LaGrange College marked the formal naming of the new pedestrian bridge across Vernon Street on Saturday as Gulley Gateway, honoring outgoing college President Stuart Gulley and his wife, Kathleen.

A large crowd gathered along the colonnade on the east side of the Lewis Library for the noon ceremony.

As the Gulleys crossed the span toward the crowd, they paused for a kiss and an embrace.

“I was challenged to have the first kiss on the bridge, and so now I’ve done it,” Stuart Gulley told the crowd.

David Rowe, vice president for advancement, got a laugh when he told the crowd, “We are gathered to dedicate this structure to a servant-leader … and her husband, Stuart.”

Students gave several gifts to the presidential family, including a chair bearing the college seal, a journal filled with personal messages from students, and personalized athletics jerseys for the couple’s sons - basketball for Andrew and football for Matthew.

After a 13-year stint at La-Grange College, Gulley is leaving in June to assume the presidency of Atlanta’s Woodward Academy.

The bridge links the library with parking across Vernon.