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Contact: Media Relations & Publications Office: 208/792-2200; Office of the President: 208/792-2216

Thomas to be Inaugurated as 14th President of LCSC on Thursday, August 22nd

LEWISTON—On Thursday, August 22nd, 2002, Dr. Dene Kay Thomas will be officially installed as the 14th president of Lewis-Clark State College. The day has been long in coming.

Those familiar with the new president’s schedule can attest to the fact that she simply hasn’t had time for such details related to herself. She would have said there was no budget for it. Now, as the college prepares to greet students for the start of the fall semester, the formal event will finally take place, thanks to the generosity of the Lewis-Clark State College-Foundation.

The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m., in the college’s Centennial Mall, in view of statuary commemorating the meeting of explorers Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the Nez Perce Indians. There, following a year in her office on the second floor of the Administration Building, friends, peers, family and the higher education community at-large will join Thomas to recognize and celebrate her taking on leadership of the north-central Idaho college.

The story leading up to the inaugural day has its share of twists and turns. Dene Thomas came to Lewis-Clark State and Lewiston brimming with plans to launch a new era, a new day for the institution. Then came some of the most crushing budget reductions in that institution’s history. Instead of opportunities to apply her energy cultivating new offerings, Thomas was faced with paring programs and services she would rather have grow.

After a year of navigating rugged financial and organizational terrain, Thomas has emerged, tempered by the experience, but confident as ever that LCSC is poised for better things; stronger, carefully honed and ready for that new day she first had in mind.

President Dene Thomas discusses and issue with students at a "Dine with Dene" in the the SUB

In the difficult months now behind her, Thomas sees positives that went hand-in-hand with the hard times. “I feel like I’ve been here ten years already,” she says, reflecting on how she’s gotten to know the school and the people associated with it. “We’ve come together as a team to accomplish so much in so little time.” Others on campus go a little further, calling this last year—Thomas’ first—“baptism by fire.” Vice President for Administrative Services Dean Froehlich, who’s seen other administrations and cramped budget years, said, “This kind of year would have been tough for any administrator; but to take it all on as a new president…. That’s not something just anyone would have been up for.”

Thomas has a long association with higher education and with meeting challenges head-on. She raised three children while pursuing her own education, and subsequently rose through the ranks of academia to the peak of her profession—the presidency she will be formally invested with on Thursday.

Joining her on the podium will be Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne, representatives of the Idaho State Board of Education, other Idaho institutions of higher education, LCSC faculty, staff, students and alumni. In addition to musical numbers by the Idaho-Washington Concert Chorale, Ms. Tina Foriyes and Dr. William Johnson will honor Thomas in inaugural readings: poetry and prose composed specially for her.

Thomas will also unveil a new scholarship fund created to honor and commemorate the day: the Investiture Scholarship Fund. The fund was Thomas’ idea, born of her personal understanding of and commitment to education as a “means to empower, to grow better lives for individuals and communities.” The fund is unrestricted and contributions will go to students demonstrating need. (More about the scholarship: http://www.lcsc.edu/collegeinfo/nr/nr-Investiture_scholarship_fund_created.htm)

Following the investiture ceremony, Thomas and platform members will meet briefly with media representatives before joining invited guests for a luncheon in the Williams Conference Center. Faculty and staff will adjourn to a “Welcome Back” lunch before attending an all-campus meeting to introduce new personnel and recap the events of 2002.

Thomas expressed her thanks to the LCSC Foundation for providing the means to produce the overdue event. “As usual, it’s the extraordinary, committed people behind LCSC that have enabled us to reach our goals,” she said, speaking not only of the foundation’s generosity, but of that of everyone who worked with her to meet the challenges of her first year.

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