Hoosiers for Higher Education
Statehouse Visit
2010 marks the 19th Annual HHE Statehouse Visit at our Capitol in Indianapolis. Each year, hundreds of our IU students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends from throughout the state of Indiana gather in grassroots support of IU and higher education. Our afternoon program features IU President Michael A. McRobbie, remarks from state legislators, an IU student and members of IU's Government Relations team. Following the program, participants are encouraged to meet with their hometown legislators, when available, and to become acquainted with the legislative process by observing action in both the House and Senate Chambers. Later in the afternoon, a reception will be held at the Indiana Roof Ballroom where the annual HHE awards ceremony takes place.
For IU students that would like to attend but will be missing classes, our office will provide personal letters to your professors or instructors ascertaining your attendance at the Statehouse. Transportation is also provided from each campus except IUPUI.
This is a very exciting day to witness democracy in action and to have your voice heard on issues important to Indiana University.
REGISTER FOR THE 2010 STATEHOUSE VISIT - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2
Report on the 2009 Statehouse Visit and Indiana Innovation Alliance Day
The 18th Annual Hoosiers for Higher Education Statehouse Visit and Indiana Innovation Alliance Day was held on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. For the first time in the history of HHE Day, we were joined by our Purdue counterparts in support of the Indiana Innovation Alliance and higher education. A record breaking crowd of more than 700 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of IU and Purdue packed the Statehouse.
The day’s proceedings included exhibits featuring research, projects, graduate study and entrepreneurial enterprises that demonstrate the core principles of the Indiana Innovation Alliance. Many of the exhibits included representatives from both institutions such as the IU School of Medicine and Purdue Partnerships, the Clinical Translational Science Institute and the IU, Purdue and IUPUI Graduate Schools. These exhibits were represented not only by faculty and staff but also students. Two businesses that have roots in collaborative successes by IU and Purdue faculty, Predictive Physiology and Medicine and Monarch LifeSciences, shared with legislators how their companies are making a vital impact on the state’s economy and health. Dr. Steve Frankel, a Purdue mechanical engineer, and Dr. Mark Rodefeld, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, demonstrated a cavopulmonary assist device that has the potential to save patients with only one ventricle from enduring multiple costly surgeries.
A program was held in the North Atrium of the Statehouse and featured two special guest speakers, IU President Michael A. McRobbie and Purdue President France Córdova. The standing-room-only crowd learned more about how Indiana can become the Silicon Valley of life and health sciences. “With the talent of our researchers and the strength of our industry, Indiana can be that place,” said President McRobbie. President Córdova noted that IU and Purdue certainly have their athletic rivalries and fight songs but we now have the opportunity to have one fight song to sing together in support of the Indiana Innovation Alliance.
Senator Vi Simpson (D-Ellettsville) enthusiastically encouraged the mostly student crowd to not only thank their legislators for past support of IU and higher education, but to also tirelessly share their messages with “the people that work for you.” Representative Randy Truitt (R-West Lafayette) was very honored to be a part of the program and unequivocally shared his strong support for the Alliance. Both legislators stated that they will be carrying our message back to their respective chambers.
This 116th session of the General Assembly is a critical moment in the life of the state. It is a biennium budget session whereby the only item that legally must be passed is a state budget. Given the precarious states of the global, national and state economies, crafting of this budget will be a remarkable task. The IIA request of $35M per year is separate from IU’s operating and capital projects requests. However, we have received extensive support throughout that Statehouse because they view this as a path for Indiana’s own stimulus plan.
Although the session was at a fever pitch, several legislators took time out of their meetings in chambers to visit with their constituents from IU. It was a powerful experience for both our students and the legislators. The students, representing all nine of our campuses, were terrific in sharing their IU experiences and the importance of supporting legislation that is critical to Indiana University. Telling their personal stories sent an inspiring message to their senators and representatives.
At the HHE reception, the Welsh-Bowen Distinguished Public Official Award was presented to State Senator Teresa Lubbers (R-Indianapolis) by President McRobbie. The award, named in honor of former governors Matthew Welsh and Otis “Doc” Bowen, is presented to an elected official who has made significant contributions to higher education in the state of Indiana. Sen. Lubbers’ service to the city of Indianapolis and state spans over three decades and her passion for education is reflected in that service. She currently serves on the boards of the Independent Colleges of Indiana, the Indiana School for the Blind, and the Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School. She is also the commissioner and chair of the Midwestern Higher Education Commission and is a member of the Indiana Education Roundtable. She also authored Indiana’s Core 40 curriculum and charter schools legislation, and she has worked to increase the flexibility of the College Choice Plan.
In conjunction with the Welsh-Bowen Award, a scholarship was given, in abstention to Kandice Neeley, an Elementary Education major at IUPUI. Kandice plans to draw on her extensive personal experience and her educational training by committing herself to teaching and social work in support of children’s foster programs.
President McRobbie also presented the forth Sue H. Talbot Distinguished HHE Member Award to Community Captains and lifetime IUAA members Pat and Ken Shidler. A scholarship was also given in honor of the Shidler’s as the Talbot Award recipient. Heather Schaefer, a Kelley School of Business student, received the scholarship. She is a Vice President of the Student Alumni Association, a Day Host Coordinator for the Kelley Student Ambassador Program, is a Dean’s Scholarship recipient, and the 2007 winner of the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Case Competition. Heather is the daughter of Paul and Ami Schaefer of Lanesville, Indiana.
