PIKEVILLE, Ky. (WSAZ) -- Former Kentucky Gov. Paul E. Patton will officially be installed as the 18th president of Pikeville College on Tuesday, Feb. 16.

The inauguration ceremony will be held in Booth Auditorium, Record Memorial Building at 2 p.m. The community is invited to attend.

The academic processional will be led by a student bagpiper and faculty marshal bearing the college’s mace, as Pikeville’s new president is officially welcomed by the campus family, including students, faculty and staff, alumni and trustees.

U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers will deliver the inauguration address. Also participating in the program are Pikeville College Presidents Emeriti Harold H. “Hal” Smith and William H. Owens, University of Louisville President James Ramsey, University of Kentucky President Lee Todd, Gary Cox, president of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities and Karen Nichols, D.O., president-elect of the American Osteopathic Association. Terry Dotson, chairman of the college’s board of trustees, and CPE President Robert King will preside over the investiture and presentation of the president’s medallion.

"My inaugurations as governor, and now as a college president, are highlights of my life," Patton said. "It is certainly a fitting capstone of my career. Putting into practice what you’ve advocated is very rewarding."

The celebration on Feb. 16 will begin at 8 a.m. with the President’s Prayer Breakfast in Sturgill Board Room, Record Memorial Building, third floor. At 11 a.m., the campus will join the president for a "Blessing at the Flagpole," located near the Administration Building. In case of inclement weather, the blessing will be held inside. Later that evening, there will be a reception and banquet beginning at 6 p.m. at the Mark V, Landmark Inn, Pikeville.

The cost is $50 per person with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Pikeville College Alumni Association’s Scholarship Fund. For more information or to RSVP for the banquet, call the Office of Public Affairs at 606-218-5265.