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Celebrating 50 years

Celebrating 50 years

Celebrating 50+ Years of Liberal Arts

Since its establishment in 1972, graduates from the IU School of Liberal Arts in Indianapolis have gone on to lead fulfilled and prosperous lives across a wide range of careers-everything from the arts and humanities to the social sciences and more.

As we honor the past, we look forward to a future filled with new possibilities and continued growth. Celebrate and reminisce with us as we look toward the next 50 years of outstanding teaching and learning, a commitment to student success, robust community engagement, and research that changes lives for the better.

Celebrating 50 Years of Liberal Arts

Description of the video:

Description of the video:

00:00

[Music]

00:05

hello hello and welcome everyone we are

00:09

so excited about you joining us for the

00:12

school of liberal arts 50th anniversary

00:14

kickoff i'm matrice merriweather chief

00:17

talent officer at the national

00:19

federation of state high school

00:21

associations and the former president

00:24

and past president of the alumni board

00:26

of the school of liberal arts

00:28

and co-hosting this event with me today

00:30

we have mike paletti's

00:33

welcome mike

00:35

thank you very much matrice i'm mike

00:36

palitus and i'm a teaching professor in

00:39

the department of communication studies

00:41

here in the school liberal arts can you

00:43

believe it has been 50 years since the

00:45

beginning of the school of liberal arts

00:48

so of course neither matrison or i were

00:50

around then but we have people joining

00:52

us this evening who were

00:54

in our virtual world these days we have

00:56

campus administrators including our

00:58

chancellor faculty staff students alumni

01:03

donors and friends joining us from

01:06

across the united states

01:08

we appreciate being able to connect in

01:10

this way so that you can share in the

01:12

excitement of celebrating the 50th

01:14

anniversary

01:15

that's fantastic the school is working

01:18

on creating something for everyone to

01:20

get involved in so let's get excited

01:24

one of those activities is what we call

01:26

did you know

01:27

this is a little history trivia that

01:30

we'll be sharing with you not only

01:31

tonight but throughout the year

01:33

we'll also reveal with you later how you

01:36

can share your bits of history mike go

01:39

ahead and take us through the first

01:41

reveal of the bit of trivia

01:43

all right our first did you know

01:48

did you know

01:49

a liberal arts dean

01:51

participated in a dunk the dean contest

01:55

during a welcome event for students

01:59

which dean was it

02:03

unfortunately i wasn't around for that

02:05

event but

02:07

i sure would like to have been were you

02:09

around for this mike you know i was on

02:12

campus but i don't recall going to this

02:14

event but

02:15

hearing the answer to this does not the

02:17

least bit surprise me

02:19

it was bill blumquist in 2010

02:23

so thanks bill for being such a great

02:26

sport

02:30

now let me introduce the dean of the

02:33

school of liberal arts tammy idle

02:37

thank you mattress and mike i love

02:39

learning more about the history of our

02:41

school

02:42

now it is my great pleasure to introduce

02:45

the fifth chancellor of iupui

02:48

nasser h padar who will share a few

02:51

words about the school of liberal arts

02:53

anniversary

02:55

i also want to thank chancellor padar

02:57

for coming out to the taylor courtyard

02:59

last wednesday

03:00

to participate in our 50th anniversary

03:03

photo

03:05

well thank you very much tammy and thank

03:08

you all

03:09

for joining us uh for this virtual

03:11

celebration of the school of lebron

03:14

tammy you were not here

03:16

in 2019 when we celebrated iupui's 50th

03:20

anniversary

03:22

a year later we celebrated our 200 year

03:26

anniversary you know iu by centennial

03:29

that was when people in the community

03:31

ask me if you know math are you do you

03:33

teach math you know 50th the next year

03:36

200 it took me a long time to explain

03:39

the situation between 50th and

03:41

bicentennial

03:42

and now in 2021 school of liberal arts

03:46

is celebrating 50th anniversary when it

03:49

was formed in 1972 when i heard that i

03:53

started quickly doing math because i

03:54

know people are going to ask me and then

03:56

i checked with the school i said lebron

03:59

do you guys know math well i was told

04:01

this is a year-long celebration starting

04:04

today

04:05

uh this in 2021 and ending in 2022 and

04:08

it's so appropriate that we celebrate

04:11

the school of liberal arts

04:14

over a year now these celebrations bring

04:17

such joy to our campus and i'm certain

04:20

that recognizing this milestone for the

04:22

school of liberal arts will help bring

04:24

people together to renew connections and

04:27

friendships and remind people of the

04:30

great history of this wonderful school

04:33

now when i think of this school i'm

04:35

reminded of joseph taylor the school's

04:38

founding dean

04:40

he was a true pioneer who brought a deep

04:43

commitment to education as well as to

04:46

the indianapolis community now you you

04:49

may know that dr taylor was tapped by

04:52

to be the founding dean of the school of

04:55

liberal arts by iu president herman b

04:58

wells because taylor

05:00

knew how to build consensus

05:03

and his model of collaborative

05:04

leadership

05:06

really continues to characterize our

05:08

campus

05:09

taylor symposium was named in his honor

05:12

as well as the taylor hall

05:14

just as

05:16

dr taylor

05:18

is

05:20

indelible part of iupa liberal arts

05:22

history so too is cavanaugh hall the

05:25

first building

05:27

constructed on what has become iupui's

05:31

beautiful campus

05:34

speaking about cavanaugh hall just the

05:35

other day i think it was

05:37

monday or tuesday of this week that i

05:39

was in kavanaugh hall and as i was

05:42

going up the stairs i remember

05:44

years ago

05:47

when students really actually physically

05:49

registered in that building now mike

05:52

said he wasn't here when 50 years ago

05:55

the school was established i wasn't here

05:58

either just want to clarify that but i

06:00

joined iupa in 1985

06:03

and those days if a person wanted to

06:05

register now believe it or not there was

06:07

no internet in 1985

06:10

they had to physically go to the office

06:12

of registrar which was on the first

06:14

floor of kavanaugh hall to register and

06:17

right before they registered they had to

06:19

get a faculty signature

06:21

to be able to go and register and i

06:23

volunteered and

06:25

to do that to help with the registration

06:28

so i

06:28

spent a lot of time in kavanaugh hall

06:31

and students will line up and the line

06:32

will go down the stairs up the stairs go

06:34

around the building once or twice and

06:37

before they

06:38

get the signature and register and i

06:40

remember one thing

06:42

when my

06:43

department chairman volunteered me to to

06:46

go ahead and do this

06:48

he said i want you to go tonight to

06:51

to barf at kavanaugh

06:53

i said excuse me to barf at kavanaugh

06:56

well those days

06:58

bursar's admission registrar and

07:00

financial aid we're in kavanaugh hall

07:02

some of you remember

07:03

and the acronym barf came from that

07:05

thank god barf has now moved to campus

07:09

center

07:11

um

07:12

and kavanaugh hall has been the home of

07:15

our wonderful school of liberal arts and

07:18

it has been

07:19

said

07:20

many times that a degree in liberal arts

07:23

prepares students not only to make a

07:25

living

07:26

but also to make a life

07:28

in many respects the basis of global

07:32

citizenship is right here in liberal

07:34

arts

07:35

with programs in history world languages

07:37

and cultures anthropology sociology

07:40

economics and political sciences

07:43

the reach and the impact of this school

07:45

however goes beyond your wonderful

07:48

majors

07:49

though this campus has a large number of

07:52

professional degree programs

07:54

all of our students need a solid

07:57

foundation in the liberal arts which is

07:59

truly the backbone of an of an iupui

08:03

education now i've said this before

08:06

it's one thing to train a medical doctor

08:09

to save a life

08:10

it's another thing to have that doctor

08:13

value the life she's saving this is what

08:16

liberal arts

08:17

teaches

08:19

as important

08:20

as programs and departments are at the

08:23

heart of every school including this one

08:27

there are people

08:29

i want to acknowledge that tens of

08:31

thousands of students who have graduated

08:33

along with our current students that and

08:36

that are pushing for graduation from the

08:38

school of liberal arts in the history of

08:40

school of liberal arts

08:42

10 of the graduates of iupa come from

08:45

your school

08:46

finally i would like to close with a

08:48

special word of thanks to our faculty

08:51

and staff in the school of the world

08:54

you bring

08:55

a entrepreneurial zeal in your pursuit

08:58

of

08:59

knowledge your enthusiastic

09:02

teaching and your

09:04

you are deeply committed to supporting

09:07

students

09:08

your good work provides the educational

09:10

foundation upon which all of our

09:12

undergraduate students can build as they

09:15

pursue their degrees this is truly

09:18

something to celebrate and celebrate for

09:20

a year thank you for all you do and

09:23

happy anniversary thank you chancellor

09:26

padar

09:27

we also believe that the school is very

09:29

special i was a one-year-old when when

09:31

uh liberal arts came into life so

09:34

so moving on i i hear that the school

09:37

liberal arts had an event last week

09:39

where you all captured a commemorative

09:41

photo for the 50th anniversary i am so

09:44

sorry to have missed that event but i

09:47

thank you all of you who were able to

09:49

join in the activities so let's take a

09:52

look at last week's fabulous photo event

09:56

[Music]

09:56

[Applause]

09:59

[Music]

10:12

so

10:13

[Music]

10:25

[Music]

10:30

[Music]

10:45

thank you

10:46

[Music]

11:05

[Applause]

11:08

memories

11:14

[Music]

11:49

[Applause]

11:53

we had so much fun the weather the

11:56

weather was great students were all over

11:58

the place

11:59

and i loved smiling with a mask on at

12:02

the drone overhead i was so proud of

12:04

this because we've never done this

12:06

before so this was something that was on

12:08

our radar and we made it happen so let

12:11

me introduce our dean again tammy idle

12:14

who just started as our new dean for the

12:16

school of liberal arts on january 1st

12:18

and it's been a unique year for her

12:20

going through the interview process and

12:22

starting a new job and a pandemic and

12:24

tammy is an iu alum as she received her

12:27

ma and phd from indiana university so

12:29

dean idol take it away

12:32

thank you mike hello and welcome

12:34

everyone

12:36

i feel honored to have joined the school

12:38

this year and i'm pleased to speak to

12:40

you today as we kick off the 50th year

12:43

of the school of liberal arts

12:45

it is a year of milestones and

12:47

opportunities

12:49

last year during the pandemic the school

12:52

of liberal arts awarded 689

12:55

bachelor's degrees and certificates

12:57

89 master's degrees and certificates and

13:00

six doctoral degrees

13:02

as the school concludes its first 50

13:05

years we will surpass 27 000 degrees

13:10

those graduates are doing amazing things

13:13

despite the national focus on stem

13:15

education the school of liberal arts

13:18

remains second among all schools at

13:20

iupui and the number of undergraduate

13:23

degrees and certificates awarded every

13:25

year

13:26

more students minor in the liberal arts

13:29

than in any other school at iupui

13:32

the school of liberal arts provides over

13:35

2.5 million dollars of financial aid to

13:38

students annually and due to the

13:40

generosity of our donors many of who are

13:43

among our alumni and faculty

13:45

the school awards over 325 thousand

13:48

dollars of scholarship funding to our

13:50

students each year

13:53

the school serves undergraduate students

13:56

from every other school through the

13:58

general education offerings

14:01

this year

14:02

nearly a third of our majors are first

14:04

generation college students

14:06

and 36 percent are students of color

14:10

it is not a secret to any of you that

14:13

the school of liberal arts and its

14:14

faculty are a gem

14:17

historically students found us when they

14:19

took general education requirements and

14:21

discovered a passion for religious

14:23

studies political science language

14:26

english or anthropology to name just a

14:29

few of our disciplines

14:31

today students bring dual credit from

14:33

their high schools to iupui and they

14:36

take fewer general education courses on

14:39

campus

14:40

dual credit can reduce debt and time to

14:43

graduation for students

14:44

these are very good things

14:46

but many students across campus will

14:48

change majors and those students

14:51

no longer have the experience in our

14:53

general education courses as a

14:55

touchstone when they find themselves

14:58

seeking a new major as sophomores or

15:00

juniors

15:02

the programs in the school of liberal

15:03

arts now need to be more proactive in

15:05

recruiting students to our classrooms to

15:08

discover the value and relevance of our

15:10

many and buried degree programs

15:14

our educators and knowledge creators in

15:16

humanities and social sciences

15:19

are compelled to more clearly and more

15:21

loudly articulate the importance of the

15:23

liberal arts in our society and in our

15:26

institutions of higher education

15:29

in our disciplines students learn to

15:31

listen at the margins

15:34

challenge firmly held beliefs

15:36

ask discerning questions and communicate

15:39

across differences

15:41

our disciplines prepare students to have

15:43

an impact in any industry and in careers

15:46

that have not yet been imagined

15:49

to continue to have this impact

15:52

our programs do need to change and to to

15:54

meet the demands of our students for

15:56

greater flexibility and more innovation

15:58

in their educational experiences

16:01

our student students need us to create

16:04

more inclusive curricula and make sure

16:06

that our classrooms are welcoming and

16:08

honor the diverse backgrounds

16:10

experiences and perspectives students

16:12

bring to their education

16:15

all of our students need and deserve the

16:17

financial social

16:19

and academic support that will give

16:21

every student

16:22

a chance to succeed and reduce

16:25

inequalities in retention and graduation

16:29

finally

16:30

we need to help our students to

16:32

translate their knowledge and skills

16:34

into careers that allow them to lead

16:36

satisfying and impactful lives as

16:39

chancellor padar mentioned

16:42

the school of liberal arts is is a

16:45

community a community of engaged

16:47

humanities and social science scholars

16:49

and teachers who are deeply invested in

16:52

our students communities and impact

16:55

we can deliver inclusive curricula

16:59

a supportive and welcoming academic and

17:02

extracurricular environment

17:04

and bridges to careers that will allow

17:06

our students to live those satisfying

17:09

and impactful lives

17:12

in the school of liberal arts at iupui

17:14

we succeed when we put students first

17:17

and i am so grateful that we have

17:18

faculty and staff that do just that

17:22

thank you so much for joining us on this

17:24

special day

17:26

i look forward to meeting many of you in

17:28

the future and learning about your

17:30

connection to and stories about the

17:32

school of liberal arts

17:34

so thank you so much dean idol we really

17:37

appreciate all that you have to offer

17:40

and appreciate you being here

17:42

and like myself

17:44

i'm one of those 27 000

17:46

um graduates that uh dr that dean idol

17:50

spoke about so

17:52

um we wanted we went now to um as a

17:55

former alumni board member i want to

17:57

talk a little bit about the confidence

17:59

that i have

18:01

in being an alumni and being very proud

18:04

of where we have come from so i speak on

18:07

behalf of all other alumni

18:10

so let's hit the pause button

18:12

on alumni talk and let's talk about a

18:14

future change maker the school's

18:18

student council president

18:20

rhys chesser

18:22

reece is a member of the honors college

18:24

and is majoring in history with an

18:26

interest in museum studies and spanish

18:29

he plans to work in the museum while

18:31

working on his doctorate very impressive

18:34

he loves history and is helping us to

18:36

mark history with a very special and

18:39

exciting time capsule project now let me

18:42

tell you i'm in love with the concept

18:44

already of a time capsule so i invite

18:46

reese to tell us a little bit more about

18:48

this project

18:51

hi everyone it's uh great to be here um

18:55

as she just said that i am a history

18:57

major here uh and i am so excited full

19:00

liberal arts putting on this time

19:02

capsule um here for our 50th anniversary

19:05

this last year and a half has been

19:07

incredibly um difficult and challenging

19:09

for many of us with the ongoing pandemic

19:12

going on

19:13

for a year and a half now

19:15

and the

19:18

massive upheaval of the george floyd

19:20

protest last year

19:22

and of course

19:24

as we celebrate our 20th um anniversary

19:27

of 9 11

19:28

we continue to have that resilience

19:31

and show that we have grown since then

19:34

the school of liberal arts time capital

19:36

will document these extraordinary events

19:38

and the extraordinary resilience of our

19:41

students

19:42

as myself and our staff here

19:45

as we overcome these historical events

19:48

last week during the command

19:50

commemorative photo event we ask people

19:52

to share their ideas on um what should

19:54

be in the time capsule

19:56

we will continue to ask these ideas

19:58

throughout the entire year on our social

19:59

media our website and any other events

20:02

school liberal arts will help

20:04

help us capture these historic events

20:06

and

20:07

the hope for what lies ahead

20:09

watch for us at our twitter instagram

20:12

linkedin

20:14

and our website thank you

20:16

thank you reese and i bet you've already

20:18

received lots of suggestions and maybe

20:20

even including a mask i don't know all

20:22

right this is a perfect project for our

20:24

students to work on

20:25

reese do you come back do you plan to

20:27

come back in another 50 years and open

20:29

it with the students

20:33

you know what i might just do that

20:35

i'll i'll be here too all right i'll be

20:37

like 90 something but i'll be here

20:39

so now we have another did you know for

20:42

you so did you know

20:44

there is an urban legend among students

20:47

that kavanaugh hall

20:50

is haunted

20:55

that's intriguing

20:57

i hadn't heard of this story so i must

21:00

have been

21:02

it must been after my time in the

21:04

building so i'm wondering if some of the

21:07

unexplained noises really could have

21:09

been from

21:10

amy jones richardson who was always

21:12

working late

21:16

so

21:17

students taking

21:18

classes late at night

21:20

taking night classes often hear unusual

21:23

sounds rumblings and unexplained noises

21:27

could it be

21:28

faculty working late the hvac system or

21:31

something else

21:32

i heard a professor call the facilities

21:34

management office to see what they would

21:36

say about these sounds so

21:39

who really knows

21:41

so now let me introduce you to matthew

21:44

brown

21:45

so

21:46

the title of his talk is 50 50 vision so

21:50

matt brown was actually a former student

21:53

of mine and if matt brown looks familiar

21:56

to you that is because matt graduated in

21:59

2021 so just several months ago and matt

22:02

was selected as the student commencement

22:05

speaker so matt spoke at the class of

22:09

2020 and class of 2021 combined

22:11

graduations

22:13

back in may and did a fantastic job i

22:16

first met matt

22:18

when we bonded over the fact that we

22:21

have the same backpack

22:23

on the first day of my interviewing

22:25

class and when i saw that i knew that

22:28

this guy had good taste and that we were

22:31

going to build a relationship and

22:33

so we are very happy to have matt with

22:35

us matt is a communication studies

22:37

graduate so with his uh talk 50 50

22:42

vision please welcome matt brown

22:45

thank you mr mike i appreciate it

22:48

and as far as uh kavanaugh hall is

22:50

concerned i'm just going to go ahead and

22:51

vote that it's the hvac system but uh

22:55

anyway moving along

22:57

i'm gonna just go go ahead and dive

22:59

right into this speech um there's a lot

23:01

of meat here so i hope you're able to

23:02

grab it

23:03

author ray davis once said the tribe

23:06

often thinks the visionary has turned

23:08

his back on them when in fact the

23:10

visionary has simply turned to face the

23:13

future

23:14

when i say the word visionary what is

23:16

what is the first thing that comes to

23:17

mind what's the first thing you think

23:19

about when you think visionary

23:21

do you think world changer

23:23

do you think leader

23:25

maybe you think about your own dreams

23:26

your own vision

23:28

or maybe you think about people like

23:30

howard schultz the ceo of starbucks

23:34

michael eisner the former ceo of disney

23:37

chief justice clarence thomas or or

23:40

maybe you think of somebody like

23:42

ted turner

23:43

entrepreneur

23:44

entrepreneur and founder of cnn

23:48

or maybe you think of an entertainer

23:50

like conan o'brien emmy award-winning

23:52

creator writer and producer of one of

23:54

the most

23:55

one of the greatest late night shows

23:57

ever

23:59

maybe you think of oprah winfrey

24:01

one of the most successful and

24:03

inspirational women in modern history

24:07

regardless of what comes to mind it's

24:09

fair to say that the word visionary

24:10

comes with this idea of power

24:13

and success

24:14

and you can see this with the people i

24:16

just mentioned they were visionaries but

24:18

they also had something else in common

24:21

they also graduated from college with

24:24

degrees in liberal arts

24:27

now you may be thinking well why does

24:29

that even matter

24:31

it matters because these people had

24:33

vision

24:34

they had the same vision a vision for

24:36

success a vision to be the best of the

24:37

best the same vision that i see here

24:40

at iupui's program with the school of

24:43

liberal arts

24:45

and they are proof

24:46

that liberal arts work

24:49

so what is liberal arts anyway

24:51

well for the sake of the speech i want

24:53

to stick to one definition as given by

24:55

author mackenzie perkins

24:57

she says the key element in defining

24:59

liberal arts is the intent to combine

25:02

practical concrete information like data

25:05

and statistics with theoretical

25:07

knowledge like ethics and philosophy

25:11

now based on that definition couldn't we

25:13

all say that regardless of our field of

25:15

study we are all products of liberal

25:17

arts

25:18

i mean haven't we all combined practical

25:21

concrete information with our own

25:23

personal vision and theoretical

25:24

knowledge to achieve success

25:28

you know four years ago if you would ask

25:30

me what liberal arts was i i would have

25:33

been able to tell you i wouldn't even

25:35

been able to begin to try to define what

25:37

liberal arts is

25:39

see i was a late bloomer i didn't begin

25:41

my college career until the age of 34

25:43

years old

25:45

and honestly that's due to

25:48

uh that's due to a troubled youth that

25:50

led me to prison at a very young age

25:52

and even after being released i felt

25:54

lost defeated visionless

25:58

i spent the next

25:59

decade of my life working dead in jobs

26:01

that could barely pay the bills

26:04

one day that all changed i was reading a

26:05

book called wild at heart and i just had

26:07

this overwhelming feeling come come upon

26:09

me that i could do better that i could

26:11

be better

26:12

i started to finally have vision

26:15

it wasn't long after that that i got my

26:17

record expunged and i decided it was

26:19

time for me to go back to school

26:21

i spent my first three semesters at iv

26:23

tech and then i transferred to iupui to

26:26

pursue a bachelor of arts in

26:27

communication study

26:29

it was then

26:31

january of 2019 that things really began

26:34

to shift for the better

26:37

here i was a young product of liberal

26:39

arts

26:40

taking my concrete information and

26:43

combining it with my vision and

26:45

theoretical knowledge to begin chasing

26:48

success

26:50

now i can spend the next three hours

26:51

talking about all the amazing

26:52

experiences i've had at iupui

26:55

but instead i want to focus on three

26:57

things that i learned

26:59

three things that i learned that will

27:01

will there were a turning point and will

27:03

forever

27:04

impact my life

27:07

first i and arguably maybe even the most

27:09

important thing i learned was

27:11

that it's okay to make mistake

27:13

that failing at something doesn't make

27:15

you a failure but instead it makes you a

27:18

student

27:19

a student that has the ability to learn

27:21

and to grow from their mistakes

27:24

this was new to me

27:26

this was the opposite of my experience

27:28

as a kid i lived in a very strict

27:30

household where there was there's really

27:31

no room for failure

27:33

if i didn't meet a standard of

27:34

perfection that was set before me i was

27:35

met with swift consequences

27:38

it's from that that i began to live with

27:39

a lot of unnecessary self-made pressure

27:41

and needless to say that created a lot

27:43

of anxiety

27:46

it wasn't until really coming to iupui

27:48

school of liberal arts and taking

27:50

classes like communication theory

27:52

advanced interpersonal communication

27:54

acting and many more that i learned that

27:56

it's okay to fail sometimes

27:58

the failure doesn't define you

28:00

it's like thomas edison once said

28:03

i haven't failed

28:05

i just found 10 000 ways that won't work

28:09

the school liberal arts taught me that

28:11

in life i will make mistakes

28:13

that i will occasionally fail and

28:15

honestly

28:16

that's okay

28:18

that's part of being a visionary it's

28:19

part of being a dream chaser a leader

28:22

and it doesn't define you

28:24

so one thing that that the school of

28:26

liberal arts here at iupui has taught me

28:28

is that making mistakes is okay and then

28:29

we will fail something

28:31

another thing it taught me is that it's

28:32

okay to ask for help

28:35

i know this may sound cliche and and

28:37

honestly to a lot of people this just

28:39

sounds like common sense well

28:40

of course it's okay to ask for help

28:43

but for me this was a new concept

28:46

again as a child i was expected to know

28:48

things and asking for help wasn't always

28:50

met with the most loving and patient

28:52

response

28:54

i had this mentality growing up and even

28:56

into adulthood that asking for help

28:58

meant you were weak

29:00

meant you were stupid

29:02

well that mentality changed for me as i

29:05

stepped into my junior and senior year

29:06

here at iupui

29:08

i took some challenging classes that

29:10

honestly i wouldn't have passed if i

29:12

would have reached out and asked for

29:14

help

29:15

and every time i did i was met with

29:18

grace

29:19

a willingness to teach

29:21

in a diligence in making sure that i

29:23

understood what i needed to the

29:26

professors in the school of liberal arts

29:28

made it a safe place for me to ask for

29:30

help

29:31

even to the point that i still talk to

29:34

some of those professors to this day

29:35

when i need help

29:37

so again

29:39

iupui in the school of liberal arts has

29:40

taught me that yes we will make mistakes

29:43

in life and it and it's taught me too

29:45

that when you do make mistakes or you're

29:46

in a tough spot that it's okay to ask

29:48

for help

29:50

the third thing it's taught me

29:51

is that i do have what it takes to

29:53

achieve greatness

29:55

to me this is probably the most

29:57

important and powerful lesson i learned

30:00

for anyone to achieve success they have

30:02

to first believe in themselves enough

30:04

to begin taking the necessary steps of

30:06

faith that are required

30:08

to succeed

30:10

for so many years i lived thinking that

30:12

being a bartender or a handyman or an

30:14

uber driver was the best i could be

30:17

i wasn't made for more i believed the

30:19

worst about myself

30:21

i didn't believe i had any talent or

30:23

anything to offer this world

30:26

and i mean i wasn't perfect so in my

30:29

mind

30:30

i must have been worthless

30:32

and

30:33

to be honest for quite a long time i was

30:35

content with that

30:37

a few years before coming to iupui i

30:39

began to think differently i began to

30:41

believe that maybe i can do better

30:44

now i was still really scared to really

30:45

take any risk but my mind began to

30:48

change

30:49

and it was coming here to iupui school

30:51

of liberal arts that though that those

30:54

thoughts that i could be better that i

30:55

could do better were finally confirmed

30:58

and it was with my professors encouraged

31:00

me to encouraging me to step out and

31:03

take risks that i began doing so

31:06

it's because of that that during my time

31:08

at iupui i can say that every semester i

31:10

was on the dean's list

31:12

that i was nominated twice for top 100

31:16

that i was inducted into lamda paeda

31:19

that i was the first runner-up at the

31:20

annual speech night competition and that

31:23

i was iupui's 2021 student commencement

31:26

speak

31:28

you know

31:30

at graduation i was no longer this

31:33

scared convict with the mindset they

31:36

kept him believing he was nothing

31:40

instead i was a confident man using

31:42

concrete information combined with

31:43

theoretical knowledge obtaining success

31:48

the school liberal arts here at iupui

31:50

has changed my life and as we celebrate

31:52

50 years of success

31:53

my hope is that we all as visionaries

31:57

continue to envision and work towards

31:59

another even more successful 50 years

32:03

may the legacy of iupui school of

32:06

liberal arts continue to advance in

32:07

achievements and accomplishment and

32:09

change the lives of those touched by his

32:12

experiences

32:15

through com theory john paris sproul

32:17

taught me that in class as in life

32:19

everyone can receive an a is simply up

32:22

to the amount of work you want to put

32:23

into it

32:24

he taught me how to apply theoretical

32:26

concepts like relational dialect or

32:28

communication accommodation to analyze

32:30

communication issues

32:32

through acting one emilio robles taught

32:34

me to think outside the box

32:37

he taught me that artists

32:39

make choices and to be aware of those

32:41

choices

32:43

he taught me to be present to be

32:45

rigorous

32:46

to be open to be affected to be aware

32:49

but most importantly

32:50

taught me to be respectful

32:54

it was through interviewing principals

32:56

mike politis taught me basic

32:57

understanding of the interviewing

32:59

process and designing an interview

33:03

he also taught me that in life

33:05

the life in general is better when you

33:07

sprinkle a little bit of humor on it and

33:09

that i also probably shouldn't offer

33:11

personal information in an interview

33:13

apparently an interviewer doesn't care

33:16

that i have three kids and enjoy beer on

33:17

a weekend

33:19

who would have thought

33:21

and it was through many other classes

33:22

and professors that i learned

33:24

life-changing concepts and skills

33:27

now my prayer is that over the next 50

33:29

years that these kind of teaching

33:30

experiences would endure

33:32

the students would have even greater

33:34

experiences greater understandings and

33:36

knowledge

33:38

i pray that over the next 50 years iupui

33:40

has an established reputation of being

33:42

one of the greatest

33:44

one of the greatest liberal arts schools

33:46

not only in the nation but in the entire

33:48

world

33:50

and i also pray for 50 50 vision

33:53

i pray that the leaders in the school

33:55

would join me not only in believing but

33:57

in helping frame

33:59

50 unique stories over the next 50 years

34:04

i want to hear of the international

34:06

student that came to iupui school of

34:07

liberal arts with the hope of a better

34:09

future just to leave and literally

34:11

change the course of humanity

34:15

i want to hear of the impoverished inner

34:17

city student that graduates and becomes

34:18

one of the next chiefs of justice

34:21

i want to hear the immigrant who is who

34:23

is brought here as a child against their

34:25

will hopeless and stuck

34:27

yet choosing to come to

34:29

this school as an adult finding a new

34:32

hope in a new courage to become the next

34:34

ceo starbuck or the next ceo of disney

34:39

i hope to hear the story of the

34:40

overcomer the victim

34:42

the one who has suffered at the hands of

34:44

sexual and physical abuse yet by coming

34:46

to iupui school of liberal arts they

34:48

find a renewed strength and they become

34:50

one of the greatest inspirations

34:52

influences and leaders in history

34:56

i hope to hear the convict

34:58

broken and dejected

35:01

graduate becoming a distinguished

35:03

entertainer breaking records with awards

35:06

in college

35:08

i hope to hear stories like these and so

35:10

much more my 50 50 vision isn't looking

35:13

for the ordinary

35:14

but instead it's looking for the

35:16

extraordinary

35:17

the overcomers the dream chasers the

35:19

pursuers the diligent

35:23

the visionary

35:24

the visionaries that are caught built up

35:27

and encouraged by iupui school of

35:30

liberal arts

35:32

now i want to leave you guys with this

35:34

quote by oprah winfrey

35:37

you will find true success and happiness

35:39

if you have only one goal

35:41

there really is only one and that is

35:43

this to fulfill the highest most

35:46

truthful expression of yourself as a

35:47

human being

35:49

you want to max out your humanity your

35:51

humanity by using your energy to lift

35:54

yourself up your family and the people

35:56

around you

35:58

theologian howard thurman said it best

36:00

he said don't ask yourself what the

36:02

world needs ask yourself what makes you

36:04

come alive and go do that

36:06

because what the world needs is people

36:09

who come alive

36:12

so

36:13

helping people come alive

36:16

well iupui school of liberal arts does

36:19

just that

36:21

so congratulations on celebrating 50

36:23

years

36:24

thank you

36:28

wow

36:30

i have to pause

36:31

to get my emotions together

36:34

wow wow what a rich rich message

36:38

very rich

36:40

with lots of takeaways

36:43

nuggets that we can all use but perhaps

36:45

i think the most important thing the

36:47

message that matthew had for us today is

36:50

the pathway to success

36:52

is not free from failure

36:54

but the key is to keep going you will

36:57

get there so thank you matthew you've

36:59

had quite a journey and i love that you

37:02

see clearly the 50 50 vision that

37:04

liberal arts is key to making a

37:07

difference

37:08

in our world

37:11

another group making a difference in our

37:12

world is our alums

37:15

our alumni are really the success of the

37:18

school

37:19

tonight we'll hear from a first

37:21

generation student who overcame many

37:23

obstacles as she navigated world the

37:26

world of higher education

37:29

beth windish now works for the

37:31

department of homeland security helping

37:33

to keep all of us safe now and in the

37:36

future

37:37

let's listen to beth's story

37:42

i'm from indianapolis and i remember

37:45

each weekend my dad driving around kind

37:48

of where he grew up and saying you need

37:49

to get an education

37:51

other people in my family hadn't had

37:54

that experience didn't have those

37:56

opportunities and he knew that

37:58

education meant opportunities it meant

38:01

choices it meant freedom it meant that

38:04

you have

38:05

more options later on in life the

38:07

difficulty

38:09

is when you're a first generation

38:10

student you can have a family value of

38:12

education but maybe not know exactly how

38:16

you turn that into reality my first

38:18

semester i was at a different school and

38:20

it just wasn't the right fit for me and

38:22

i knew that i needed to make a change my

38:25

second semester my freshman year i came

38:27

to

38:28

iupui and i

38:31

took a few different classes in liberal

38:33

arts and i just really connected with

38:36

the faculty in the political science

38:38

department dr pegg gave me a book called

38:42

bananas beaches and bases by cynthia

38:45

imlo when i was an undergrad probably in

38:47

his war and conflict class

38:50

and it's really a framework for

38:52

looking at conflict and international

38:54

relations in a different way

38:56

using feminist international relations

38:58

theory and

39:00

i never encountered this kind of

39:03

thinking and it really shifted my world

39:05

view i was really involved in the

39:07

political science students association

39:11

and also just within indianapolis

39:13

volunteering and being involved in some

39:15

civic organizations including

39:18

the indiana national organization for

39:21

women chapter

39:23

and at that time we had the march for

39:25

women's lives that was occurring

39:27

and

39:28

a lot of us here at iupui wanted to go

39:31

and be part of that

39:33

in washington dc we organized a

39:36

fundraiser here locally so that a bus of

39:39

students from iupui could come to the

39:42

mall be part of that day and

39:45

you know represent

39:47

our beliefs and women's rights and be

39:49

part of that historic day

39:53

my first job in my federal career after

39:56

iupui was as a policy analyst with the

39:59

department of homeland security i found

40:01

that i needed a lot of tools in my

40:03

toolkit to understand things like public

40:06

health

40:07

economic impacts of how private industry

40:10

may affect security issues communication

40:13

being able to write memos very quickly

40:16

on a

40:17

on short notice and getting those

40:19

materials to people explaining complex

40:22

information in accessible terms to

40:25

multiple audiences

40:27

those types of skills were really

40:29

important for me to be successful today

40:32

i'm still with the department of

40:33

homeland security and i work for the

40:36

center for prevention programs and

40:38

partnerships and i'm the regional

40:40

prevention coordinator for the states of

40:42

illinois and indiana

40:44

and we're working to

40:46

build local frameworks to prevent

40:49

violence targeted violence and terrorism

40:51

by

40:52

looking for ways that we can do early

40:54

intervention and prevention and really

40:56

approach

40:57

violence prevention of this type from a

40:59

public health perspective

41:01

having my first semester of college be

41:03

shaped by september 11th starting in

41:06

2001 and then

41:08

trying to figure out

41:10

what did i want my career to be what did

41:13

i want my contribution to be to

41:16

protect the country and to be involved

41:18

in public service

41:19

definitely took me

41:21

some time to figure out and i think

41:22

during my time at iupui

41:24

i was able to

41:27

explore those different things through

41:28

different courses different disciplines

41:30

i'm just grateful and i feel lucky to be

41:33

able to take what i have learned and try

41:35

to apply it to making indiana safer and

41:38

to making you know my friends and family

41:41

safer and our community safer that's my

41:44

goal i couldn't have told you

41:47

when i was here at iupui that this is

41:49

