Campus Profile: Indiana University

At Home With The Hoosiers by Liz Stringer

Nestled in the hills of southern Indiana, the city of Bloomington is home to one of the biggest universities in the Midwest. Indiana University started as a small seminary with ten male students is 1824 and was dubbed Indiana College in 1828. The school was officially named Indiana University in 1838. Among other milestones, IU was the first state university to admit women.

Today, IU is home to just under 38,000 students, both undergraduate and graduate. The population is 52% female and nearly 80% of those enrolled are from the Midwest.

What is a Hoosier Anyway?

The word Hoosier originates from Indiana folklore. Mark Casey tells of how he understands the word Hoosier to be derived. "I heard it comes from the way people used to talk in Indiana, especially around the Wabash [River]. Local legend is that when someone heard a knock on their door or a noise in the woods, they would call out `who's there?' in a sort of slurred way that sounded like `hoosier', and eventually it kind of became a greeting," said Casey. Others claim that it evolved out of a bar fight or from farmers. The first truly confirmed use of the term was in the Civil War when the 19th regiment from Indiana nicknamed themselves the Hoosiers. Still, every article or story printed about what the meaning of Hoosier may be always come to the same conclusion-no one really knows. The dictionary defines a Hoosier as a person or native from Indiana.

However, if you're from Indiana, you know a real Hoosier is someone from Indiana University. And, under the Hoosier name, IU has made itself known in several different areas. Academically speaking, IU's Kelly School of Business is ranked 23rd in the country and is also known for the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism and the music school.

In 2005, IU was named the Hottest Big State School by Newsweek Magazine and is consistently ranked as one of the top ten party schools by the Princeton Review, claiming number one in 2004. But, overall, IU is most popular for two things: basketball and the Little 500.

A Basketball Problem

A popular saying around campus is that IU is "a drinking school with a basketball problem". Throughout the history of IU, basketball has been nearly worshiped by every generation of students that walked the grounds.

Since the first basketball team took the court representing IU in 1898, the school has claimed 5 National Championships, 20 Big Ten Championships and is the only NCAA team to have an undefeated season. "I think basketball has been a defining thing for our school throughout the last 50 years. It helped put us on the map, and a lot of people in this state grew up watching and cheering for Indiana University basketball. It is a tradition," said Thomas Cook.

Possibly one of the most defining characteristics of Indiana basketball is infamous coach Bobby Knight. Though the relationship between Knight and the university was shaky, he led IU to 3 of its NCAA championships and coached many players of NBA stature.

In more recent years, Indiana basketball has not lived up to its infamy. However, despite a dry spell, Indiana fans will never give up on their Hoosiers. "When you are a fan of IU, you live the highest highs and lowest lows," said Cook. "The team is something you were raised on, and it's that dedication that has you watching the games just as much during the bad seasons as the good."

Breaking Away

While to some Little 500 weekend only exists to be the epitome of a college party week, it was embedded in IU history well before the days of the raging college parties. What has come to be known as the "World's Greatest College Weekend" was created in 1950 by Howdy Wilcox, who wanted to create a bicycle race similar to the Indianapolis 500.

"This race and its traditions were created by a Hoosier when he saw IU students trying to recreate the Indianapolis 500 with their bikes around their dorm. This first, lucky encounter has led two weeks of amazing intramural events including the Little 50 Running Race and the Women's and Men's Little 500 Bicycle Races," said Lucas Calhoun, Assistant Little 500 Race Coordinator. Wilcox meant the event to be a challenge and Calhoun asserts that it still is to this day. "The purpose of the Little 500 is to engage student leaders in a competitive intramural cycling event that raises money for working student scholarships."

He continues to explain that along with the Indiana University Student Foundation, the main sponsor of the event, a steering committee comprised of 25 student leaders come together to take on the difficult task of planning.
"The Steering Committee is an extremely strong group with members from Greek and non-Greek organizations, students involved in a host of other campus groups. This group is also comprised of primarily female student leaders, with approximately 16 of the 25 members being women," said Calhoun.

