IU through the years

How IU became the school it is today

The Arthur R. Metz Bicentennial Grand Carillon is seen Dec. 6, 2021, in the arboretum.

IDS FILE PHOTO BY WILLOW THOMPSON

By Marissa Meador

marnmead@iu.edu | @marissa_meador

By educating trailblazers like Marcellus Neal and Frances Marshall, the rst Black man and woman to graduate IU respectively, Pulitzer-winning journalist Ernie Pyle and even the creators of Crest toothpaste Joseph Muhler and William Nebergall, IU has made a name for itself as an in uential institution across many elds.

Indiana University was founded in 1820, originally named “State Seminary.” In 1828, the school was renamed to “Indiana College” before the name “Indiana University” was nally decided in 1838.

One of the most consequential presidents in IU’s history was Herman B Wells. During his tenure, which began in 1938, Wells expanded the campus from 137 acres to 1,800 acres. He supported the intellectual freedom of IU’s faculty and worked to advance racial equality by desegregating IU’s campus. One of his rst successes as president was desegregating the Indiana Memorial Union in the late 1930s, according to the 2001 edition of the Journal of the Indiana University Student Personnel Association.

In 1947, professor Alfred Kinsey generated controversy when he established what is now

known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. Originally a zoologist studying wasps, Kinsey became interested in human sexuality and conducted 18,000 interviews in order to write a book. Although he received praise for his work, Kinsey also faced criticism, prompting then-IU President Herman B Wells to defend Kinsey on the basis of free speech.

In the 1970s, IU became known nationally for the Little 500 when “Breaking Away”, filmed in Bloomington, won an Oscar. The decade was great for sports, with the Indiana men’s swimming team winning the NCAA championship four times with help from team member Mark Spitz, who later won 7 Olympic gold medals. In 1976, the Indiana men’s basketball team won the NCAA championship after a perfect season, winning the championship again in 1981 and 1987.

In 1987, the iconic Sample Gates finished construction, becoming a gateway from Kirkwood Avenue to the edge of campus after nearly a century of failed plans to build an arch-like structure in the location.

Today, IU is home to 45,000 students with an endowment of $3.32 billion, a massive evolution from its 10 student enrollment when it began two centuries ago.