what i would be doing because i wouldn't

41:50

have imagined it

41:52

happy 50th anniversary liberal arts

42:01

what a great success story beth and we

42:04

appreciate what you're doing in our

42:06

communities and our world and i'll add

42:08

that we just love hearing from our

42:10

alumni we love hearing what you're doing

42:13

so those kinds of stories never get old

42:16

so thank you so much beth for sharing

42:18

your story with us

42:20

so now it's time for another bit of

42:22

history trivia so this is one of those

42:24

that many people have wondered about

42:27

through the years including myself when

42:28

i first came here

42:30

did you know

42:32

do you know i should say why there are

42:35

no windows in the first three floors of

42:38

the kavanaugh hall

42:42

now this is something i myself have

42:44

wondered and the answer is because there

42:47

are no windows were installed for safety

42:50

reason

42:51

so due to the many street protests that

42:53

were happening in indianapolis during

42:55

the early 70s

42:57

always wondered about that but now i

42:59

know so it was for safety reasons i do

43:02

know this that when the campus center

43:04

was being built i had a fourth floor

43:06

office and i would swivel my chair

43:09

around to watch the campus center being

43:11

built

43:12

needless to say i was very distracted

43:15

for that couple of years didn't get a

43:17

lot graded

43:18

in a timely fashion as it were because i

43:20

was watching the campus center out my

43:22

fourth floor window

43:24

so let me introduce to you liz

43:26

goodfellow the executive director for

43:29

advancement and she should be no

43:31

stranger to many of you as she welcomes

43:33

alumni back to campus or connects with

43:36

them over a cup of coffee so liz what do

43:39

you have to share with us this evening

43:44

thank you

43:46

welcome everyone we're so excited that

43:48

you joined us this afternoon and we look

43:50

forward to connecting with you

43:52

throughout the year as you heard others

43:54

say in this last year and a half the

43:56

school has found itself facing one of

43:58

its greatest challenges in its 50-year

44:01

history how to recruit and retain

44:03

students

44:04

several societal factors including a

44:06

global health pandemic

44:09

rampant student debt the looming

44:11

demographic cliff

44:13

a national culture that emphasizes stem

44:16

discipline

44:17

are working against the opportunity to

44:20

earn a liberal arts education

44:23

supporting students with the tools and

44:25

resources they need to be successful is

44:28

changing

44:29

we want to make sure our students leave

44:31

the school of liberal arts with a degree

44:34

and a clear path forward without

44:36

crippling debt

44:39

we are launching a fifty dollars for 50

44:41

years anniversary campaign

44:44

we have created a crowdfunding page on

44:46

the indian indiana university foundation

44:50

to raise funds for scholarships and

44:52

programs that help recruit and retain

44:54

students

44:56

as we celebrate our 50 years

44:58

let's build the foundation for the next

45:00

generation of students

45:03

and every dollar given will be benched

45:06

by generous donors

45:09

this week we hope to raise five thousand

45:11

dollars please go to our crowdfunding

45:14

page and give today

45:17

we want to raise at least 50 000

45:21

in this 50 years to help our students

45:25

help us make a difference so these

45:27

students can be successful alums

45:30

thanks and now i want to introduce you

45:34

to one of our generous donors she

45:36

graduated with a ba in spanish she

45:39

received her master's of public affairs

45:42

and she is one of our dean's advisory

45:44

council members mariana works as the

45:47

director of workforce development and

45:50

entrepreneurship at la plaza

45:52

mariana take it away

45:55

thanks so much liz and hello everyone as

45:59

liz mentioned my name is mariana lopez

46:01

owens and you know i am so excited to

46:05

continue working here in our local

46:07

central indiana community um in a

46:12

latino serving non-profit but i am just

46:14

so excited to join all of you to kick

46:17

off our 50th year anniversary today

46:20

and as liz mentioned i'm very proud to

46:23

be part of the dean's advisory council

46:25

which is made up of members from the

46:27

community which offer a wide range of

46:30

expertise and insights

46:32

to inform the school's strategic

46:34

development efforts

46:36

and i want to share a little bit about

46:38

the reasons why i give

46:40

so since becoming financially able to

46:43

give i mean the school of liberal arts

46:46

at iupui was a no-brainer for for me and

46:49

my husband he's also an iupui school of

46:52

liberal arts alum

46:54

and this is because of the

46:57

life impact that the school has had on

47:00

us

47:01

and i can truly say that

47:04

it was through this um

47:06

it was because of the foundational

47:08

education the foundation

47:11

that i received here at the school of

47:13

liberal arts that

47:15

i was able to succeed in the workplace

47:18

and in life generally

47:21

but it was really

47:22

something really really special about

47:25

the iupui school of liberal arts is the

47:29

faculty and the staff i think as has

47:32

been mentioned with former students

47:36

the staff really really

47:38

uh care for the students and put

47:41

students first

47:43

and myself i am a first generation

47:46

student

47:46

and i don't think

47:48

i could have

47:50

i mean i

47:51

i don't know

47:53

what my experience would have been

47:55

elsewhere but i just know that it was

47:57

because of the professors at iupui

48:01

people like dr rosa de san jose

48:03

dr robert aponte who really really had

48:06

an impact in my critical thinking skills

48:09

and

48:10

helped me

48:11

really

48:13

get those interdisciplinary skills that

48:16

now allow me to be successful in the

48:18

workplace and um

48:21

it was also because of the financial

48:23

support i received um with scholarships

48:26

from the school of liberal arts that

48:29

allowed me to kind of focus on my school

48:32

and also like allowed me the free time

48:35

to instead of working perhaps at a

48:37

part-time job um you know be a part of

48:40

extracurricular activities that really

48:43

develop my leadership skills and this is

48:46

i don't want to say this to brag or

48:47

anything

48:48

but in it was because of all the support

48:52

all the nurturing that i received from

48:53

the faculty and staff

48:55

that in 2014 um during the top 100 um

49:00

top 100 student celebration i was named

49:04

iupui's top female student and it was

49:06

because of just wow the incredible

49:09

support that i received and i am

49:12

really forever grateful to the school of

49:14

liberal arts and the the impact that the

49:17

faculty and the

49:19

the faculty had on on me and i'm getting

49:21

emotional because i'm like woof

49:23

um it really really means a lot so

49:27

now i'm gonna get myself together and

49:30

i'm gonna ask all of you who you know

49:32

who are financially able to give to

49:35

support students like myself you know

49:37

please help us in this first crown

49:39

crowdfunding effort um we really want to

49:42

reach that fifty thousand dollar amount

49:44

um and i'm excited to announce that this

49:48

uh school of liberal arts um dean

49:51

advisory council is matching

49:54

um up to five thousand dollars so we're

49:56

excited um to do this

49:59

crowdfunding effort and we hope that you

50:01

join us

50:03

and we certainly appreciate that the

50:06

dean's council advisory council members

50:08

are providing a match for the crown

50:10

crowdfunding effort

50:12

i love the idea of doubling my donation

50:15

to help our students with scholarships

50:17

and programs that they need to succeed

50:21

so now i want to introduce a student who

50:24

has been the recipient of scholarship

50:26

that have made such a difference in her

50:29

life

50:30

actually it's logan brahm is the first

50:33

generation college student and just

50:35

graduated this may with dual degrees in

50:38

history and political science

50:41

in addition to being a

50:43

school of liberal arts student council

50:45

president

50:46

logan was a resident assistant held many

50:49

positions in the honors college student

50:52

council

50:53

and was treasurer of the iupui mock

50:55

trial team

50:56

logan was also a member of the inaugural

50:58

chancellor's student advisory board a

51:01

campus ambassador with the office of

51:03

undergraduate admissions

51:05

this may logan was selected as the

51:08

school of liberal arts faculty medal of

51:11

distinction winner very impressive it's

51:14

our highest honor and so we're very

51:16

proud

51:17

he's currently in law school and works

51:19

as an admissions counselor here at iupui

51:22

for the school of liberal arts

51:25

logan

51:29

thank you for that lofty introduction um

51:31

you know when i think of what

51:32

scholarships

51:33

mean to me

51:34

it really is the idea of how they allow

51:36

me to buy back my time

51:38

you know when you think of the idea of

51:40

mousel's hierarchy of needs right the

51:42

very base level is taking care of of

51:45

those needs that you simply need to

51:46

exist and that's what the scholarship

51:48

money really provides by covering for

51:50

tuition

51:51

for housing for food costs and by having

51:54

those covered you're then able to focus

51:56

on

51:57

that self-fulfillment need which the

51:59

liberal arts is immensely

52:02

able to provide our students through

52:04

their many programs

52:05

i have no doubt that

52:08

you know i was more successful

52:09

academically

52:11

and i was able to do more because of

52:13

various scholarships i was fortunate

52:14

enough to receive

52:16

because of the scholarship while i did

52:18

work to have to or while i did work

52:20

part-time you know if i did not have to

52:22

work as many hours and so i was able to

52:23

dedicate time to my academic studies

52:26

um two different student organizations

52:28

and campus involvement areas that i was

52:30

in

52:31

and through that i have no doubt that

52:33

that money provided to me allowed me to

52:35

succeed in a way that i would have not

52:36

been able to had i not been fortunate

52:38

enough to receive those scholarship and

52:40

so your donor money does really impact

52:42

students on an individual level and why

52:44

i can only speak to my uh one experience

52:47

that that i had i can i could tell you

52:48

that it is not um a

52:51

one-off story i have been i have helped

52:54

many students across my four years

52:56

applying for similar scholarships um who

52:58

told me stories about how when they when

53:00

they were awarded a scholarship you know

53:01

that meant that they didn't have to work

53:03

weekends anymore uh because that

53:04

scholarship was enough to cover say

53:06

their rent for students who only had a

53:08

few dollars in their bank account we

53:09

threw a scholarship were able to now

53:11

have food covered for the rest of the

53:12

semester and so when you're thinking

53:14

about university you're thinking about

53:16

that intellectual enrichment but that

53:18

really only happens if we have the

53:19

scholarship money

53:20

to award to our students to provide for

53:22

their basic foundational need

53:24

because that creates stability that

53:26

allows them to then thrive and give back

53:27

to the campus

53:29

and so you know i was fortunate enough

53:31

to be named one of the 50 faces of iupui

53:34

to be given the faculty medal of honor

53:36

of distinction during my time at iupui

53:38

and i definitely know that would not

53:39

happen had i not received the various

53:42

scholarships i do so your donor dollars

53:44

really do matter

53:45

and

53:46

there are students today there are

53:48

alumni today who were able to graduate

53:50

because of those donor dollars who

53:51

otherwise may not have

53:53

and so i encourage people who are able

53:55

to give

53:56

to give so that the next generation of

53:58

our students

53:59

can graduate

54:00

and can do so

54:02

having their basic needs met and being

54:04

able to give back to the community

54:06

because they're able to buy back their

54:07

time and have the freedom to serve

54:10

appreciate your story and we're so

54:13

thankful that donors provide scholarship

54:15

opportunities

54:17

now we have one last did you know

54:20

history trivia

54:22

so here is our next did you know did you

54:24

know that liberal arts celebrated the

54:26

retirement of a beloved associate dean

54:28

and professor with 400 guests

54:32

wearing

54:33

hats

54:34

matrice do you know this answer

54:38

[Music]

54:41

i sure do

54:43

though i wasn't there it was our beloved

54:46

miriam langsam who retired as associate

54:48

dean and professor emerita in history in

54:51

2003

54:53

she was so special that the student

54:55

services office offices are named after

54:58

her

54:59

so so sweet and a much deserved way to

55:03

honor her contribution to the school

55:07

i hope you had fun with these did you

55:08

knows

55:09

history trivia so let's keep this trivia

55:12

going well beyond today

55:14

we'd like you to submit your bits of

55:16

history so that we can feature them on

55:18

social media on the website and at our

55:21

events throughout the year

55:23

one way you can do this is by going to

55:26

our 50th anniversary landing page

55:30

that's right so just go to the school of

55:32

liberal arts homepage

55:35

liberalarts.iupy.edu

55:36

and it lives under the about tab so

55:39

there you can see the did you knows the

55:42

alumni success stories how to share

55:44

memories from our 50 years a link to the

55:47

dollars for fifty crowd page

55:49

crowdfunding page and much more

55:54

so on behalf of mike and myself thank

55:56

you so much for joining us this evening

55:58

it's been fun to kick off this year of

56:00

celebration thank you mike for sharing

56:03

the honor of being an emcee thank you

56:06

matrice

56:07

i too have enjoyed the sharing the stage

56:09

with you and many of our guests so thank

56:11

you to the administrators faculty staff

56:13

alumni donors and especially

56:16

our students

56:18

you are our future and with all of you

56:21

it will be a bright future so we'll see

56:24

you all throughout this 50th anniversary

56:26

school year best of luck

56:29

look for more to come

56:30

check out our social media and our

56:32

website we want you to stay connected it

56:36

is our school and together we'll

56:38

continue to make a difference have a

56:40

good evening

56:44

[Music]

56:54

you

Alumni Success Stories

With more than 26,000 graduating alumni over the last 50 years, every Liberal Arts Jaguar has a story to tell. We honor those who have used their liberal arts skills, proficiencies, and talent to create satisfying and successful life and career achievements. Meet our outstanding alums.

