President Laura Carlson was formally inaugurated on April 17, celebrating the beginning of her term in office. The inauguration comes as the university navigates uncertain federal funding gaps, calls for academic freedom and student demand for the preservation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives on campus.

The event included addresses from former President Joe Biden, Board of Trustees Chair Terri Kelly and elected officials including Gov. Matt Meyer, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.).

Following the inauguration, The Review sat down with Carlson to discuss the event and the state of the university.

“I would just express my gratitude to the community,” Carlson said. “I’ve never thought that was a moment for me, it was really for us collectively. It’s kind of a new beginning and I just want to thank people for buying into that vision.”

For Carlson, a highlight was featuring student and community ideas throughout the event, including her outfit which was designed by students and faculty in the Fashion and Apparel Studies department.

“We talked a lot about the intention,” Carlson said. “Everyone knows that I’m a runner so it had a racer back neckline, they knitted it out of gold and blue thread on one of their knitting machines and it’s sustainable. They made me this gorgeous jacket with all this beading in it and it had 150 running shoes that had wings on them that kind of floated.” 

While many students contributed to the event, others questioned their inclusion.

As Carlson delivered her inaugural address, a student, junior Makhi Kauffman, interrupted in protest. Kauffman, facing Carlson across the dais, asked how she was going to protect minority students.

Ethan Grandin/THE REVIEW

“I’m really happy that that student spoke up,” Carlson said. “We want to be at a place that welcomes conversation. We need to talk, we need to listen and we need to come together.”

The act of protest comes after the university’s removal of the University of Delaware Anti-Racism Initiative (UDARI)  website in July — which was partially restored in Feb. — and claims of the removal of signage for events hosted by the university’s Center for Black Culture (CBC).

Following these events, members of the university’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter testified before the state’s Joint Finance Committee (JFC) in Feb., where they asked that the university issue a public statement about the removal of research associated with the UDARI website, create a public-facing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) response plan and re-commit to academic freedom on campus.

“There was a lot of broken trust that happened as a result of that,” Carlson said. “Those are the conversations that I absolutely need to be engaged in and figure out how we rebuild that trust.”

In Feb., the university updated its official guidance on how to interact with ICE in the case of their presence on campus. To date, there have been no reports of ICE presence on campus.

Similarly, signs have been placed outside of many university classrooms which read, “Entry Restricted to Authorized Students, Faculty, Staff, and Approved Participants Only.”

“The signs are a way to indicate explicitly those more informal rules,” Carlson said. “A sign isn’t going to stop someone, but it is important to say, ‘No, this is our space. Here’s how it’s supposed to be used.’”

According to Carlson, additional security measures, including swipe card access on academic buildings, are also being considered.

“We want to have a way of controlling access, and we don’t really have that right now,” Carlson said. “This is our space, and so let’s do things around our space that gives some comfort to people.”

For Carlson, the attendance of Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden made the inauguration all the more meaningful.

“When he visits here, you see a side of him that is so special when he interacts with students,” Carlson said. “I mean, and I can’t tell who’s more excited.”

Carlson’s leadership coincides with a new capital investment project, Biden Hall, which Biden highlighted in his address at the inauguration.

The new hall, which is slated to be placed on the Green next to Morris Library, is currently in the design phase. This coincides with questions about the location of Biden’s presidential library or center.

“President Biden has talked about wanting to have that in Delaware, and so we are one of the finalists to be selected to house that,” Carlson said. “If it were to be here, then the idea is that you would connect it to Biden Hall, maybe have an auditorium in the middle, and then that all would fit on the site on the other side of the library.”

Carlson looks towards the potential partnership with hope, highlighting the benefits for students. 

“It would be incredibly tremendous for students, imagine going back and forth between those two venues,” Carlson said. “That would be really exciting and I think there’s a lot of good reasons to put it on a college campus.”

Between ambitious capital investments, continuing federal pressure and expanded community engagement Carlson’s leadership has already been marked by new challenges and accomplishments.