For further information on the university or any items posted here, contact media relations director Scott Hall at (317) 788-3583 or schall@uindy.edu.

The Indianapolis Colts’ Super Bowl loss is painful for the team and the city, but it shouldn’t interfere with the offseason marketing efforts that are so crucial to the viability of a professional sports franchise, says a University of Indianapolis associate professor.

Dr. Larry DeGaris, director of UIndy’s academic sports marketing program, tells the Indianapolis Business Journal this week that the Colts organization should capitalize on the lingering postgame drama to begin building fan support for next season.

“Certainly, the storyline and the marketing approach change slightly since they didn’t win the Super Bowl, but I think their marketing plan is largely the same without the Lombardi Trophy, ” he says in an IBJ story published online Monday. “People in this town love Peyton Manning, and now they’ll root for him even harder.”

DeGaris warns, however, that if the team sees the need to raise ticket prices, it should tread carefully and consider the ongoing economic hardship many fans are facing.

Read IBJ story

Middle school recognition and reform program comes to Indiana

Three high-performing Indiana middle schools are the state’s first to be recognized in a national initiative to boost student achievement in the crucial years of early adolescence.

Under the leadership of the Indiana Middle Level Education Association and the University of Indianapolis’ Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning, Indiana has become the 18th state participating in Schools to Watch. The program was launched in 1999 by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, with the goal of identifying middle schools that meet specific quality criteria so that their successful practices can be replicated elsewhere.

Indiana’s first Schools to Watch, selected after a statewide call for applications, are:
• Taft Middle School, Crown Point
• Decatur Middle School, Indianapolis
• Triton Central Middle School, Fairland

To achieve the Schools to Watch designation, Read more »

The UIndy music department’s production of “Too Many Sopranos” includes (from left) Elena Merkel, Jessica Wentworth, Jared Juett, Caitlin Deranek and Rachel Yap.

Four deceased opera divas undertake extreme measures to gain entry to Heaven in Too Many Sopranos, the University of Indianapolis Department of Music’s biennial opera theatre production opening Feb. 12.

In Edwin Penhorwood’s humorous look at opera stereotypes, the four divas attempt to join the Heavenly Choir but are told by St. Peter that the choir is full. They travel to Hell seeking additional tenors and basses to bring to Heaven and balance the choir.

Read more »

UIndy President Beverley Pitts is featured in the February issue of Smart Business Indianapolis magazine.

Using examples from her career in higher education, Dr. Pitts discusses the need for organizational leaders to communicate directly and specifically to the members of the organization, especially when circumstances are difficult.

“People want to have a sense that the leader knows what she is doing,” she tells the magazine for its “Smart Leaders” feature. “You want to give people accurate information with a sense of confidence and understanding of the implications.”

Read the story

UIndy junior Caitlin Deranek posts another heart on the dining room windows in Schwitzer Student Center after collecting a donation Wednesday for relief efforts in Haiti. Deranek is a member of the university’s United Methodist Student Association, which is co-sponsoring the “Hearts for Haiti” fund drive.

With the impoverished nation of Haiti still reeling from a devastating earthquake, UIndy students and staff are rising to the call with a growing list of fund-raising efforts.

“Hearts for Haiti,” a joint venture of the university’s Catholic Student Association and United Methodist Student Association, collected more than $440 last week in Schwitzer Student Center to support the aid efforts of Catholic Relief Services and the United Methodist Committee on Relief. It was one of the first Haiti relief projects announced on campus, but it’s certainly not the last.

The student Social Work Association is running an “Eat Your Heart Out” bake sale this week, Feb. 1-4, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the Schwitzer dining room. The Student Athlete Advisory Council collected loose change for Haiti relief during the Jan. 23 basketball games and will do so again at the Feb. 4 games. The Circle K service group raised more than $200 for UNICEF with a Jan. 16 bake sale. The student chapter of APICS: The Association for Operations Management generated $300 for the American Red Cross with a Jan. 22 poker tournament.

The Residence Life office has organized Read more »

UIndy senior Katie Stam crowned her Miss America successor Saturday, ending a fairy-tale year that saw her travel the globe touting her platform issue of community service.

Perhaps more memorable than the Saturday pageant in Las Vegas, however, was a fund-raising dinner that took place the previous evening. There, in front of host Robin Leach and a crowd of several hundred, Stam received an engagement ring and a wedding proposal from her boyfriend, 2007 UIndy grad Brian Irk.

Irk, now a personal trainer, preceded his onstage surprise with a funny and warm recollection of how the two became a couple, as seen in this amateur video:

Now ranked No. 2 nationally in Division II, the UIndy women’s basketball squad kept its perfect season intact Saturday on the road, downing a tough Wisconsin-Parkside team 72-59.

Junior forward Samantha Meissel, who led all scorers Saturday with 17 points, was the subject of a feature story in Saturday’s Indianapolis Star. Heading into that day’s game, the 6-2 standout from Terre Haute was leading the Great Lakes Valley Conference with an average of 20.3 points per game. She told writer Michael Pointer that the team’s camaraderie makes the winning season even sweeter.

“I’ve never been on a closer team,” said Meissel, a sport management major who plans eventually to be a college coach. “Even outside of basketball, you won’t find us apart.”

Next up, UIndy hosts Rockhurst at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and West Division leaders Drury at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Susan Blackwell, assistant professor and coordinator of secondary education in UIndy’s School of Education, is appearing online and in print as a contributor to the Indianapolis Star’s new education blog, Our Schools.

Dr. Blackwell’s perspective comes from 40 years of experience that includes teaching and training teachers in a variety of settings and serving the Indiana Department of Education as a school restructuring consultant.

Read her latest Our Schools entry

Associate Professor Matt Will of UIndy’s School of Business is well known to central Indiana audiences for his frequent TV and newspaper interviews on business issues, not to mention his own Your Money talk show Saturday mornings on university-owned public radio station WICR-FM/HD 88.7.

Today, however, he began a regular gig for a national audience, listeners of the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network. The network’s programming airs on Sirius Satellite Radio and more than 130 AM and FM stations nationwide. Indiana affiliates include WHOJ-FM in Terre Haute, WLYV-AM in Fort Wayne, WHLY-AM in South Bend/Elkhart and WSPM-FM 89.1 in Indianapolis.

On alternate Thursdays, Will will be a guest on The Son Rise Morning Show with host Brian Patrick, offering insights on economic and business issues with an ethical perspective based in his own Catholic faith. The talk show airs weekdays from 6 to 8 a.m. Eastern.

University of Indianapolis President Beverley Pitts has an opinion column in today’s Indianapolis Star explaining the NCAA’s Life in the Balance initiative for Division II student-athletes.

Addressing concerns about an overemphasis on athletics at institutions of higher learning, DII institutions have agreed to shorter seasons and new limits on offseason training in many sports. Dr. Pitts, vice chair of the national DII Presidents Council, says the changes will encourage student-athletes to have a well-rounded college experience, with more time not only for study but also for participation in extracurricular activities, internships and service work.

Read the column