Liberal Arts Success Story: Beth Windisch ’05

Alumni Success Story: Sarah Bahr '18

Alumni Success Story: Marc McAleavey '04

Honoring Our Legacy

During the 2021-22 academic year, the IU School of Liberal Arts celebrated 50 years of liberal arts education in Indianapolis. Take a look back at how faculty, staff, and students honored the School’s rich traditions of teaching innovation, research, and student achievement.

50th Anniversary Kickoff Event

Description of the video:

Description of the video:

00:00

[Music]

00:05

hello hello and welcome everyone we are

00:09

so excited about you joining us for the

00:12

school of liberal arts 50th anniversary

00:14

kickoff i'm matrice merriweather chief

00:17

talent officer at the national

00:19

federation of state high school

00:21

associations and the former president

00:24

and past president of the alumni board

00:26

of the school of liberal arts

00:28

and co-hosting this event with me today

00:30

we have mike paletti's

00:33

welcome mike

00:35

thank you very much matrice i'm mike

00:36

palitus and i'm a teaching professor in

00:39

the department of communication studies

00:41

here in the school liberal arts can you

00:43

believe it has been 50 years since the

00:45

beginning of the school of liberal arts

00:48

so of course neither matrison or i were

00:50

around then but we have people joining

00:52

us this evening who were

00:54

in our virtual world these days we have

00:56

campus administrators including our

00:58

chancellor faculty staff students alumni

01:03

donors and friends joining us from

01:06

across the united states

01:08

we appreciate being able to connect in

01:10

this way so that you can share in the

01:12

excitement of celebrating the 50th

01:14

anniversary

01:15

that's fantastic the school is working

01:18

on creating something for everyone to

01:20

get involved in so let's get excited

01:24

one of those activities is what we call

01:26

did you know

01:27

this is a little history trivia that

01:30

we'll be sharing with you not only

01:31

tonight but throughout the year

01:33

we'll also reveal with you later how you

01:36

can share your bits of history mike go

01:39

ahead and take us through the first

01:41

reveal of the bit of trivia

01:43

all right our first did you know

01:48

did you know

01:49

a liberal arts dean

01:51

participated in a dunk the dean contest

01:55

during a welcome event for students

01:59

which dean was it

02:03

unfortunately i wasn't around for that

02:05

event but

02:07

i sure would like to have been were you

02:09

around for this mike you know i was on

02:12

campus but i don't recall going to this

02:14

event but

02:15

hearing the answer to this does not the

02:17

least bit surprise me

02:19

it was bill blumquist in 2010

02:23

so thanks bill for being such a great

02:26

sport

02:30

now let me introduce the dean of the

02:33

school of liberal arts tammy idle

02:37

thank you mattress and mike i love

02:39

learning more about the history of our

02:41

school

02:42

now it is my great pleasure to introduce

02:45

the fifth chancellor of iupui

02:48

nasser h padar who will share a few

02:51

words about the school of liberal arts

02:53

anniversary

02:55

i also want to thank chancellor padar

02:57

for coming out to the taylor courtyard

02:59

last wednesday

03:00

to participate in our 50th anniversary

03:03

photo

03:05

well thank you very much tammy and thank

03:08

you all

03:09

for joining us uh for this virtual

03:11

celebration of the school of lebron

03:14

tammy you were not here

03:16

in 2019 when we celebrated iupui's 50th

03:20

anniversary

03:22

a year later we celebrated our 200 year

03:26

anniversary you know iu by centennial

03:29

that was when people in the community

03:31

ask me if you know math are you do you

03:33

teach math you know 50th the next year

03:36

200 it took me a long time to explain

03:39

the situation between 50th and

03:41

bicentennial

03:42

and now in 2021 school of liberal arts

03:46

is celebrating 50th anniversary when it

03:49

was formed in 1972 when i heard that i

03:53

started quickly doing math because i

03:54

know people are going to ask me and then

03:56

i checked with the school i said lebron

03:59

do you guys know math well i was told

04:01

this is a year-long celebration starting

04:04

today

04:05

uh this in 2021 and ending in 2022 and

04:08

it's so appropriate that we celebrate

04:11

the school of liberal arts

04:14

over a year now these celebrations bring

04:17

such joy to our campus and i'm certain

04:20

that recognizing this milestone for the

04:22

school of liberal arts will help bring

04:24

people together to renew connections and

04:27

friendships and remind people of the

04:30

great history of this wonderful school

04:33

now when i think of this school i'm

04:35

reminded of joseph taylor the school's

04:38

founding dean

04:40

he was a true pioneer who brought a deep

04:43

commitment to education as well as to

04:46

the indianapolis community now you you

04:49

may know that dr taylor was tapped by

04:52

to be the founding dean of the school of

04:55

liberal arts by iu president herman b

04:58

wells because taylor

05:00

knew how to build consensus

05:03

and his model of collaborative

05:04

leadership

05:06

really continues to characterize our

05:08

campus

05:09

taylor symposium was named in his honor

05:12

as well as the taylor hall

05:14

just as

05:16

dr taylor

05:18

is

05:20

indelible part of iupa liberal arts

05:22

history so too is cavanaugh hall the

05:25

first building

05:27

constructed on what has become iupui's

05:31

beautiful campus

05:34

speaking about cavanaugh hall just the

05:35

other day i think it was

05:37

monday or tuesday of this week that i

05:39

was in kavanaugh hall and as i was

05:42

going up the stairs i remember

05:44

years ago

05:47

when students really actually physically

05:49

registered in that building now mike

05:52

said he wasn't here when 50 years ago

05:55

the school was established i wasn't here

05:58

either just want to clarify that but i

06:00

joined iupa in 1985

06:03

and those days if a person wanted to

06:05

register now believe it or not there was

06:07

no internet in 1985

06:10

they had to physically go to the office

06:12

of registrar which was on the first

06:14

floor of kavanaugh hall to register and

06:17

right before they registered they had to

06:19

get a faculty signature

06:21

to be able to go and register and i

06:23

volunteered and

06:25

to do that to help with the registration

06:28

so i

06:28

spent a lot of time in kavanaugh hall

06:31

and students will line up and the line

06:32

will go down the stairs up the stairs go

06:34

around the building once or twice and

06:37

before they

06:38

get the signature and register and i

06:40

remember one thing

06:42

when my

06:43

department chairman volunteered me to to

06:46

go ahead and do this

06:48

he said i want you to go tonight to

06:51

to barf at kavanaugh

06:53

i said excuse me to barf at kavanaugh

06:56

well those days

06:58

bursar's admission registrar and

07:00

financial aid we're in kavanaugh hall

07:02

some of you remember

07:03

and the acronym barf came from that

07:05

thank god barf has now moved to campus

07:09

center

07:11

um

07:12

and kavanaugh hall has been the home of

07:15

our wonderful school of liberal arts and

07:18

it has been

07:19

said

07:20

many times that a degree in liberal arts

07:23

prepares students not only to make a

07:25

living

07:26

but also to make a life

07:28

in many respects the basis of global

07:32

citizenship is right here in liberal

07:34

arts

07:35

with programs in history world languages

07:37

and cultures anthropology sociology

07:40

economics and political sciences

07:43

the reach and the impact of this school

07:45

however goes beyond your wonderful

07:48

majors

07:49

though this campus has a large number of

07:52

professional degree programs

07:54

all of our students need a solid

07:57

foundation in the liberal arts which is

07:59

truly the backbone of an of an iupui

08:03

education now i've said this before

08:06

it's one thing to train a medical doctor

08:09

to save a life

08:10

it's another thing to have that doctor

08:13

value the life she's saving this is what

08:16

liberal arts

08:17

teaches

08:19

as important

08:20

as programs and departments are at the

08:23

heart of every school including this one

08:27

there are people

08:29

i want to acknowledge that tens of

08:31

thousands of students who have graduated

08:33

along with our current students that and

08:36

that are pushing for graduation from the

08:38

school of liberal arts in the history of

08:40

school of liberal arts

08:42

10 of the graduates of iupa come from

08:45

your school

08:46

finally i would like to close with a

08:48

special word of thanks to our faculty

08:51

and staff in the school of the world

08:54

you bring

08:55

a entrepreneurial zeal in your pursuit

08:58

of

08:59

knowledge your enthusiastic

09:02

teaching and your

09:04

you are deeply committed to supporting

09:07

students

09:08

your good work provides the educational

09:10

foundation upon which all of our

09:12

undergraduate students can build as they

09:15

pursue their degrees this is truly

09:18

something to celebrate and celebrate for

09:20

a year thank you for all you do and

09:23

happy anniversary thank you chancellor

09:26

padar

09:27

we also believe that the school is very

09:29

special i was a one-year-old when when

09:31

uh liberal arts came into life so

09:34

so moving on i i hear that the school

09:37

liberal arts had an event last week

09:39

where you all captured a commemorative

09:41

photo for the 50th anniversary i am so

09:44

sorry to have missed that event but i

09:47

thank you all of you who were able to

09:49

join in the activities so let's take a

09:52

look at last week's fabulous photo event

09:56

[Music]

09:56

[Applause]

09:59

[Music]

10:12

so

10:13

[Music]

10:25

[Music]

10:30

[Music]

10:45

thank you

10:46

[Music]

11:05

[Applause]

11:08

memories

11:14

[Music]

11:49

[Applause]

