Joseph R. Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, with Vice President Kamala D. Harris by his side.
His inauguration speech called for unity and bipartisanship after a tumultuous election, during which supporters of former President Donald J. Trump questioned election results and breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real, but I also know they are not new,” Biden said. “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we’re all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart.”
“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge,” he added. “And unity is the path forward.”
Dr. Stella Flores, associate professor of higher education and director of access and equity at the Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy, described Biden’s remarks as a call to Americans to sit around a collective “dinner table” for a “process of reconciliation.”
“I don’t think we use that word enough, but we’re on the road to reconciliation,” Flores said. “And I think President Biden has spoken in ways that will hopefully fill the souls of people, in a way that opens up the road for that.”
Scholars and higher education leaders expressed hope that the Biden administration will take speedy and decisive action on behalf of low-income students and students of color.
