B. Johnson, Ninth Episcopal District
Eleven months after the retirement of Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr. as the eleventh president of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, the investiture ceremony for Dr. Daniel K. Wims, the twelfth president, was held on April 29, 2022. Under the leadership of Dr. Jerome Williams, Chair and Co-chairs Dr. Jeanette Jones and Mrs. Felicia Wilson, the investiture planning committee organized an outstanding investiture program that left “no stone unturned.” It had all the fanfare of a royal coronation, with all the pomp and circumstance deserving of such an occasion.
Excitement filled the air of the Thomas M. Elmore Gymnasium on the beautiful campus of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. The sun was shining outside, and the atmosphere inside was ecstatic with anticipation. As invited academic guests and religious leaders arrived, dressed in their academic regalia, and assembled for the procession, the audience waited patiently but expectantly.
The time finally arrived. The procession entered to Mendelssohn’s War March of the Priests (from Athalie). The ROTC Color Guard posted the Colors, and the body sang the National Anthem. The Right Reverend E. Anne Henning Byfield, Presiding Bishop of the 13th Episcopal District and President of the Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, gave the invocation. The Honorable A. Laura Hall, State Representative District 19 and honorary chairperson, welcomed the audience.
Additional program participants brought greetings, including local and state government officials, local and state university presidents, and religious leaders from the faith-based community. Following the greetings, the investiture ceremony, and those sharing in this auspicious occasion came forward to present Dr. Daniel K. Wims with the adornments and elements signifying his position in the leadership hierarchy. Accordingly, Dr. Daniel K. Wims makes the following presentations:
- The President’s Ceremonial Regalia is the attire designed featuring the school’s colors: maroon and white. The gown is solid maroon tropical wool with a maroon velvet front panel adorning the neck and sweeping down the length of the gown. The front panels of the gown are framed on the outer edge with a row of white metallic cording. Each front panel has the Alabama A & M Seal embroidered at chest level in white metallic. The double bell sleeves have an inner cuff and four velvet sleeve chevrons outlined in a white metallic cord edge braid. Four chevrons on the sleeve are unique only to Presidents. The shoulders on the gown are highlighted with white metallic cording.
- The University Seal was adopted in 1920. It features an anvil, plow, crown, and a book; it also has the motto, “Service is Sovereignty.” Service means the performance of labor for the benefit of another. Sovereignty means the quality or state of being chief, highest foremost, or superior to others.
- The University Medallion is an impressive brass medal that lists the names of all presidents serving throughout Alabama A & M University’s rich 147-year history. The President wears the medallion during commencement ceremonies and major convocations.
- The Ceremonial Academic Mace. Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr., the eleventh president of the University, commissioned the 2019 Mace to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the institution’s designation as a university. The mace encompasses significant events in the history of the University. The names of the presidents of the University are inscribed on individual rings.
After the presentation of the presidential regalia, the twelfth president of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University was presented with rousing applause by the audience. President Wims then took the podium to make his first official inaugural address.
The legacy of the connection between Alabama A & M University and St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church, Huntsville, had come full circle. Dr. William Hooper Councill, an ordained minister of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination, founded Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1875. Ten years later, in 1885, he would organize St. John AME Church. One hundred and forty-seven years later, the twelfth president of historic Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University would be an ordained minister of the AME Church. To God be the glory!
The Right Reverend Harry L. Seawright, Presiding Bishop of the Ninth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, conducted the “sending forth” prayer at the close of the ceremony.