11:53

we had so much fun the weather the

11:56

weather was great students were all over

11:58

the place

11:59

and i loved smiling with a mask on at

12:02

the drone overhead i was so proud of

12:04

this because we've never done this

12:06

before so this was something that was on

12:08

our radar and we made it happen so let

12:11

me introduce our dean again tammy idle

12:14

who just started as our new dean for the

12:16

school of liberal arts on january 1st

12:18

and it's been a unique year for her

12:20

going through the interview process and

12:22

starting a new job and a pandemic and

12:24

tammy is an iu alum as she received her

12:27

ma and phd from indiana university so

12:29

dean idol take it away

12:32

thank you mike hello and welcome

12:34

everyone

12:36

i feel honored to have joined the school

12:38

this year and i'm pleased to speak to

12:40

you today as we kick off the 50th year

12:43

of the school of liberal arts

12:45

it is a year of milestones and

12:47

opportunities

12:49

last year during the pandemic the school

12:52

of liberal arts awarded 689

12:55

bachelor's degrees and certificates

12:57

89 master's degrees and certificates and

13:00

six doctoral degrees

13:02

as the school concludes its first 50

13:05

years we will surpass 27 000 degrees

13:10

those graduates are doing amazing things

13:13

despite the national focus on stem

13:15

education the school of liberal arts

13:18

remains second among all schools at

13:20

iupui and the number of undergraduate

13:23

degrees and certificates awarded every

13:25

year

13:26

more students minor in the liberal arts

13:29

than in any other school at iupui

13:32

the school of liberal arts provides over

13:35

2.5 million dollars of financial aid to

13:38

students annually and due to the

13:40

generosity of our donors many of who are

13:43

among our alumni and faculty

13:45

the school awards over 325 thousand

13:48

dollars of scholarship funding to our

13:50

students each year

13:53

the school serves undergraduate students

13:56

from every other school through the

13:58

general education offerings

14:01

this year

14:02

nearly a third of our majors are first

14:04

generation college students

14:06

and 36 percent are students of color

14:10

it is not a secret to any of you that

14:13

the school of liberal arts and its

14:14

faculty are a gem

14:17

historically students found us when they

14:19

took general education requirements and

14:21

discovered a passion for religious

14:23

studies political science language

14:26

english or anthropology to name just a

14:29

few of our disciplines

14:31

today students bring dual credit from

14:33

their high schools to iupui and they

14:36

take fewer general education courses on

14:39

campus

14:40

dual credit can reduce debt and time to

14:43

graduation for students

14:44

these are very good things

14:46

but many students across campus will

14:48

change majors and those students

14:51

no longer have the experience in our

14:53

general education courses as a

14:55

touchstone when they find themselves

14:58

seeking a new major as sophomores or

15:00

juniors

15:02

the programs in the school of liberal

15:03

arts now need to be more proactive in

15:05

recruiting students to our classrooms to

15:08

discover the value and relevance of our

15:10

many and buried degree programs

15:14

our educators and knowledge creators in

15:16

humanities and social sciences

15:19

are compelled to more clearly and more

15:21

loudly articulate the importance of the

15:23

liberal arts in our society and in our

15:26

institutions of higher education

15:29

in our disciplines students learn to

15:31

listen at the margins

15:34

challenge firmly held beliefs

15:36

ask discerning questions and communicate

15:39

across differences

15:41

our disciplines prepare students to have

15:43

an impact in any industry and in careers

15:46

that have not yet been imagined

15:49

to continue to have this impact

15:52

our programs do need to change and to to

15:54

meet the demands of our students for

15:56

greater flexibility and more innovation

15:58

in their educational experiences

16:01

our student students need us to create

16:04

more inclusive curricula and make sure

16:06

that our classrooms are welcoming and

16:08

honor the diverse backgrounds

16:10

experiences and perspectives students

16:12

bring to their education

16:15

all of our students need and deserve the

16:17

financial social

16:19

and academic support that will give

16:21

every student

16:22

a chance to succeed and reduce

16:25

inequalities in retention and graduation

16:29

finally

16:30

we need to help our students to

16:32

translate their knowledge and skills

16:34

into careers that allow them to lead

16:36

satisfying and impactful lives as

16:39

chancellor padar mentioned

16:42

the school of liberal arts is is a

16:45

community a community of engaged

16:47

humanities and social science scholars

16:49

and teachers who are deeply invested in

16:52

our students communities and impact

16:55

we can deliver inclusive curricula

16:59

a supportive and welcoming academic and

17:02

extracurricular environment

17:04

and bridges to careers that will allow

17:06

our students to live those satisfying

17:09

and impactful lives

17:12

in the school of liberal arts at iupui

17:14

we succeed when we put students first

17:17

and i am so grateful that we have

17:18

faculty and staff that do just that

17:22

thank you so much for joining us on this

17:24

special day

17:26

i look forward to meeting many of you in

17:28

the future and learning about your

17:30

connection to and stories about the

17:32

school of liberal arts

17:34

so thank you so much dean idol we really

17:37

appreciate all that you have to offer

17:40

and appreciate you being here

17:42

and like myself

17:44

i'm one of those 27 000

17:46

um graduates that uh dr that dean idol

17:50

spoke about so

17:52

um we wanted we went now to um as a

17:55

former alumni board member i want to

17:57

talk a little bit about the confidence

17:59

that i have

18:01

in being an alumni and being very proud

18:04

of where we have come from so i speak on

18:07

behalf of all other alumni

18:10

so let's hit the pause button

18:12

on alumni talk and let's talk about a

18:14

future change maker the school's

18:18

student council president

18:20

rhys chesser

18:22

reece is a member of the honors college

18:24

and is majoring in history with an

18:26

interest in museum studies and spanish

18:29

he plans to work in the museum while

18:31

working on his doctorate very impressive

18:34

he loves history and is helping us to

18:36

mark history with a very special and

18:39

exciting time capsule project now let me

18:42

tell you i'm in love with the concept

18:44

already of a time capsule so i invite

18:46

reese to tell us a little bit more about

18:48

this project

18:51

hi everyone it's uh great to be here um

18:55

as she just said that i am a history

18:57

major here uh and i am so excited full

19:00

liberal arts putting on this time

19:02

capsule um here for our 50th anniversary

19:05

this last year and a half has been

19:07

incredibly um difficult and challenging

19:09

for many of us with the ongoing pandemic

19:12

going on

19:13

for a year and a half now

19:15

and the

19:18

massive upheaval of the george floyd

19:20

protest last year

19:22

and of course

19:24

as we celebrate our 20th um anniversary

19:27

of 9 11

19:28

we continue to have that resilience

19:31

and show that we have grown since then

19:34

the school of liberal arts time capital

19:36

will document these extraordinary events

19:38

and the extraordinary resilience of our

19:41

students

19:42

as myself and our staff here

19:45

as we overcome these historical events

19:48

last week during the command

19:50

commemorative photo event we ask people

19:52

to share their ideas on um what should

19:54

be in the time capsule

19:56

we will continue to ask these ideas

19:58

throughout the entire year on our social

19:59

media our website and any other events

20:02

school liberal arts will help

20:04

help us capture these historic events

20:06

and

20:07

the hope for what lies ahead

20:09

watch for us at our twitter instagram

20:12

linkedin

20:14

and our website thank you

20:16

thank you reese and i bet you've already

20:18

received lots of suggestions and maybe

20:20

even including a mask i don't know all

20:22

right this is a perfect project for our

20:24

students to work on

20:25

reese do you come back do you plan to

20:27

come back in another 50 years and open

20:29

it with the students

20:33

you know what i might just do that

20:35

i'll i'll be here too all right i'll be

20:37

like 90 something but i'll be here

20:39

so now we have another did you know for

20:42

you so did you know

20:44

there is an urban legend among students

20:47

that kavanaugh hall

20:50

is haunted

20:55

that's intriguing

20:57

i hadn't heard of this story so i must

21:00

have been

21:02

it must been after my time in the

21:04

building so i'm wondering if some of the

21:07

unexplained noises really could have

21:09

been from

21:10

amy jones richardson who was always

21:12

working late

21:16

so

21:17

students taking

21:18

classes late at night

21:20

taking night classes often hear unusual

21:23

sounds rumblings and unexplained noises

21:27

could it be

21:28

faculty working late the hvac system or

21:31

something else

21:32

i heard a professor call the facilities

21:34

management office to see what they would

21:36

say about these sounds so

21:39

who really knows

21:41

so now let me introduce you to matthew

21:44

brown

21:45

so

21:46

the title of his talk is 50 50 vision so

21:50

matt brown was actually a former student

21:53

of mine and if matt brown looks familiar

21:56

to you that is because matt graduated in

21:59

2021 so just several months ago and matt

22:02

was selected as the student commencement

22:05

speaker so matt spoke at the class of

22:09

2020 and class of 2021 combined

22:11

graduations

22:13

back in may and did a fantastic job i

22:16

first met matt

22:18

when we bonded over the fact that we

22:21

have the same backpack

22:23

on the first day of my interviewing

22:25

class and when i saw that i knew that

22:28

this guy had good taste and that we were

22:31

going to build a relationship and

22:33

so we are very happy to have matt with

22:35

us matt is a communication studies

22:37

graduate so with his uh talk 50 50

22:42

vision please welcome matt brown

22:45

thank you mr mike i appreciate it

22:48

and as far as uh kavanaugh hall is

22:50

concerned i'm just going to go ahead and

22:51

vote that it's the hvac system but uh

22:55

anyway moving along

22:57

i'm gonna just go go ahead and dive

22:59

right into this speech um there's a lot

23:01

of meat here so i hope you're able to

23:02

grab it

23:03

author ray davis once said the tribe

23:06

often thinks the visionary has turned

23:08

his back on them when in fact the

23:10

visionary has simply turned to face the

23:13

future

23:14

when i say the word visionary what is

23:16

what is the first thing that comes to

23:17

mind what's the first thing you think

23:19

about when you think visionary

23:21

do you think world changer

23:23

do you think leader

23:25

maybe you think about your own dreams

23:26

your own vision

23:28

or maybe you think about people like

23:30

howard schultz the ceo of starbucks

23:34

michael eisner the former ceo of disney

23:37

chief justice clarence thomas or or

23:40

maybe you think of somebody like

23:42

ted turner

23:43

entrepreneur

23:44

entrepreneur and founder of cnn

23:48

or maybe you think of an entertainer

23:50

like conan o'brien emmy award-winning

23:52

creator writer and producer of one of

23:54

the most

23:55

one of the greatest late night shows

23:57

ever

23:59

maybe you think of oprah winfrey

24:01

one of the most successful and

24:03

inspirational women in modern history

24:07

regardless of what comes to mind it's

24:09

fair to say that the word visionary

24:10

comes with this idea of power

24:13

and success

24:14

and you can see this with the people i

24:16

just mentioned they were visionaries but

24:18

they also had something else in common

24:21

they also graduated from college with

24:24

degrees in liberal arts

24:27

now you may be thinking well why does

24:29

that even matter

24:31

it matters because these people had

24:33

vision

24:34

they had the same vision a vision for

24:36

success a vision to be the best of the

24:37

best the same vision that i see here

24:40

at iupui's program with the school of

24:43

liberal arts

24:45

and they are proof

24:46

that liberal arts work

24:49

so what is liberal arts anyway

24:51

well for the sake of the speech i want

24:53

to stick to one definition as given by

24:55

author mackenzie perkins

24:57

she says the key element in defining

24:59

liberal arts is the intent to combine

25:02

practical concrete information like data

25:05

and statistics with theoretical

25:07

knowledge like ethics and philosophy

25:11

now based on that definition couldn't we

25:13

all say that regardless of our field of

25:15

study we are all products of liberal

25:17

arts

25:18

i mean haven't we all combined practical

25:21

concrete information with our own

25:23

personal vision and theoretical

25:24

knowledge to achieve success

25:28

you know four years ago if you would ask

25:30

me what liberal arts was i i would have

25:33

been able to tell you i wouldn't even

25:35

been able to begin to try to define what

25:37

liberal arts is

25:39

see i was a late bloomer i didn't begin

25:41

my college career until the age of 34

25:43

years old

25:45

and honestly that's due to

25:48

uh that's due to a troubled youth that

25:50

led me to prison at a very young age

25:52

and even after being released i felt

25:54

lost defeated visionless

25:58

i spent the next

25:59

decade of my life working dead in jobs

26:01

that could barely pay the bills

26:04

one day that all changed i was reading a

26:05

book called wild at heart and i just had

26:07

this overwhelming feeling come come upon

26:09

me that i could do better that i could

26:11

be better

26:12

i started to finally have vision

26:15

it wasn't long after that that i got my

26:17

record expunged and i decided it was

26:19

time for me to go back to school

26:21

i spent my first three semesters at iv

26:23

tech and then i transferred to iupui to

26:26

pursue a bachelor of arts in

26:27

communication study

26:29

it was then

26:31

january of 2019 that things really began

26:34

to shift for the better

26:37

here i was a young product of liberal

26:39

arts

26:40

taking my concrete information and

26:43

combining it with my vision and

26:45

theoretical knowledge to begin chasing

26:48

success

26:50

now i can spend the next three hours

26:51

talking about all the amazing

26:52

experiences i've had at iupui

26:55

but instead i want to focus on three

26:57

things that i learned

26:59

three things that i learned that will

27:01

will there were a turning point and will

27:03

