Page last updated on November 5, 2021 at 11:05 am
Thank you Indiana University for welcoming “town” to the “gown” stage here -- indeed even providing town with gown! I appreciate sincerely the opportunity to bring greetings to you President Whitten, on behalf of the City of Bloomington, and all the residents of our city. I offer a warm and heartfelt Bloomington welcome and best wishes, President Whitten, for great success in your service as President, and for wonderful years ahead, as you join this learning community, this world-class research institution, this beautiful mix of humanity from all across the globe. Welcome back to the Big Ten! We in the community are grateful for your service, and confident in the chapters ahead. And we congratulate you and the university on your historic role as IU’s first female president!
This city and this university care a great deal about each other. For over two hundred years now, our fortunes have been intertwined. Siblings. Partners. [We also acknowledge and honor the Indigenous communities native to this region, and recognize that Indiana University and the City of Bloomington are built on Indigenous homelands and resources. We recognize the Miami, Delaware, Potawatomi, and Shawnee people as past, present, and future caretakers of this land.] As a City, we are enriched by IU in so many ways: our community’s biggest employer and our biggest demographic component, IU brings a remarkable pageant of people from around the world to our town, enlivening our culture and our economy. So much so, that it’s hard to say where “gown” ends, and “town” begins.
We like to think that this city that has embraced Indiana University for 200 years also enriches IU, through our employers and our nonprofits, our arts and parks scene, our natural beauty and our civic services, our people. We nurture and lift one another up. Our dynamic, diverse, and passionate community comes from that symbiosis. Indeed, the last 20 months have particularly exemplified the depth and the importance of that mutual engagement, as our community and IU have together navigated the awful pandemic.
President Whitten, as we walk together in this challenging decade of the 2020s, we welcome you, we congratulate you, and we cherish the chance to continue great progress together.
