Recently, Dr. Adam Ehrmantraut became the first president in BSM history to be installed. On Wednesday 7, 2017, Archbishop Bernard Hebda installed Ehrmantraut during BSM’s first mass of the school year.

Pope Francis appointed Hebda to be the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in 2016. Hedba was invited to the opening school mass at BSM not only due to traditional purposes, but for the installation as well. “We have had a long tradition here at Benilde St. Margaret’s of having the archbishops who have been in the office [come to mass]. I sent an invitation to the archbishop last spring, inviting him to come to our opening school mass and to do an installation of President Ehrmantraut. Just at the end of the school year, [we] got a response from the archdiocese saying he would be happy to come,” Mr. Mike Jeremiah, the campus minister said.

The installation was performed in the middle of mass and was a way of recognizing Ehrmantraut with a blessing done by the archbishop. “This is the first time in the history of our school that we’ve had a president installed. It’s not so much that it makes a difference in their work but it’s just an added blessing asking God to be with them as they take on this special ministry,” Jeremiah said.

For Ehrmantraut, the installation wasn’t as straightforward and stress free. Ehrmantraut was given the expectations for the installation a week prior, but he didn’t expect the ceremony to be as involved as it was. “It [was] different than what I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be our opening school mass with the archbishop and then like a blessing,” Ehrmantraut said.

Ehrmantraut successfully finished the installation with a statement of his beliefs and his vows to the school, followed by a blessing. “I think the job of president to me is one I take very seriously, love, and am completely committed to, but there was just an extra sense of intensity that the installation brought on. Now I don’t feel it today but in the moment, certainly there was that extra intensity, [a] greater sense of purpose that you become cognizant of when you go through something like that,” Ehrmantraut said.