University of Minnesota inaugurates new President Rebecca Cunningham with ceremony, protest

The University of Minnesota officially welcomed President Rebecca Cunningham on Wednesday, during an inauguration ceremony held at Northrop Auditorium that was followed by a celebration on Northrop Mall.

Five speakers praised and offered advice to Cunningham, the U's 18th president who most recently served as vice president for research and innovation at the University of Michigan.

"In this moment, Minnesota is rooting for you," Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan told Cunningham after relating her own "gopher story" as a U alumnus. "I cannot wait to get to work with you, President Cunningham."

Flanagan presented the U's traditional mace to Cunningham, who then delivered her inaugural address in the auditorium, where about two-thirds of the red velvet seats were filled.

Cunningham, a longtime emergency room physician, said she had worked in the Big Ten for 30 years but hadn't really understood the power of the University of Minnesota until she saw it for herself.

"My energy and enthusiasm for what we can build here grows stronger by the minute," she said. "I get chills when I think about all the things we can accomplish together."

Cunningham said there was still a "small voice" inside her saying she wasn't supposed to be here. She recalled her mother's journey to attain a college education by attending night school, with Cunningham tagging along to her classes for five years. Her mother graduated from college the same year Cunningham graduated from high school, she said.

Nearly an hour into the event, several dozen protesters from the University of Minnesota Divest Coalition stood up in the auditorium and began chanting that the university should divest from Israel.

After about five minutes and several warnings that students participating in the protest would be suspended, the protesters exited Northrop and Cunningham continued her speech. They had gathered outside on the mall earlier to shout, "Cunningham, you will see, Palestine will be free."

Cunningham recounted the story of Norman Borlaug, the U alumnus and agronomist whose research in wheat saved millions from starvation, and said she would prioritize keeping a college education affordable for students.

Cunningham actually took over presidential duties on July 1, replacing Interim President Jeff Ettinger. She oversees a budget of more than $4 billion to run the university's five campuses, which enrolled more than 68,000 students and had nearly 27,000 employees during the last academic year.

She was chosen for the job last winter over two other candidates: Laura Bloomberg, president of Cleveland State University and former dean of the U's Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and James Holloway, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico. She is the U's second woman president, following Joan Gabel who held the office from 2019 to 2023.

Cunningham will be paid more than $1 million per year — about $975,000 in base pay and an additional $120,000 in retirement contributions. The compensation puts her in the top quarter of Big Ten university presidents.