The University’s new chancellor, Bernadette Gray-Little, entered the welcome ceremony held for her today at 1 p.m. on the sixth floor of the Kansas Union to a roaring standing ovation. The sound of laughter overtook the room after she kindly returned the favor giving her own standing ovation to the crowd, which was still applauding the University’s 17th chancellor.

Drue Jennings, the Chancellor Search Committee Chair, opened the ceremony.

“It’s such as delight to see so many people awake at this hour of the day in Lawrence,” Jennings jokingly said to the crowd of hundreds, which laughed. “When I lived here I rarely saw this many people.”

Jennings noted that it takes a “superhero” to perform the duties of a university chancellor, especially in today’s climate, and he said the University had found one.

Donna Shank, Chair of the Kansas Board of Regents, spoke about Gray-Little’s achievements at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She noted Gray-Little rapidly rose through the ranks from being a faculty member to Executive Vice-Chancellor and Provost of UNC in seven years.

When Gray-Little addressed the audience she said she was not prepared for how beautiful the KU campus was, and called it "gorgeous." She said she and her husband received many congratulations yesterday from the community members while touring downtown Lawrence.

“We have been overwhelmed by the welcome and generosity,” Gray-Little said.

Gray-Little said she had a great deal to learn about the University, and that she knew a university was a very complex enterprise. She said she realized that its main goals were education and research.

“I can say unequivocally that I am committed to the University as place of education and as a place of research and as a place that helps to solve the problems of our many communities,” Gray-Little said.