"President Gora personifies servant leadership, humility and placing mission before self. Congratulations on a very sensible, business-savvy way to enter into your presidency at Ball State University."

"Rather than an inauguration of a single individual, today's ceremony is an inauguration of the future, a looking forward for these students and for Ball State University. So I think it is fitting that we hold this celebration in our capital city as we honor students who come from all across Indiana and reflect on the significant accomplishments and growing potential of a university that contributes so much to Indiana."

"We're here together at an extraordinary time, a time when change fills the air not just of this building but of the state. And change is greatly needed. . . . You can feel [change] when you talk with policy-makers and when you talk with educators, but most important, you can feel it when you talk with the young people who will be tomorrow's leaders."

"Ball State is, was, and will always be about students, and it is students who have helped make the reputation of the university."