Amid festivities, Moghe officially vested as president eight months into term

“A New Era.” This is what new banners installed down Waterview Parkway and around campus read in reference to the official inauguration of the sixth UTD president, Prabhas Moghe, and the events planned to commemorate his investment. 

Moghe, who has been serving as president of UTD since August, had his investiture ceremony April 2. The university ceremony, which officially confers the duties and responsibilities of an incoming president, dates back to the investment of the fourth president, David Daniel, in 2006.  

Other events the university organized in honor of Moghe’s inauguration include Student Affairs’ Comet Party, a celebration with free food vendors and live music held March 31 in the Student Union Mall; the Bioengineering and Health Sciences Convergence Summit, a conference hosted by Moghe April 1 where researchers in health care and bioengineering discussed their findings; and the 6 for Success Comet Donation Drive, a charity event running from March 30 through April 12 where donations of six items to either Temoc’s Closet or the Comet Cupboard are encouraged to commemorate the sixth UTD president. Additionally, decorative artwork depicting Moghe has appeared across campus buildings in the past few weeks. 

The Comet Party 

At 12:30 p.m. March 31, the Comet Party kicked off. Plinth visitors passed by an Indian chamber ensemble consisting of a sitarist, a tabla player and a violinist playing music that fused Indian and western instrumentation in honor of Moghe, who himself is a skilled sitar player. A nearby stall manned by Student Affairs and Student Involvement and Engagement personnel were giving out tins of commemorative M&Ms — emblazoned with Moghe’s face and name — and small packages of orange and green UTD-themed macarons. Opposite the M&M stall sat a tea station allowing students to brew a tea blend of their choice. According to a nearby sign, “Moghe appreciates a great cup of tea.” 

After a small announcement featuring Temoc, the festivities ramped up. A live DJ played jubilant tunes as the rest of the stalls and activities opened for students. A samosa station began handing out samosas, which, according to another sign, was in honor of Moghe’s birthplace, Mumbai. In addition, several food trucks lined up on the Student Union Ramp to give out free food, offering a variety of snacks ranging from ice cream to lumpia to quesadillas. Two photo zones sporting signage celebrating Moghe’s investiture were open to the public to take pictures in.  

Arcade games such as Swish 4 Hoops, a one-on-one foot soccer game and an elaborate game that was a variation on rock-paper-scissors peppered the Plinth. Halfway through the event, the UTD Power Dancers and the UTD Cheerleaders performed a routine to commemorate Moghe’s inauguration. Biology and neuroscience double major Rei Albertini found herself caught up in the celebrations. 

“There was a lot of music, and Temoc was here and the cheerleaders were here, so that was fun,” Albertini said. “It’s really nice, I think it’s nice to celebrate something like this.” 

The Plinth overflowed with students taking photos, playing games and having fun. But some Comets, such as electrical engineering junior Hemachander Rubeshkumar, were left wondering if the party took up resources that could have gone to the university’s other priorities.  

“I mean, the banner gives off some vibes, [the] music’s nice [and] I’m not going to complain about free food, but this is a shit ton of money,” Rubeshkumar said. “Can we pay our TAs please? I just feel like we have enough money to pay our people more and we’re excessively spending on these parties.” 

As evening drew near and the Plinth began emptying, the three-piece fusion ensemble that kicked off the party performed once more. The musicians played a couple pieces during the last half-hour of the party, their melodies seeing the party, once pushing the heart of campus to its limits, out the door. 

The investiture ceremony 

The pleasant Thursday afternoon of Moghe’s investiture ceremony brought to mind a red-carpet event, with notable attendees from across the state clad in academic regalia or formalwear as they milled into the ATC Lecture Hall. The first floor was reserved for invited guests and community members, while students flocked to the second-floor balcony.  

