Creative Enterprises and Comedic Arts. These core values are central to who we are and how we will lead by example into the future.
Finally, to ensure we attract and retain the most creative, talented, and diverse students to our college for years to come, we must significantly address the issues of access and affordability. We must increase financial aid, expand fundraising, improve branding and marketing, and develop new strategic revenue streams. These may be the hardest challenges we face, but there are none more important.
As we plan for the future, we must never forget that our work here at Emerson is indispensable.
The world needs communication and the arts to build healthy relationships, maintain a prosperous and vibrant society, and protect a functioning democracy. Along with people who can harness the power of laughter and storytelling to bring us together.
The world needs people who understand the power and nuance of language and can passionately speak about justice in a way that will make people hear and listen. Along with people who use creativity and courage to overcome past, present, and future injustices.
Now more than ever, the world needs Emersonians!
As Emerson’s 13th president, let me be clear about my intentions. I’m not here to change who we are. My plan for the future is that we will become even more of who we are.
EVEN MORE EMERSONIAN!
I am forever grateful for the opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of this incredible community in this inspiring place at this pivotal moment in our history.
In closing, I invite you all to pull up a chair and join me at our vibrant, exuberant, inclusive Emersonian table, where together, we can truly show the world what it means to be Emersonian!
Thank you very much.