When Mary Schapiro spoke about Daniel R. Porterfield, she referred to the new Franklin & Marshall College president's convocation address to incoming freshmen last month.

Porterfield cited a "mash-up" of two songs by rap artist Jay-Z and the Beatles.

The combined interaction of the two songs from widely varying artists of two different generations created something strong and unique, Schapiro said.

And, importantly, the Danger Mouse remix was something understood by the 18-year-olds in Porterfield's audience.

"He doesn't talk at you. He communicates with you, and, in the case of young people, the way in which they live their lives," Schapiro said of Porterfield.

It was high praise for the new president, coming from arguably the most influential woman that F&M has produced. Schapiro, Class of 1977, is chairwoman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2009, she was ranked 56th-most powerful woman in the world by Forbes Magazine.

Praise flowed for Porterfield late Sunday morning when he was inaugurated as F&M's 15th president. About 1,400 people attended the ceremony on the Lancaster city campus' Manning Alumni Green, along College Avenue.

Porterfield, 50, returned the compliments, praising F&M as a leading liberal arts college which produces young adults "who are nothing less than the future of our planet."

Porterfield addressed the crowd from the stage behind the statues of F&M namesakes Benjamin Franklin and John Marshall and within sight of his office window in Old Main, where he has served since taking office March 1.

Both Schapiro, the featured speaker, and Elana Jaret, president of the Diplomatic Congress of campus student organizations, referenced the ice cream freezer that Porterfield had installed in the old office.

The standing offer of ice cream, along with open office hours on Friday for any student to stop in, have become fixtures in the president's office since Porterfield took over, Jaret said.

So are the blogs and tweets Porterfield writes as he attempts to open lines of communication with the private college's 2,200 students.

Helping students to develop themselves and thereby helping society to develop are the goals of the college under his leadership, Porterfield said.

And, he said, it is the strength of a liberal arts education.

Often derided for not teaching directly applicable work skills, Porterfield defended a broad education in the humanities as a means to teach students to think critically.

"This is the work for which we were built. This is what we will be doing 100 years from now," he said.

He pointed to Schapiro, seated nearby.

Schapiro came to Lancaster not knowing what anthropology was, but thought the study of humanity and social organizations would be interesting. She became an anthropology major at F&M.

Although she received later degrees, Schapiro credits her undergraduate education with "preparing her for a career among the exotic tribes of the financial services industry."

Porterfield was selected for the presidency in November after an eight-month search. Hundreds of people applied from across the country and the world.

He came to Lancaster from Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., where he was a senior vice president. There, he was involved in programs that aided recent immigrants to the United States and placed university students in public schools.

Since coming to Lancaster, Porterfield said he hopes to see similar efforts expanded here. He isn't planning new initiatives, he said.

"There is already great work being done," he said.

He cited a work project done Saturday by the The Human Rights Initiative, an F&M student group working with Church World Service, where students assembled welcome kits for newly resettled refugees in the area.

The service project was one of dozens of activities at the northwest city campus during the weekend, which combined homecoming, parents' weekend and the inauguration.

The audience rose for a standing ovation when the chain containing the president's medal was placed around Porterfield's neck.

The audience also rose for his predecessor, former college President John A. Fry.

Fry, who left Lancaster to assume the presidency of Drexel University in Philadelphia last year, was credited with establishing the college house system at F&M. Porterfield announced that the green space surrounded by the new and recently reconfigured residence halls will be named the "John A. Fry College House Green" in Fry's honor.

bharris@lnpnews.com