Grant Moise, CEO and publisher of The Dallas Morning News, delivered the welcome address. Multiple speakers followed after, including Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents; UTD alums and entrepreneurs John Olajide and Erica Yaeger; UT System chancellor John Zerwas; and Rev. Dale Hopely Jr., a minister with the International Council of Community Churches. A video congratulating and advising Moghe on the presidency, played during the ceremony, featured individuals like Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Rep. Jeff Leach and Richardson mayor Amir Omar. Biology senior Devanshi Verma performed the national anthem and mechanical engineering freshman Diego Jones played Bach on the cello for an interlude. 

“Prabhas, I do pray blessings on you,” Hopely said during his speech. “Not only because I love you and because of how much I appreciate all that you do. It’s because I know those prayers are going to help change this world. May God bless the work of President Prabhas V. Moghe and the good work of this university.” 

The investiture itself involved presenting Moghe with various symbolic items to signify his position and belonging in the UTD community. Student Government President Giana Abraham and Graduate Student Assembly President Devarsh Pathak presented him with an honorary class ring, an item typically reserved for alumni of the university. Staff Council president Heather Oltmann presented the University Seal. Mary McDermott Cook, daughter of UTD founder Eugene McDermott, presented the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership Medallion. 

The two items that were also present during Daniel’s investiture ceremony were the Chain of Office and University Mace. UT System Chancellor John Zerwas presented both. The chain is engraved with the names of current and former presidents of UTD and serves to recognize the authority and responsibility of the presidential position. The wooden mace similarly indicates authority and is traditionally held by the lead of academic processions such as commencements. It is embedded with a metal wafer containing integrated circuits made at UTD; the wafer is from an instrument on Space Shuttle Endeavor, which launched in September 1995.  

After his investiture, Moghe gave a presidential address where he reiterated the three main pillars UTD will pursue: student success; academic and research convergence; and industry and societal impacts. He first announced these pillars in December. Moghe said these goals will help shape the university’s next strategic plan, Roadmap 2030, whose timeline or expected announcement date are still unknown. 

“Before coming here, I spent many years at Rutgers University, a remarkable and storied institution close to our hearts,” Moghe said during his speech. “And Rutgers history is ever present. Scarlet traditions run deep. Yet structures often slow the pace of change. Coming to [UTD] has been, for me, a striking contrast. Here, we’re not constrained by centuries of precedent, we don’t have a century of precedent. We are propelled by purpose, and that freedom allows us to demand boldly, move with agility, and respond to the needs of our mind.” 

After Eltife’s closing remarks, the ceremony drew to a close. Attendees headed out to the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center for refreshments and socializing to the warm backdrop of a live band. One student The Retrograde spoke to after the ceremony — Dallas Formula Racing president and computer science senior Aashish Kambala, said his favorite part of the ceremony had been Moghe’s speech. 

 “I think it really set the baseline for what the school is pushing for in terms of research and strategic initiatives,” Kambala said. “I think there’s a lot that you read in the papers that UTD puts out, but to hear it from the person themselves, it makes it more clear.” 

Moghe’s investiture comes eight months after assuming office, a long turnaround time compared to the four months between Benson’s July 2016 appointment and late October ceremony. In those eight months, Moghe has met with departments, established strategic pillars, reshuffled top-level administrators and secured $10 million from the O’Donnell Foundation dedicated to student success. 

For Kambala, the most crucial thing for the next university president to be is committed to supporting student organizations. He said student club leaders often want to try new things but have a difficult time finding the right campus administrators to talk to for approval, which hinders campus from having more unique student events.  

For Moghe and his onstage supporters at the ceremony, the best thing the president can do is push UTD to keep up with — and lead — the speed of change. That includes innovation in research, producing graduates ready for the North Texas workforce and maintaining the industry partnerships that were crucial to UTD’s birth to begin with. 

“Dallas is forward looking,” Moghe said as one of the final points in his speech. “Its people are energized by possibility because the UT System is forward-looking, committed to impact that scale, because our Board of Regents and our state leadership, they continue to champion momentum, growth and economic vitality. So when future generations gather here again in years to come, may they say that in this moment, we chose boldness.” 

Who’s who?

A look at some the notable faces that attended Moghe’s investiture ceremony.