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IUPUI’s student athletes are proud of two well-established traditions, their better than average academic records and their record of service. Members of the basketball teams served as mentors and tutors for elementary school children in two Indianapolis elementary schools, while members of the women’s tennis team conducted clinics for inner city youth, introducing them to the game of tennis. In addition, women’s basketball and softball players serve as mentors at the Indianapolis Hawthorne Center.
These events are unique in that they bring together a large number of recruiters representing a variety of firms to meet with students and alumni in order to fill current or anticipated employment opportunities. Information about the various fairs is available in the Career Center’s Career Resource Library. For more information about each fair, check with the Career Center, Business/SPEA Building, BS 2010, (317)
274-2554.
IUPUI joins a national effort to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by making this national holiday a “Day-On” rather than a day off. Since classes are not in session, students, faculty, and staff participate in a half-day service project in the local community. A kick-off breakfast is followed by team service projects that may include painting and general clean-up, assisting with a youth basketball clinic, or preparing a low-income home for rehab construction. Students and student groups may also apply for mini-grants to fund special service projects to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Team IUPUI
Every fall and spring semester in the first week of classes, students come to campus to find information booths strategically located on campus and in key buildings. Volunteers from across the campus make up Team IUPUI. They’re onhand to tell new students how to get to class buildings and answer questions. Besides dispensing information, the group offers a hardy welcome to new and old members of the IUPUI community.
Student Activities Fair, Volunteer Fair, and Ice Cream Social
The annual Student Activities Fair is held at the beginning of each fall semester in the Student Activities Center court yard. Approximately 70 student organizations use this fair to distribute information, advertise programs, and meet students interested in becoming involved in campus life. A second part of the fair is the annual Ice Cream Social. Over 90 distinguished dippers serve ice cream to the IUPUI campus community for a mere 10 cents a scoop. This event has become a long-lasting and favorite tradition on campus. In conjunction, the Office of Public Service and Leadership hosts a Volunteer Fair for students, faculty, and staff to learn more about volunteer activities in the local community. A variety of agency representatives provide program information and a list of ways that volunteers can become involved.
Career Fairs
IUPUI was an early leader in the development of job fairs as a way for students to meet with employers who rarely recruited on this campus. The first efforts date back to the mid 70’s and focused on graduating seniors in the School of Education. The Career Center now sponsors several job fairs during the academic year, including Career Focus and the Indiana Multicultural Job Fair. Participation in job and career fairs is an excellent way to enhance career awareness and the job search process.
Campus Days
Students, parents, family members, and friends are invited to visit IUPUI twice a year in the fall and spring. These campus days feature booths hosted by various schools, centers, programs, and facilities at IUPUI available to students who enroll. Special mini-information sessions by programs, on financial aid, and how to select a major are also offered. One-on-one advising, tours of IUPUI’s national renowned University Library, and tours of the facilities are available.
Chancellor’s Honors Convocation
Since 1989 the Chancellor’s Honors Convocation has been held each April to recognize excellence in teaching and scholarship by IUPUI students and faculty. One sophomore, junior, or senior student, chosen from each school because he or she has the highest GPA, is the Chancellor’s Scholar. Students receive notification from their academic units and may invite guests to attend this special ceremony. All faculty members are invited to participate in the ceremony and are asked to wear full academic regalia.
Getting News and Information
To improve communications—an issue for any large and complex organization but especially critical for a commuter campus—the chancellor, many deans, and the president of the Undergraduate Student Assembly annually present a status report for their constituents. They describe what happened in the previous year along with goals for the upcoming year. The campus also has dozens of print publications from schools, offices, centers, and programs, as well as the weekly student paper, the SAGAMORE, which includes an extensive listing of student activities. The newest information sources are JagNews, a daily news release distributed by e-mail, and periodic town meetings to discuss campus issues of importance to students, faculty, and staff. The evolving Campus Center, with its Student Center component, has been the focus of several such town meetings.
United Way Day of Caring
In the fall, IUPUI joins a community-wide effort to provide United Way agencies with teams of students, faculty, and staff to complete one-day service projects. Service projects vary from year to year, depending upon the needs of the agencies. Typical projects include painting and general cleanup, mailings and special events, and hosting youth groups. In 1998, more than 150 people from IUPUI participated, and each year, more and more students turn out for this fun and satisfying day of community service. Jaguar athletic teams, student organizations, departments, and individuals can sign up by calling the Center for Public Service and Leadership (CPSL) at (317) 278-2662 by September 1.
