Impact

Impact...

IU's Rhodes attends 'Best Practices in Diversity' conference at Penn State

Without substantial changes in employee relations, American industry, labor and even higher education face a bumpy ride as the shift to a multicultural work environment accelerates during the next 20 years. Anticipating change, the representatives from the universities of the Big Ten as well as CEOs of major corporations and organized labor gathered at Penn State Sept. 18-20 to explore "Best Practices in Diversity." Representing Indiana University was Edwardo Rhodes, vice chancellor for academic affairs at IUB, who has been involved in an initiative to encourage students from under-represented populations in Indiana to attend college. The conference was held in collaboration with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), to which IU belongs.

IU transfers Elliott House and Seiberling properties in Kokomo

By Kay Rogers

Ownership of two historic neighboring properties in Kokomo--the Elliott House and the Seiberling Mansion--were formally coveyed by Indiana University to the Howard County Board of Commissioners for use by the historical society at a Sept. 18 ceremony.

Included in the transfer are the houses, each with a carriage house, and the lots on which they stand. All are part of a new agreement between IU and the county.

Under terms of the agreement, a 99-year lease signed by the county commissioners in 1971 for the purpose of establishing the Howard County Historical Museum in the Seiberling Mansion will become void when the county becomes the new owner of the properties.

"We are truly pleased that the university and the county were able to reach this agreement," said IUK Chancellor Emita Hill. "It will enable the historical society to expand its operations, and it will mean that these two wonderful homes that hold special memories for former students and area residents can be enjoyed by the general public for years to come."

The formal transfer ceremony featured representatives of the university, the county commissioners and the historical society. A reception on the grounds of the property followed.

Because the Seiberling Mansion has been used by the historical society for more than two decades, it has already been restored and needs no introduction to the public. The adjacent Elliott House, however, is a different matter.

Built in 1889 in a grove west of the city (now the 1200 block of Sycamore Street), the Victorian mansion is named for its second owner, Matthew Elliott, who moved to Kokomo to design the Diamond Plate Glass Factory. In the 1920s, businessman Mark Brown traded his house on Conradt Avenue for the Elliott property and remodeled the mansion, changing the original Queen Anne design to Tudor style.

In 1946, IU bought the Seiberling Mansion, next door, to establish a campus in Kokomo. As the demand for classes grew and IUK's student population increased, the need for added space led the university, in 1953, to purchase the Elliott House from Brown, who had moved to Chicago and become president of Harris Trust Bank.

In the late 1960s, IUK moved to its present location, but for 12 years it continued to use the old home for classes. In 1972, IUK discontinued its use of the Elliott House, and for awhile, it became the Juvenile Intake Center for the county.

For the past five years, Elliott House, with its intricate carved oak, inlaid floors and expanses of multi-paned windows, has been empty and unused.

The historical society will be looking at new possibilities for the Elliott House, which it hopes to have operational by next year. Meanwhile, it will use rental income from a home at 1212 W. Walnut St., to pay utilities on the property. The Walnut Street home was donated to the historical society by former Kokomo resident Dr. John Murray Thompson of Covington, Va., who grew up in the area.

In a letter to the historical society, Thompson wrote: "My home and the museum grounds were a wonderful playground for the neighborhood children."

The neighborhood and the Seiberling/Elliott properties were also positive environments for thousands of faculty and students who passed through the doors of the old IU Center and remember the former campus with fondness.

Among these are three former directors of the center--Virgil Hunt, Smith Higgins and Victor Bogle--all of whom were invited to the ceremony.

Memories of the director and of others associated with the center will be included in a new book on the history of IUK, Coming of Age: 50 Years of Higher Education in Kokomo, which is due to be published later this year.

Emory to award the 'Pullet Surprises' in April

Emory University's journalism program will award its first "Pullet Surprises" in April. Modeled after the annual "Ig Nobel" awards that spoof the $1.1 million Nobel Prizes by citing scientific work that cannot or should not be reproduced, the new awards will celebrate categories of journalism overlooked by the Pulitzers, including best checkbook journalism, most over-reported story and best "infotainment."