Inauguration of Dr. Miles K. Davis

The inauguration of Dr. Miles K. Davis as the 20th president of Linfield College took place on March 8, 2019. The program began with a processional march led by inauguration marshalls Dr. Martha VanCleave and Dr. Thomas Love. Invocations from Reverend Dr. David Massey (chaplain and assistant professor of religion at Linfield College), Rabbi Gary Ellison (affiliate chaplain at Linfield College), Mr. Wajdi Said (president and co-founder at the Muslim Educational Trust), and Reverend J.W. Matt Hennessee (pastor at the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon) followed. David C. Baca, chair of the Linfield Board of Trustees, provided the welcome. After a musical interlude, Kainoa Cuttitta (president of the Associated Students of Linfield College), Kristen Teel Taylor (chair of the Alumni Leadership Council for Linfield College), Scott Hill (mayor of the city of McMinnville), Reverend Steve Bils (executive minister at the American Baptist Churches of the Central Pacific Coast), Dr. Bryon Grigsby (president of Moravian College), and Dr. John Syring (chair of the Faculty Executive Council at Linfield College) read the charges to the president. After another musical interlude, Susan Agre-Kippenhan (provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Linfield College) introduced Phylicia Rashad, the keynote speaker. Following Rashad's inaugural address, Baca presented the insignia of the office of the president and medallion to Davis as part of the investiture of the president. Dr. Tracy Fitzsimmons (president at Shenandoah University) then introduced Davis, who delivered his inaugural remarks. A third musical interlude was followed by the benediction, delivered by Reverend Erika Marksbury (senior pastor at First Baptist Church in McMinnville). The ceremony closed with a recessional.