forever

27:04

impact my life

27:07

first i and arguably maybe even the most

27:09

important thing i learned was

27:11

that it's okay to make mistake

27:13

that failing at something doesn't make

27:15

you a failure but instead it makes you a

27:18

student

27:19

a student that has the ability to learn

27:21

and to grow from their mistakes

27:24

this was new to me

27:26

this was the opposite of my experience

27:28

as a kid i lived in a very strict

27:30

household where there was there's really

27:31

no room for failure

27:33

if i didn't meet a standard of

27:34

perfection that was set before me i was

27:35

met with swift consequences

27:38

it's from that that i began to live with

27:39

a lot of unnecessary self-made pressure

27:41

and needless to say that created a lot

27:43

of anxiety

27:46

it wasn't until really coming to iupui

27:48

school of liberal arts and taking

27:50

classes like communication theory

27:52

advanced interpersonal communication

27:54

acting and many more that i learned that

27:56

it's okay to fail sometimes

27:58

the failure doesn't define you

28:00

it's like thomas edison once said

28:03

i haven't failed

28:05

i just found 10 000 ways that won't work

28:09

the school liberal arts taught me that

28:11

in life i will make mistakes

28:13

that i will occasionally fail and

28:15

honestly

28:16

that's okay

28:18

that's part of being a visionary it's

28:19

part of being a dream chaser a leader

28:22

and it doesn't define you

28:24

so one thing that that the school of

28:26

liberal arts here at iupui has taught me

28:28

is that making mistakes is okay and then

28:29

we will fail something

28:31

another thing it taught me is that it's

28:32

okay to ask for help

28:35

i know this may sound cliche and and

28:37

honestly to a lot of people this just

28:39

sounds like common sense well

28:40

of course it's okay to ask for help

28:43

but for me this was a new concept

28:46

again as a child i was expected to know

28:48

things and asking for help wasn't always

28:50

met with the most loving and patient

28:52

response

28:54

i had this mentality growing up and even

28:56

into adulthood that asking for help

28:58

meant you were weak

29:00

meant you were stupid

29:02

well that mentality changed for me as i

29:05

stepped into my junior and senior year

29:06

here at iupui

29:08

i took some challenging classes that

29:10

honestly i wouldn't have passed if i

29:12

would have reached out and asked for

29:14

help

29:15

and every time i did i was met with

29:18

grace

29:19

a willingness to teach

29:21

in a diligence in making sure that i

29:23

understood what i needed to the

29:26

professors in the school of liberal arts

29:28

made it a safe place for me to ask for

29:30

help

29:31

even to the point that i still talk to

29:34

some of those professors to this day

29:35

when i need help

29:37

so again

29:39

iupui in the school of liberal arts has

29:40

taught me that yes we will make mistakes

29:43

in life and it and it's taught me too

29:45

that when you do make mistakes or you're

29:46

in a tough spot that it's okay to ask

29:48

for help

29:50

the third thing it's taught me

29:51

is that i do have what it takes to

29:53

achieve greatness

29:55

to me this is probably the most

29:57

important and powerful lesson i learned

30:00

for anyone to achieve success they have

30:02

to first believe in themselves enough

30:04

to begin taking the necessary steps of

30:06

faith that are required

30:08

to succeed

30:10

for so many years i lived thinking that

30:12

being a bartender or a handyman or an

30:14

uber driver was the best i could be

30:17

i wasn't made for more i believed the

30:19

worst about myself

30:21

i didn't believe i had any talent or

30:23

anything to offer this world

30:26

and i mean i wasn't perfect so in my

30:29

mind

30:30

i must have been worthless

30:32

and

30:33

to be honest for quite a long time i was

30:35

content with that

30:37

a few years before coming to iupui i

30:39

began to think differently i began to

30:41

believe that maybe i can do better

30:44

now i was still really scared to really

30:45

take any risk but my mind began to

30:48

change

30:49

and it was coming here to iupui school

30:51

of liberal arts that though that those

30:54

thoughts that i could be better that i

30:55

could do better were finally confirmed

30:58

and it was with my professors encouraged

31:00

me to encouraging me to step out and

31:03

take risks that i began doing so

31:06

it's because of that that during my time

31:08

at iupui i can say that every semester i

31:10

was on the dean's list

31:12

that i was nominated twice for top 100

31:16

that i was inducted into lamda paeda

31:19

that i was the first runner-up at the

31:20

annual speech night competition and that

31:23

i was iupui's 2021 student commencement

31:26

speak

31:28

you know

31:30

at graduation i was no longer this

31:33

scared convict with the mindset they

31:36

kept him believing he was nothing

31:40

instead i was a confident man using

31:42

concrete information combined with

31:43

theoretical knowledge obtaining success

31:48

the school liberal arts here at iupui

31:50

has changed my life and as we celebrate

31:52

50 years of success

31:53

my hope is that we all as visionaries

31:57

continue to envision and work towards

31:59

another even more successful 50 years

32:03

may the legacy of iupui school of

32:06

liberal arts continue to advance in

32:07

achievements and accomplishment and

32:09

change the lives of those touched by his

32:12

experiences

32:15

through com theory john paris sproul

32:17

taught me that in class as in life

32:19

everyone can receive an a is simply up

32:22

to the amount of work you want to put

32:23

into it

32:24

he taught me how to apply theoretical

32:26

concepts like relational dialect or

32:28

communication accommodation to analyze

32:30

communication issues

32:32

through acting one emilio robles taught

32:34

me to think outside the box

32:37

he taught me that artists

32:39

make choices and to be aware of those

32:41

choices

32:43

he taught me to be present to be

32:45

rigorous

32:46

to be open to be affected to be aware

32:49

but most importantly

32:50

taught me to be respectful

32:54

it was through interviewing principals

32:56

mike politis taught me basic

32:57

understanding of the interviewing

32:59

process and designing an interview

33:03

he also taught me that in life

33:05

the life in general is better when you

33:07

sprinkle a little bit of humor on it and

33:09

that i also probably shouldn't offer

33:11

personal information in an interview

33:13

apparently an interviewer doesn't care

33:16

that i have three kids and enjoy beer on

33:17

a weekend

33:19

who would have thought

33:21

and it was through many other classes

33:22

and professors that i learned

33:24

life-changing concepts and skills

33:27

now my prayer is that over the next 50

33:29

years that these kind of teaching

33:30

experiences would endure

33:32

the students would have even greater

33:34

experiences greater understandings and

33:36

knowledge

33:38

i pray that over the next 50 years iupui

33:40

has an established reputation of being

33:42

one of the greatest

33:44

one of the greatest liberal arts schools

33:46

not only in the nation but in the entire

33:48

world

33:50

and i also pray for 50 50 vision

33:53

i pray that the leaders in the school

33:55

would join me not only in believing but

33:57

in helping frame

33:59

50 unique stories over the next 50 years

34:04

i want to hear of the international

34:06

student that came to iupui school of

34:07

liberal arts with the hope of a better

34:09

future just to leave and literally

34:11

change the course of humanity

34:15

i want to hear of the impoverished inner

34:17

city student that graduates and becomes

34:18

one of the next chiefs of justice

34:21

i want to hear the immigrant who is who

34:23

is brought here as a child against their

34:25

will hopeless and stuck

34:27

yet choosing to come to

34:29

this school as an adult finding a new

34:32

hope in a new courage to become the next

34:34

ceo starbuck or the next ceo of disney

34:39

i hope to hear the story of the

34:40

overcomer the victim

34:42

the one who has suffered at the hands of

34:44

sexual and physical abuse yet by coming

34:46

to iupui school of liberal arts they

34:48

find a renewed strength and they become

34:50

one of the greatest inspirations

34:52

influences and leaders in history

34:56

i hope to hear the convict

34:58

broken and dejected

35:01

graduate becoming a distinguished

35:03

entertainer breaking records with awards

35:06

in college

35:08

i hope to hear stories like these and so

35:10

much more my 50 50 vision isn't looking

35:13

for the ordinary

35:14

but instead it's looking for the

35:16

extraordinary

35:17

the overcomers the dream chasers the

35:19

pursuers the diligent

35:23

the visionary

35:24

the visionaries that are caught built up

35:27

and encouraged by iupui school of

35:30

liberal arts

35:32

now i want to leave you guys with this

35:34

quote by oprah winfrey

35:37

you will find true success and happiness

35:39

if you have only one goal

35:41

there really is only one and that is

35:43

this to fulfill the highest most

35:46

truthful expression of yourself as a

35:47

human being

35:49

you want to max out your humanity your

35:51

humanity by using your energy to lift

35:54

yourself up your family and the people

35:56

around you

35:58

theologian howard thurman said it best

36:00

he said don't ask yourself what the

36:02

world needs ask yourself what makes you

36:04

come alive and go do that

36:06

because what the world needs is people

36:09

who come alive

36:12

so

36:13

helping people come alive

36:16

well iupui school of liberal arts does

36:19

just that

36:21

so congratulations on celebrating 50

36:23

years

36:24

thank you

36:28

wow

36:30

i have to pause

36:31

to get my emotions together

36:34

wow wow what a rich rich message

36:38

very rich

36:40

with lots of takeaways

36:43

nuggets that we can all use but perhaps

36:45

i think the most important thing the

36:47

message that matthew had for us today is

36:50

the pathway to success

36:52

is not free from failure

36:54

but the key is to keep going you will

36:57

get there so thank you matthew you've

36:59

had quite a journey and i love that you

37:02

see clearly the 50 50 vision that

37:04

liberal arts is key to making a

37:07

difference

37:08

in our world

37:11

another group making a difference in our

37:12

world is our alums

37:15

our alumni are really the success of the

37:18

school

37:19

tonight we'll hear from a first

37:21

generation student who overcame many

37:23

obstacles as she navigated world the

37:26

world of higher education

37:29

beth windish now works for the

37:31

department of homeland security helping

37:33

to keep all of us safe now and in the

37:36

future

37:37

let's listen to beth's story

37:42

i'm from indianapolis and i remember

37:45

each weekend my dad driving around kind

37:48

of where he grew up and saying you need

37:49

to get an education

37:51

other people in my family hadn't had

37:54

that experience didn't have those

37:56

opportunities and he knew that

37:58

education meant opportunities it meant

38:01

choices it meant freedom it meant that

38:04

you have

38:05

more options later on in life the

38:07

difficulty

38:09

is when you're a first generation

38:10

student you can have a family value of

38:12

education but maybe not know exactly how

38:16

you turn that into reality my first

38:18

semester i was at a different school and

38:20

it just wasn't the right fit for me and

38:22

i knew that i needed to make a change my

38:25

second semester my freshman year i came

38:27

to

38:28

iupui and i

38:31

took a few different classes in liberal

38:33

arts and i just really connected with

38:36

the faculty in the political science

38:38

department dr pegg gave me a book called

38:42

bananas beaches and bases by cynthia

38:45

imlo when i was an undergrad probably in

38:47

his war and conflict class

38:50

and it's really a framework for

38:52

looking at conflict and international

38:54

relations in a different way

38:56

using feminist international relations

38:58

theory and

39:00

i never encountered this kind of

39:03

thinking and it really shifted my world

39:05

view i was really involved in the

39:07

political science students association

39:11

and also just within indianapolis

39:13

volunteering and being involved in some

39:15

civic organizations including

39:18

the indiana national organization for

39:21

women chapter

39:23

and at that time we had the march for

39:25

women's lives that was occurring

39:27

and

39:28

a lot of us here at iupui wanted to go

39:31

and be part of that

39:33

in washington dc we organized a

39:36

fundraiser here locally so that a bus of

39:39

students from iupui could come to the

39:42

mall be part of that day and

39:45

you know represent

39:47

our beliefs and women's rights and be

39:49

part of that historic day

39:53

my first job in my federal career after

39:56

iupui was as a policy analyst with the

39:59

department of homeland security i found

40:01

that i needed a lot of tools in my

40:03

toolkit to understand things like public

40:06

health

40:07

economic impacts of how private industry

40:10

may affect security issues communication

40:13

being able to write memos very quickly

40:16

on a

40:17

on short notice and getting those

40:19

materials to people explaining complex

40:22

information in accessible terms to

40:25

multiple audiences

40:27

those types of skills were really

40:29

important for me to be successful today

40:32

i'm still with the department of

40:33

homeland security and i work for the

40:36

center for prevention programs and

40:38

partnerships and i'm the regional

40:40

prevention coordinator for the states of

40:42

illinois and indiana

40:44

and we're working to

40:46

build local frameworks to prevent

40:49

violence targeted violence and terrorism

40:51

by

40:52

looking for ways that we can do early

40:54

intervention and prevention and really

40:56

approach

40:57

violence prevention of this type from a

40:59

public health perspective

41:01

having my first semester of college be

41:03

shaped by september 11th starting in

41:06

2001 and then

41:08

trying to figure out

41:10

what did i want my career to be what did

41:13

i want my contribution to be to

41:16

protect the country and to be involved

41:18

in public service

41:19

definitely took me

41:21

some time to figure out and i think

41:22

during my time at iupui

41:24

i was able to

41:27

explore those different things through

41:28

different courses different disciplines

41:30

i'm just grateful and i feel lucky to be

41:33

able to take what i have learned and try

41:35

to apply it to making indiana safer and

41:38

to making you know my friends and family

41:41

safer and our community safer that's my

41:44

goal i couldn't have told you

41:47

when i was here at iupui that this is

41:49

