CSUN GETS 'COOLEST' PRESIDENT OFFICIAL CELEBRATION WELCOMES KOESTER.

Byline: Martin Kuz Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - A sizable crowd, not the earth, provided the tremors Thursday at California State University, Northridge, for the noisy, upbeat inauguration of Jolene Koester as the school's new president.

The event culminated a week of festivities that, at Koester's behest, became a celebration less about her than about CSUN's own renewal.

``Let's use this occasion to celebrate the end of the earthquake reconstruction,'' Koester said to an audience of several hundred students, staff and academicians gathered on the lawn outside Oviatt Library.

With a new president at the helm, the university, ravaged by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake that damaged every one of the 107 buildings on campus, is putting the finishing touches to a $400 million rebuilding effort.

A litany of speakers, among them California State University Chancellor Charles Reed and Board of Trustees Chairman Laurence K. Gould Jr., also spoke of the school's post-quake revival as they introduced Koester to the campus.

``In a way, CSUN is undergoing a rebirth with the inauguration of its new president,'' said Reed, who presented Koester with the CSUN presidential medallion, a brass version of the university seal.

Robert Hanff, president of CSUN's Associated Students, hailed Koester as ``the coolest'' president in the university's history.

Koester took the reins of CSUN in July, but universities traditionally wait until spring to inaugurate a new president. Koester succeeds Blenda Wilson, who left the school in June 1999.

In her address, Koester displayed the kind of populist appeal that she has exhibited since arriving at CSUN last summer from California State University, Sacramento, where she served as provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of communication studies.

``It is with a profound feeling of honor, humility, privilege and joy that I stand before you today as the fourth president of California State University, Northridge,'' she told the crowd.

Koester extolled the commitment of the school's faculty, administrators, office workers and, in particular, its 29,000 students for overcoming years of adversity.

``I say to you, thank you, thank you, thank you,'' she said.

The ceremony began with a procession of faculty members and administrators representing more than 80 colleges and universities nationwide. They dressed in full ceremonial regalia, including gowns, mortarboards, tassels and hoods, lending a splash of color on an overcast afternoon.

Introductory speakers praised Koester's energy, educational zeal and geniality. Yvonne Chan, chairwoman of the CSUN advisory board, described how on any given day Koester can be glimpsed ``zipping across campus in her tennis shoes, leading and cheerleading.''

About 50 student demonstrators staged a roving protest during the ceremony to call attention to a dispute over wages for workers hired by construction contractors for campus projects.

Koester acknowledged and thanked the protesters toward the end of her address, then met briefly afterward with demonstration organizers.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Trustees Chairman Laurence K. Gould Jr. congratulates CSUN President Jolene Koester.

(2 -- color) New California State University, Northridge, President Jolene Koester stops in front of Oviatt Library on Thursday to talk with Dottie Heitz, 85, who graduated from CSUN in 1969.

(3 -- 4 -- color) A protester, left, from the CSUN MeCHA club holds a sign during Thursday's ceremonies. Students Sheri Strahl and John Classick, both juniors, listen to inauguration speakers, right.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer