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UD President Assanis says Biden administration could be 'transformative' for First State

The University of Delaware’s president was among those attending Wednesday’s presidential inauguration.

Both President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are UD alumni.   

And UD President Dennis Assanis joined the few in attendance at the socially distanced event.

He joked afterwards that UD is now one of only four public universities that have graduated both a President of the United States and a Super Bowl winning NFL quarterback—Joe Flacco won with the Ravens in 2012.

“We’re in great company, but jokes aside, we really believe that this demonstrates to all our current students, but more importantly our prospective students, our alumni, anyone who will benefit from a UD education, that there are so many possibilities ahead for them,” said Assanis.   

Assanis called the security at the event “overwhelming” and said it didn’t feel as it should be on the day of inauguration. He also commended Biden’s speech as a message of unity.

And Assanis says Biden’s inauguration presents a great opportunity for the university as it looks to further develop its STAR campus into a world-class science hub.

“The STAR campus will be a pull of attraction for the state of Delaware, for the mid-Atlantic, for the world really. And with an increased connectivity now with Washington D.C. [sic] with our connections, human connections, rail connections--we look forward to a new at STAR campus,” said Assanis. “I think this is going to be transformative for our state and I’m overjoyed.”    

Like many other universities, UD has taken a financial hit during the pandemic. At a state budget hearing late last year, Assanis said UD anticipates a deficit of up to $288 million for the 2021 fiscal year.

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