William Plater: Kudos to all of the people who made IUPUI successful

On June 14, the trustees of Indiana University and Purdue University signed an agreement dissolving the partnership creating IUPUI. The separation will be final in July 2024, ending 55 years of a remarkable collaboration that grew to be one of the nation’s most influential and innovative universities.

IUPUI prospered through the imagination of faculty, staff, administrators, community advisers and students—all who shared a dream of making Indianapolis one of the very best places in the nation to live, work and learn. For the IUPUI dreamers, it was always about making the community better, not accumulating prestige.

So for many who were involved in making a very improbable arrangement actually work, a dream ended on June 14. But for others who now have the opportunity to create something new, it is a dream beginning. There may be even more engaging dreams ahead in this era of dazzling new possibilities: harnessing artificial intelligence for the common good, drawing on Indiana’s local imagination to overcome global challenges and recentering democracy on more inclusive principles.

But I want to honor the collective dream of those who dedicated themselves to making IUPUI not only work but who aspired to something new, better and inspirational.

As it dissolves into IU Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis, let’s remember that IUPUI:

◗ Graduated more Indiana residents than any other campus in Indiana.

◗ Is one of the major centers of research in Indiana.

◗ Was the first campus in Indiana to complete a billion-dollar capital campaign.

◗ Was the first campus in the world to create a school of philanthropy.

◗ Was the first public university campus recognized by the Corporation for National and Community Service with the President’s Award for community engagement.

◗ Received the prestigious international Heiskell and Simon Awards and is ranked eighth in the U.S. for meeting United Nations sustainability goals.

◗ Created two of the most successful learning management systems—Sakai and ANGEL—and led to the largest IU technology transfer.

◗ Hosted the definitive editions of Charles Sanders Peirce, George Santayana and Fredrick Douglass, as well as the library of Ray Bradbury, at its School of Liberal Arts.

◗ Grew its School of Medicine to be the nation’s largest and one of the top National Institutes of Health-funded schools.

◗ Graduated two of the six last U.S. vice presidents from its McKinney School of Law.

Such an incomplete list of achievements is important primarily in indicating external recognition, but those who made IUPUI have learned to keep their own score while never tiring to do good.

IUPUI is now fading into memory, but for those who were here, what a memory it is. It was the kind of place that prompted one university president to acknowledge that the flagships might be anchored 50 miles to the south and north, but IUPUI could just be a starship that would explore new reaches of higher education. Indianapolis’ native son, Kurt Vonnegut, said one day IUPUI might be known as Stardust University, the kind of place where anyone could come to have their dreams turned into reality by the education he or she received.

It was that kind of place. And we believe that Indiana University Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis can be the institutions that boldly go where no university has gone before, lest they forget on whose launch pad they’re standing.•

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Plater served as IUPUI’s dean of liberal arts, executive vice chancellor and dean of the faculties. He retired as chancellor’s professor emeritus of public affairs, philanthropic studies and English in 2010.