what i would be doing because i wouldn't

41:50

have imagined it

41:52

happy 50th anniversary liberal arts

42:01

what a great success story beth and we

42:04

appreciate what you're doing in our

42:06

communities and our world and i'll add

42:08

that we just love hearing from our

42:10

alumni we love hearing what you're doing

42:13

so those kinds of stories never get old

42:16

so thank you so much beth for sharing

42:18

your story with us

42:20

so now it's time for another bit of

42:22

history trivia so this is one of those

42:24

that many people have wondered about

42:27

through the years including myself when

42:28

i first came here

42:30

did you know

42:32

do you know i should say why there are

42:35

no windows in the first three floors of

42:38

the kavanaugh hall

42:42

now this is something i myself have

42:44

wondered and the answer is because there

42:47

are no windows were installed for safety

42:50

reason

42:51

so due to the many street protests that

42:53

were happening in indianapolis during

42:55

the early 70s

42:57

always wondered about that but now i

42:59

know so it was for safety reasons i do

43:02

know this that when the campus center

43:04

was being built i had a fourth floor

43:06

office and i would swivel my chair

43:09

around to watch the campus center being

43:11

built

43:12

needless to say i was very distracted

43:15

for that couple of years didn't get a

43:17

lot graded

43:18

in a timely fashion as it were because i

43:20

was watching the campus center out my

43:22

fourth floor window

43:24

so let me introduce to you liz

43:26

goodfellow the executive director for

43:29

advancement and she should be no

43:31

stranger to many of you as she welcomes

43:33

alumni back to campus or connects with

43:36

them over a cup of coffee so liz what do

43:39

you have to share with us this evening

43:44

thank you

43:46

welcome everyone we're so excited that

43:48

you joined us this afternoon and we look

43:50

forward to connecting with you

43:52

throughout the year as you heard others

43:54

say in this last year and a half the

43:56

school has found itself facing one of

43:58

its greatest challenges in its 50-year

44:01

history how to recruit and retain

44:03

students

44:04

several societal factors including a

44:06

global health pandemic

44:09

rampant student debt the looming

44:11

demographic cliff

44:13

a national culture that emphasizes stem

44:16

discipline

44:17

are working against the opportunity to

44:20

earn a liberal arts education

44:23

supporting students with the tools and

44:25

resources they need to be successful is

44:28

changing

44:29

we want to make sure our students leave

44:31

the school of liberal arts with a degree

44:34

and a clear path forward without

44:36

crippling debt

44:39

we are launching a fifty dollars for 50

44:41

years anniversary campaign

44:44

we have created a crowdfunding page on

44:46

the indian indiana university foundation

44:50

to raise funds for scholarships and

44:52

programs that help recruit and retain

44:54

students

44:56

as we celebrate our 50 years

44:58

let's build the foundation for the next

45:00

generation of students

45:03

and every dollar given will be benched

45:06

by generous donors

45:09

this week we hope to raise five thousand

45:11

dollars please go to our crowdfunding

45:14

page and give today

45:17

we want to raise at least 50 000

45:21

in this 50 years to help our students

45:25

help us make a difference so these

45:27

students can be successful alums

45:30

thanks and now i want to introduce you

45:34

to one of our generous donors she

45:36

graduated with a ba in spanish she

45:39

received her master's of public affairs

45:42

and she is one of our dean's advisory

45:44

council members mariana works as the

45:47

director of workforce development and

45:50

entrepreneurship at la plaza

45:52

mariana take it away

45:55

thanks so much liz and hello everyone as

45:59

liz mentioned my name is mariana lopez

46:01

owens and you know i am so excited to

46:05

continue working here in our local

46:07

central indiana community um in a

46:12

latino serving non-profit but i am just

46:14

so excited to join all of you to kick

46:17

off our 50th year anniversary today

46:20

and as liz mentioned i'm very proud to

46:23

be part of the dean's advisory council

46:25

which is made up of members from the

46:27

community which offer a wide range of

46:30

expertise and insights

46:32

to inform the school's strategic

46:34

development efforts

46:36

and i want to share a little bit about

46:38

the reasons why i give

46:40

so since becoming financially able to

46:43

give i mean the school of liberal arts

46:46

at iupui was a no-brainer for for me and

46:49

my husband he's also an iupui school of

46:52

liberal arts alum

46:54

and this is because of the

46:57

life impact that the school has had on

47:00

us

47:01

and i can truly say that

47:04

it was through this um

47:06

it was because of the foundational

47:08

education the foundation

47:11

that i received here at the school of

47:13

liberal arts that

47:15

i was able to succeed in the workplace

47:18

and in life generally

47:21

but it was really

47:22

something really really special about

47:25

the iupui school of liberal arts is the

47:29

faculty and the staff i think as has

47:32

been mentioned with former students

47:36

the staff really really

47:38

uh care for the students and put

47:41

students first

47:43

and myself i am a first generation

47:46

student

47:46

and i don't think

47:48

i could have

47:50

i mean i

47:51

i don't know

47:53

what my experience would have been

47:55

elsewhere but i just know that it was

47:57

because of the professors at iupui

48:01

people like dr rosa de san jose

48:03

dr robert aponte who really really had

48:06

an impact in my critical thinking skills

48:09

and

48:10

helped me

48:11

really

48:13

get those interdisciplinary skills that

48:16

now allow me to be successful in the

48:18

workplace and um

48:21

it was also because of the financial

48:23

support i received um with scholarships

48:26

from the school of liberal arts that

48:29

allowed me to kind of focus on my school

48:32

and also like allowed me the free time

48:35

to instead of working perhaps at a

48:37

part-time job um you know be a part of

48:40

extracurricular activities that really

48:43

develop my leadership skills and this is

48:46

i don't want to say this to brag or

48:47

anything

48:48

but in it was because of all the support

48:52

all the nurturing that i received from

48:53

the faculty and staff

48:55

that in 2014 um during the top 100 um

49:00

top 100 student celebration i was named

49:04

iupui's top female student and it was

49:06

because of just wow the incredible

49:09

support that i received and i am

49:12

really forever grateful to the school of

49:14

liberal arts and the the impact that the

49:17

faculty and the

49:19

the faculty had on on me and i'm getting

49:21

emotional because i'm like woof

49:23

um it really really means a lot so

49:27

now i'm gonna get myself together and

49:30

i'm gonna ask all of you who you know

49:32

who are financially able to give to

49:35

support students like myself you know

49:37

please help us in this first crown

49:39

crowdfunding effort um we really want to

49:42

reach that fifty thousand dollar amount

49:44

um and i'm excited to announce that this

49:48

uh school of liberal arts um dean

49:51

advisory council is matching

49:54

um up to five thousand dollars so we're

49:56

excited um to do this

49:59

crowdfunding effort and we hope that you

50:01

join us

50:03

and we certainly appreciate that the

50:06

dean's council advisory council members

50:08

are providing a match for the crown

50:10

crowdfunding effort

50:12

i love the idea of doubling my donation

50:15

to help our students with scholarships

50:17

and programs that they need to succeed

50:21

so now i want to introduce a student who

50:24

has been the recipient of scholarship

50:26

that have made such a difference in her

50:29

life

50:30

actually it's logan brahm is the first

50:33

generation college student and just

50:35

graduated this may with dual degrees in

50:38

history and political science

50:41

in addition to being a

50:43

school of liberal arts student council

50:45

president

50:46

logan was a resident assistant held many

50:49

positions in the honors college student

50:52

council

50:53

and was treasurer of the iupui mock

50:55

trial team

50:56

logan was also a member of the inaugural

50:58

chancellor's student advisory board a

51:01

campus ambassador with the office of

51:03

undergraduate admissions

51:05

this may logan was selected as the

51:08

school of liberal arts faculty medal of

51:11

distinction winner very impressive it's

51:14

our highest honor and so we're very

51:16

proud

51:17

he's currently in law school and works

51:19

as an admissions counselor here at iupui

51:22

for the school of liberal arts

51:25

logan

51:29

thank you for that lofty introduction um

51:31

you know when i think of what

51:32

scholarships

51:33

mean to me

51:34

it really is the idea of how they allow

51:36

me to buy back my time

51:38

you know when you think of the idea of

51:40

mousel's hierarchy of needs right the

51:42

very base level is taking care of of

51:45

those needs that you simply need to

51:46

exist and that's what the scholarship

51:48

money really provides by covering for

51:50

tuition

51:51

for housing for food costs and by having

51:54

those covered you're then able to focus

51:56

on

51:57

that self-fulfillment need which the

51:59

liberal arts is immensely

52:02

able to provide our students through

52:04

their many programs

52:05

i have no doubt that

52:08

you know i was more successful

52:09

academically

52:11

and i was able to do more because of

52:13

various scholarships i was fortunate

52:14

enough to receive

52:16

because of the scholarship while i did

52:18

work to have to or while i did work

52:20

part-time you know if i did not have to

52:22

work as many hours and so i was able to

52:23

dedicate time to my academic studies

52:26

um two different student organizations

52:28

and campus involvement areas that i was

52:30

in

52:31

and through that i have no doubt that

52:33

that money provided to me allowed me to

52:35

succeed in a way that i would have not

52:36

been able to had i not been fortunate

52:38

enough to receive those scholarship and

52:40

so your donor money does really impact

52:42

students on an individual level and why

52:44

i can only speak to my uh one experience

52:47

that that i had i can i could tell you

52:48

that it is not um a

52:51

one-off story i have been i have helped

52:54

many students across my four years

52:56

applying for similar scholarships um who

52:58

told me stories about how when they when

53:00

they were awarded a scholarship you know

53:01

that meant that they didn't have to work

53:03

weekends anymore uh because that

53:04

scholarship was enough to cover say

53:06

their rent for students who only had a

53:08

few dollars in their bank account we

53:09

threw a scholarship were able to now

53:11

have food covered for the rest of the

53:12

semester and so when you're thinking

53:14

about university you're thinking about

53:16

that intellectual enrichment but that

53:18

really only happens if we have the

53:19

scholarship money

53:20

to award to our students to provide for

53:22

their basic foundational need

53:24

because that creates stability that

53:26

allows them to then thrive and give back

53:27

to the campus

53:29

and so you know i was fortunate enough

53:31

to be named one of the 50 faces of iupui

53:34

to be given the faculty medal of honor

53:36

of distinction during my time at iupui

53:38

and i definitely know that would not

53:39

happen had i not received the various

53:42

scholarships i do so your donor dollars

53:44

really do matter

53:45

and

53:46

there are students today there are

53:48

alumni today who were able to graduate

53:50

because of those donor dollars who

53:51

otherwise may not have

53:53

and so i encourage people who are able

53:55

to give

53:56

to give so that the next generation of

53:58

our students

53:59

can graduate

54:00

and can do so

54:02

having their basic needs met and being

54:04

able to give back to the community

54:06

because they're able to buy back their

54:07

time and have the freedom to serve

54:10

appreciate your story and we're so

54:13

thankful that donors provide scholarship

54:15

opportunities

54:17

now we have one last did you know

54:20

history trivia

54:22

so here is our next did you know did you

54:24

know that liberal arts celebrated the

54:26

retirement of a beloved associate dean

54:28

and professor with 400 guests

54:32

wearing

54:33

hats

54:34

matrice do you know this answer

54:38

[Music]

54:41

i sure do

54:43

though i wasn't there it was our beloved

54:46

miriam langsam who retired as associate

54:48

dean and professor emerita in history in

54:51

2003

54:53

she was so special that the student

54:55

services office offices are named after

54:58

her

54:59

so so sweet and a much deserved way to

55:03

honor her contribution to the school

55:07

i hope you had fun with these did you

55:08

knows

55:09

history trivia so let's keep this trivia

55:12

going well beyond today

55:14

we'd like you to submit your bits of

55:16

history so that we can feature them on

55:18

social media on the website and at our

55:21

events throughout the year

55:23

one way you can do this is by going to

55:26

our 50th anniversary landing page

55:30

that's right so just go to the school of

55:32

liberal arts homepage

55:35

liberalarts.iupy.edu

55:36

and it lives under the about tab so

55:39

there you can see the did you knows the

55:42

alumni success stories how to share

55:44

memories from our 50 years a link to the

55:47

dollars for fifty crowd page

55:49

crowdfunding page and much more

55:54

so on behalf of mike and myself thank

55:56

you so much for joining us this evening

55:58

it's been fun to kick off this year of

56:00

celebration thank you mike for sharing

56:03

the honor of being an emcee thank you

56:06

matrice

56:07

i too have enjoyed the sharing the stage

56:09

with you and many of our guests so thank

56:11

you to the administrators faculty staff

56:13

alumni donors and especially

56:16

our students

56:18

you are our future and with all of you

56:21

it will be a bright future so we'll see

56:24

you all throughout this 50th anniversary

56:26

school year best of luck

56:29

look for more to come

56:30

check out our social media and our

56:32

website we want you to stay connected it

56:36

is our school and together we'll

56:38

continue to make a difference have a

56:40

good evening

56:44

[Music]

56:54

you

Liberal Arts 50th Anniversary: “Be the 50”

Building a Foundation for Future Students

Help build the foundation for the next generation of liberal arts students. With your help, liberal arts students will receive scholarships and services to equip them for success in whatever career they choose.