Some rarely seen symbols of office will emerge from university vaults for Cornell President David J. Skorton's inauguration. The symbolism dates back to the first inauguration on Oct. 7, 1868, when New York Lt. Gov. Stewart L. Woodford administered the oath of office to President Andrew Dickson White and presented him with the charter, seal and keys of the university. The mace and university baton, symbols of authority, were added for the inauguration of President James A. Perkins in 1963.

These symbols will be carried to the inauguration installation ceremony on Sept. 7 by three members of the Cornell community, led by Ezra Cornell, a member of the Cornell Board of Trustees.

The charter, which will be carried by Kwame Thomison, president of the Student Assembly: As the land-grant university of New York state, Cornell was chartered through an act of the New York State Legislature, signed into law on April 27, 1865. Though the charter has been amended by the New York State Legislature from time to time -- to establish, for example, Cornell's four statutory colleges -- its essence has remained unchanged

The great seal, which will be carried by Donna Goss, chair of the Employee Assembly: The original seal was authorized by the Cornell Board of Trustees in 1868. The seal first appeared on the cover of "The Cornell University Register, 1868-69." It always included the motto of the university. In 1940, the trustees added the words Cornell University and Founded A.D. 1865; and in the inner circle the words Ezra Cornell 'I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study' and in the center a profile likeness of Ezra Cornell."

The mace, which will be carried by Michele Moody-Adams, vice provost for undergraduate education, and the baton, to be carried by University Marshal Charles Walcott, are also present at such events as commencements and special ceremonies. Both were designed by Sir Eric Clements of London's Goldsmiths' Company in 1962. The baton is a rosewood shaft with a wrought-silver triangular knob bearing a rendering of the university arms and surrounded by a frieze of engraved ivy leaves. The mace consists of a tapered silver shaft surmounted by a golden terrestrial globe. The silver ribs surrounding the globe symbolize the universality of Cornell's interests.