More than 2,300 people pack Kendall Hall to see the inaugural ceremony. Laurel garlands, flags from many nations, and floral arrangements transform the usually spartan indoor track and tennis facility.
Among the weekend's artistic offerings: To Dance With Dionysos, an adaptation of Euripides' The Bacchae and Wole Soyinka's The Bacchae of Euripides, blending live music, ritualistic dance, and theater.	Fireworks over lower lake follow a gala concert to end Saturday evening's festivities with a bang.
The College's wealth of faculty expertise is reflected in the stately academic procession opening the installation ceremony.	The student Glee Club and Concert Choir perform the ethereal "Wisdom exalteth her children" just before the president's formal investiture.
Literary luminaries read from new works to honor Joanne Creighton, herself a scholar of literature. Author Joyce Carol Oates (left)--a personal friend of Creighton's, and subject of her scholarly work--was joined by playwright Suzan-Lori Parks '85, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein '71, and Mount Holyoke College writers Mary Jo Salter and Brad Leithauser.	All eyes are on the new president as she greets well-wishers at the community picnic.
President Creighton described her installation as "an important ritual binding me to the institution. This formal passing on of tradition will make it more real to everyone."	William Chace, president of Emory University and former colleague of Joanne Creighton at Wesleyan, heads a procession of nearly 200 dignitaries from colleges and universities as old as Oxford.
Kathleen Monat, assistant secretary of the College, arranges Joanne Creighton's academic hood as delegates and faculty don their robes.	Students show their enthusiasm for the College's new leader with six hand-painted banners.