Bringing all the different student groups together to plan one large event is an admitted feat of which Calhoun and the rest of his staff are proud. After all, their work brings in over 20,000 spectators a year to watch the actual races, not to mention all the out-of-town traffic coming to join the celebration.

The meaning of the Little 500 to the culture of IU and to outsiders alike can be seen in Breaking Away, a 1979 movie that portrays the importance of the race to Bloomington.

Conscious Community

Bloomington is home to Middle Way House, Inc., an organization that has been dedicated to helping victims of sexual assault and domestic violence since 1971. Its' mission statement explains that Middle Way House was established "to end violence in the lives of women and children by implementing or sponsoring activities and programs aimed at achieving individual and social change".

"[Middle Way House is] the only domestic violence shelter in the five surrounding counties. It is estimated that almost one out of two women will experience relational violence in their lifetime. The services that Middle Way House provides are essential to the women and children we serve," said Hannah Gardi, Middle Way House volunteer.
Currently, Middle Way House provides several services including a 24-hour hotline, housing for women and children, crisis intervention, on-scene assistance for victims of rape and domestic violence and legal services. According to data published on their website, in 2000 Middle Way House provided shelter to 300 women and children, answered 141 rape calls and 435 domestic violence calls.

In 2004, a student group was implemented at Indiana University called Friends of Middle Way House. The group assists in raising money and awareness. Throughout the year, Friends of Middle Way House sponsors different activates around campus.

"This year we have done many great things," said co-president Brittany Hodge, senior. "We hosted a forum on sexual assault prevention and relationship violence on campus, created a fundraising campaign called RAR! to raise money for sexual assault services, collaborated [with other student groups] to put on Take Back The Night and created bulletin boards for every dorm and floor in support of Sexual Assault Awareness Month."

Hodge and co-president Gardi hope that their work with Middle Way House and Friends of Middle Way House will provide female students, as well as women all around, with the security of knowing that no one is alone in their fight.

"By working with an empowerment model, Middle Way House strives to give survivors the ability to regain life to the fullest and this definitely pertains to IU students," said Gardi.

Brittany Cohen: Panhellenic Association President
The Greek community at IU is comprised of 19 women's chapters and 21 men's chapters with a total of over 5,000 members. As president of the Panhellenic Association, Brittany Cohen is in charge of the 19 women's chapters and is the face of the Greek women on IU's campus.

"I attend numerous meetings everyday, lead meetings with my executive board, and lead gavel meetings [with the sorority presidents] every Tuesday night." A junior majoring in special education, Cohen always wanted to be a member of the Greek system and decided to rush her freshman year. When she was a sophomore, Cohen was president of her sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi. "Being president, I motivated many of my women to attend events. We went to all the speakers, volunteered and worked on programs within the community." Cohen has enjoyed her time in the Greek system at IU. "I love working with people, volunteering, spending time with my friends. [Through the offices held] I have made myself a person who is recognized on campus and who is looked to for their opinions and guidance."

Katie Ly: Director of Concert Series, Union Board

The largest student-run programming organization at IU, Union Board organizes campus events from concerts to lectures to showing movies at the student union. "Our mission as a board is to provide the campus with diverse, quality intellectual and entertaining programs," said Katie Ly, junior. Ly is the director of the concert committee for Union Board. The committee, made up of 20 core members, is responsible for booking and promoting concerts at IU. "One of my most favorite things in the world is the live music experience. So, to be a part of something that involved live concerts was and still is very exciting for me. I eat, breath, sleep music, so it just made sense to be on the committee," said Ly. "[As director] my role is to find nationally touring acts the campus would be interested in seeing and booking them to play at IU. I'm responsible for being the eyes and ears of the students' diverse musical interests."

Union Board sponsored several concert events over the past year, but Ly's personal favorite was Wilco which took place during Little 500 week. "Over 2,400 people attended the show. It was the perfect venue to see the band, an intimate theater setting because their music can be very intimate and intense. The band members were also so great and so easy to work with. It was a great experience overall."

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