PRESIDENT’S INSTALLATION CEREMONY HIGHLIGHTS AIIAS’ UNIQUE MISSION By Bruce Sumendap AIIAS celebrates the installation of Ginger Ketting-Weller, PhD, as the institution’s eighth president.
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efore an audience made up of Seventh-day Adventist leaders from around the world, as well as faculty, staff, alumni, and local government representatives, President Ginger Ketting-Weller, said she is privileged to lead and contribute as God opens up ways for her to do so at AIIAS. “AIIAS was established by God. I am here to give my best effort,” said Ketting-Weller, in her installation response. Central to her message was her commitment to achieving the mission of AIIAS, “to develop leaders through distinctively Seventh-day Adventist graduate education, excelling in spirituality, scholarship, and service.” The installation ceremony held in the Siew Huy Auditorium on the AIIAS campus last Friday, November 16, 2019, included students bearing their flags, representing 53 countries of AIIAS’ diverse student body. The keynote address was given by Ella Smith Simmons, chair of the AIIAS Board of Trustees and general vice president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters, who also led the installation and presentation of symbols of authority.
“We hope that today this ceremony puts you in the right frame of mind—to prepare you to receive what God has prepared for you and AIIAS,” said Simmons. In her response message, Ketting-Weller acknowledged those ‘who have nurtured and given strength’ to her so far, specifically the members of the AIIAS Board of Trustees, the vice presidents, and deans. “We are part of something bigger than ourselves, part of what God wants to do in the Philippines, to spread His message to the world,” said Ketting-Weller. “What a privilege to be part of that, established in that, and to have support from around us!” During the installation proper, outgoing president Stephen Guptill placed the presidential medallion on the new president. He also presented to her other symbols of authority such as the AIIAS mace, AIIAS seal, and a copy of Presidential Decree No. 2021, which established AIIAS in 1986.
The platform party cheers during the speeches of Ginger Ketting-Weller’s friends and colleagues during the installation ceremony at AIIAS on November 16, 2019.
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