Last modified: Saturday, June 29, 2002
Alumni voters elect Belanger as IU trustee
Jamie B. Belanger of Dayton, Ohio, was elected today (June 29) by Indiana University alumni to a three-year term as an IU trustee. He is the first non-Indiana resident to be elected since the Indiana General Assembly enacted a law in 1999 allowing alumni from outside the state to serve on the IU Board of Trustees.
Belanger received 7,111 of 28,308 valid votes cast through mailed ballots. All candidates earned degrees from IU, and every degree-holder from the university had the opportunity to vote in the elections.
Belanger graduated from IU Bloomington in May 2000 with a bachelor of science degree in finance from IU's Kelley School of Business. While at IU, he was president and treasurer of Pi Kappa Phi social fraternity and president of the Order of Omega honorary society. He rode twice in the annual Little 500 bicycle race and was a member of Blue Key honor society.
"I'm very surprised. Obviously, with a one in eight chance of winning, I don't think you can go in expecting to win, especially against other candidates who were running with exceptional backgrounds," said Belanger, now a financial analyst for Procter & Gamble and its Iams Co. subsidiary.
"I'm looking forward to representing the alumni of Indiana University. I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have been given this opportunity," he added.
Other candidates and their vote totals were:
John A. Nash of Columbus, Ind., 4,996
Ray Richardson of Greenfield, Ind., 4,378
Raymond W. Nicholson of Evansville, Ind., 3,714
Bill Riley of Edinburgh, Ind., 2,655
Robert B. Cummins of Naperville, Ill., 2,107
David D. Welker of Roanoke, Ind., 1,834
C. Duane O'Neal, of Greenwood, Ind., 1,513
A total of 192 ballots were voided.
IU has nine trustees, of whom three are elected by the alumni. The other two alumni trustees are Cora Smith Breckenridge of Elkhart, Ind., who was first elected in 1997 and whose present term ends in 2003, and Susan Hays Talbot, who was first elected in 2001 and whose present term ends in 2004.
The remaining trustees are appointed by the governor, including two trustees up for reappointment by Gov. Frank O'Bannon: Frederick F. Eichhorn Jr. of Bloomington, Ind., and Patrick A. Shoulders of Evansville, Ind.
