Lasell University was radiating with pride on Friday as the school officially inaugurated President Eric Turner.

“This is a bit much, but it’s a lot of fun,” Turner said with a smile as he took the podium to speak to the large crowd gathered in the school’s athletics center.

Turner is the 10th president of the university and its first Black president. He was named provost of the school in 2020 and president last year.

Lasell started as a school for young women in the 19th century and evolved to include male students. It grew to a four-year college.

Edward Lasell founded the school in 1851 to educate young women and named it the Auburndale Female Seminary. It was renamed Lasell Female Seminary after he died.

The school became Lasell Junior College in the 1930s and later began offering associate degrees, eventually transitioning to a four-year school in 1989.

The following decade, male students were admitted. A few years later, the school expanded to offer graduate degrees. And in 2019, the school changed its name to Lasell University.

“Our vision for the future is expansive,” Turner said. “Lasell teaches infants all the way through centenarians. This university trains teachers, fashion designers, businesspeople, humanists, social scientists, natural scientists and health professionals, to name a few.”

Turner’s son, Jared, spoke about growing up with such a successful, motivational father and the lessons he learned about being prepared.

“This man is meticulous in every single part of his life, from the way he ties his shoes to the way he brushes his hair,” Jared joked, to thunderous laughter from the audience (Eric Turner has no hair).

One of Friday’s speakers was former Gov. Deval Patrick, who has known Turner since the two men attended college together more than 50 years ago.

“Eric was a football giant, popular—always popular, with others around him—he was one of the cool kids. I was not,” Patrick joked. “Of course, you all know that he is smart. He’s an economics scholar, successful business leader, a leadership coach to many CEOs. More than anything, what confirms his street smarts is that he, like me, married up.”

That was a shout-out to Wanda Whitmore, Turner’s wife, who sat up front cheering Turner on.

You can watch the entire ceremony online.

And Lasell student Elliot Pototsky interviewed Turner for a Q&A piece, which you can read here.