Garimella formally installed as U of A president

“This democracy of opportunity is the fundamental responsibility of a great land grant institution like ours,” Garimella told the attendees at Centennial Hall. “And by delivering on this responsibility, we will indeed foster an aristocracy of achievement and excellence.”

Garimella, attired in red and black robes, was joined by Gov. Katie Hobbs, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, Oro Valley Mayor Joe Winfield, Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy, Regents Chair Cecilia Mata and regents, Interim Provost Ron Marx, UA Chair of the Faculty Leila Hudson, and numerous UA leaders, professors, staff and student leaders at the ceremony. It officially marks his naming as the UA’s 23rd president, a role he assumed in October, after previously serving as president of the University of Vermont.

Garimella did not mention the current pressures on universities due to federal orders and funding threats, but outside Centennial Hall, about 80 student protesters loudly chanted in support of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs the Trump administration has ordered shut down.

The installation event started at the UA’s Old Main building, with a performance by the Pride of Arizona marching band, a Native land acknowledgement reading and blessing, and remarks by Marx, the interim provost. This was followed by a formal procession led by the marching band to Centennial Hall.

Garimella began his speech by thanking his family, a few of whom were in attendance including his wife Lakshmi Garimella, as well as professors and mentors who inspired him, including his middle school principal. “I recall the small strip of paper that he gave me — two inches long — and all it said in blue ink was, ‘Do it now,’ ” Garimella said, inciting laughter from the crowd.

“The message conveyed to an impressionable boy, was eloquent, incisive and urgent,” he said. “I had that message taped on my desk for many years, until it eventually disintegrated. But the exhortation has remained indelible, and it has become so much a part of me, consciously and unconsciously, that it inflects almost everything I do.”

“As I stand here today, I’m also inspired and humbled by the legacy we inherit at this amazing institution — rooted in the borderlands where desert, mountains and the heavens converge, and where millennia of human history and culture infuse our daily lives,” said Garimella. “What has the University of Arizona done with this inheritance? We mapped the moon so that the eagle could land in 1969. And most recently, we sampled an asteroid for the first time in U.S. history (and) revealed the presence of a range of amino acids, life-building blocks.”

The ceremony had RSVPs from 1,100 people, said UA spokesperson Mitch Zak. It was also livestreamed on the UA’s YouTube channel.

Hobbs said every conversation she’s had with Garimella affirmed her belief that bringing him to the UA was the right decision. “His passion and enthusiasm to be of service to the state are evident,” she said.

At the installation ceremony for former UA President Robert C. Robbins in 2017, then-Gov. Doug Ducey attended.

“Dr Garimella has demonstrated commitment to affordability and accessibility during his time at the University of Vermont, freezing tuition for six years and raising philanthropic donations. This led to an increase in applications and the best prepared class in the university’s history,” said Hobbs. “It is clear that he understands that for the state to succeed, we must make it easier for our residents to access and afford higher education, and I know this will continue to be a cornerstone of this tenure here.”

UA Faculty Chair Hudson, who was one of the speakers, said, “We trust that our new president will exercise his fiduciary duty towards this great institution and will double down on cleaning it up and representing it more effectively than ever before to our community, our Board of Regents, our Arizona and our federal governments.”

“We trust that he will keep our campus safe for all from violence, including state violence; that he will provide the meaningful support that each and every student needs to realize their educational potential, and we trust that he will not infringe on our students constitutional freedoms, undercover of security needs, fear mongering or political pressures,” Hudson said. “We trust that he will do his best to unfetter our workforce from fear, precarity, bureaucracy and corruption.”

Arizona Board of Regents Chair Mata said Garimella has a “passion for exploration” and embodies the “spirit for adaptation.”

“He thrives in challenging landscapes, in demonstrating a remarkable ability to live with agility in an ever-evolving world,” Mata said, before bestowing Garimella with “The President’s Medallion,” after which Hudson offered him “The Ceremonial Mace.”

“President Garimella is a champion of inclusion. He provides space with different voices and ensures all under his leadership feel value and power,” Mata said.

Outside, students kept chanting loud slogans, as they protested the UA’s recent actions of deleting its diversity website as well as deleting the words “committed to diversity and inclusion” from its official land-acknowledgement statement, to comply with Trump administration orders. Garimella has also said other DEI programs at UA are being inventoried.

“U of A will not comply, we are keeping DEI,” the protesters chanted, along with “The students united will never be divided.” Garimella had given them a polite smile as he walked over to Centennial Hall.