A Mix of Old and New at Yale’s 23rd Presidential Inauguration

A few weekends ago, the campus was bursting with activity as alums, faculty, administrators, and New Haven residents joined Yalies to inaugurate Peter Salovey into his new role as Yale’s 23rd President. As a member of Asempa!, Yale’s premiere afro-pella singing group, I had the amazing opportunity to perform as part of the weekend’s Cultural Open House.

The Inauguration Ceremony

As I walked through Cross Campus on the way to our Inauguration Weekend performance, I marveled at the number of people standing around the impromptu stage. I approached the crowd, and realized that there were a bunch of dogs mixed in with the human audience members! I learned later that they were part of the day’s kickoff event, but at that moment, I took their energetic presence as a positive omen. By the time we started singing, I was momentarily disappointed to see that the crowd had thinned out a little bit, but as soon as we took the stage and sang our first song (“Hlononofatsa,” a South African praise song), passersby began to stop and listen. By the end of our thirty-minute set, our audience had nearly doubled in size. As we sang our finale, a mash-up of K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” and Shakira’s “Waka Waka”, I caught sight of some of my friends in the audience, dancing and singing along with us.

Here’s a photo of us performing at a recent concert. I’m third from the right!

And that was only the start of the weekend! Over the next couple of days, I took time off from homework to explore the events that the University organized around the Inauguration. I toured the Grove Street Cemetery, where many famous Yalies and New Haven residents are buried. I watched other performances, including those of Yale’s Wushu and Bhangra dance teams. There were outdoor concerts all over campus.

The Yale Jazz Ensemble performing on the campus lawn.

And of course, I attended the Inaugural Ball, where President Salovey’s bluegrass band gave one of the weekend’s most unforgettable performances. You can just see the neck and scroll of President Salovey’s double bass over the screaming fans in the photo below!

A screaming crowd blocking the view of the stage.

It didn’t occur to me until after we sang that, despite being a relatively new singing group, we had the opportunity to perform and make our small contribution to a major historical moment in Yale’s long and illustrious history. The weekend was a perfect example of how the Yale legacy never dies but continues to reinvent itself — with new students, new a cappella groups, and also a new President.