Graduation
IUPUI’s schools assemble at the RCA Dome for graduation ceremonies. Present on the stage are many of Indiana and Purdue Universities trustees, the presidents of both universities, and the chancellor of IUPUI. Honorary degrees are awarded to distinguished individuals during the ceremony and degrees are conferred ranging from associate to professional degrees. The IU and PU Alumni groups induct the graduates and provide them with a free first-year membership in the alumni groups. In addition, the schools hold separate ceremonies before and after the official ceremony.
IUPUI Spring Celebration Dance
Since 1987, IUPUI has held an annual spring dance sponsored by the Student Activities Programming Board. This dance, often held in the famous Indiana Ballroom, brings together students, staff, faculty, and alumni for an evening of fun and dancing.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
IUPUI faculty, students, and staff have shared a time-honored tradition with the Indianapolis community since 1970, honoring the memory of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with a day of activities. The day, an official campus holiday, includes a number of events throughout the day, capped by the annual Martin Luther King dinner, the longest-running celebration honoring King in Indianapolis. The dinner attracts sell-out crowds to commemorate King’s goals and dreams and to hear nationally renowned speakers. Past speakers include the famed American poet, Maya Angelou; Benjamin Hooks, former director of the NAACP; former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm; Hollywood actor and director Bill Duke; nationally syndicated columnist William Raspberry, and Henry Louis Gates. The Black Student Union presents awards to outstanding faculty and students at the dinner.
Bookmarks
Since 1991, IUPUI’s Bookmarks program has brought together students, faculty, staff, and even community readers to discuss a series of books including nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and plays. Titles are chosen each year through ballots available campuswide and a community that ensures that the books are available in paperback. From September through April, the five to six Bookmarks titles are the focus of a variety of talks, films (if the books have been made into movies), and panel discussions. All the programs are free to the public. Recently, some programs have been held in a local bookstore to make some of the discussions more accessible to the community.
Student Activities Honors Reception
The Undergraduate Student Assembly, in cooperation with the Student Life and Diversity Programs, sponsors the Student Activities Honors Reception each year in April. This event, originating in 1973, recognizes students, faculty, administrators, and staff members who have had an outstanding year as leaders, or who have given of themselves on behalf of the students. Many of the awards given commemorate previous IUPUI administrators such as William L. Garrett, a former assistant dean for student services, Lola L. Lohse, a former dean of the School of Physical Education, and the Howard G. Schaller, former executive dean and dean of the faculties, who were themselves committed to students and student activities.
International Christmas Party
For the last 10 years, students, faculty, staff, community members, and family members have attended the “Holiday Celebration,” sponsored by student foreign language clubs and the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures. At the Holiday Celebration students and their families enjoy foods from over thirty cultures, sing carols and traditional songs in at least ten languages, and break a piñata. Early in the spring, a combined Mardi Gras/Fasching/Carnival party brings together European, Creole, and South American tradition in an evening of costumes, music, food, and fun. Throughout the year, students participate in events such as international movie nights, lecture series, field trips to art museums, festivals, concerts, restaurants, and dances. The “International Dinner” series hosted by the Department of Restaurant, Hotel, Institutional, and Tourism Management, the weekly “Culture Hour” hosted by the IUPUI International House and International Club, “Foreign Language Awareness Week” activities, the Model United Nations and Modern European Union conferences, and “Great Decisions” discussion groups are some of the other internationally focused events. Students may also choose to participate in international activities through community organizations such as the Max Kade German-American Center and Turners Atheneum, El Centro Hispaño and La Tertulia, the Alliance Francais, and the International Center of Indianapolis, whose activities are frequently announced in classes and posted on bulletin boards.
The Moving Company at IUPUI
The Moving Company, IUPUI’s dance company, has been performing for 16 years. Currently, the company gives an informal concert on campus in the fall and a formal performance in the spring at the Madame C. J. Walker Theater. In addition, students perform at a regional American Dance Festival once a year and give as many other performances as time and funding permits. Any enrolled graduate, professional, or undergraduate IUPUI student with experience in dance can audition in the first week of each semester.
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INDIANA UNIVERSITY
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PURDUE UNIVERSITY
INDIANAPOLIS |