Last modified: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
IU Hutton Honors College April dedication a 'celebration of life' for Ed Hutton
WHAT: "Celebration of Edward L. Hutton and the New Home of Hutton Honors College"
WHEN: April 8, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. --The April 8 dedication for Indiana University's new Hutton Honors College will happen as planned -- but sadly, without the presence of IU alumnus Ed Hutton, longtime friend of the university for whom the Honors College is named, and whose support made the new building possible. Hutton passed away on March 2 in Cincinnati.
The 1 p.m., open-to-the-public ceremony, titled "Celebration of Edward L. Hutton and the New Home of Hutton Honors College," will take place at Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union. A reception and tours will immediately follow in the new, $3.5 million Hutton Honors College space (811 E. Seventh St.).
Edward Hutton met with Hutton Honors College students at a cornerstone dedication for the new building in 2008.
The spacious, light-filled limestone building at the corner of Seventh and Woodlawn -- complete with a library, updated technology and space for meetings and film screenings -- has been in use since January. In addition to funding that building, Hutton gave the university $9 million in 2003 to establish the International Experiences Program, and IU subsequently named the honors program for him. The university is matching the interest income from his gift.
"Ed knew that his IU education and the international perspective it helped give him had enabled him to achieve many successes in his life, and he wanted to extend similar opportunities for success to as many IU students as possible," said IU President Michael A. McRobbie. "Ed's gifts to IU were not only extraordinarily generous but far-sighted and visionary in that they will undoubtedly provide positive life-changing experiences for many of our students for years to come. I knew him well personally, and he genuinely exemplified the best of Hoosier values -- modest and unassuming, but hard-working and possessed of a penetrating intelligence, with a broad and tolerant understanding of the world. He was one of IU's greatest internationalists."
"Mr. Hutton was a visionary with a steadfast commitment to making the world a better place," said IU Provost Karen Hanson. "He resolutely encouraged countless young people to aspire to a college degree, and he helped institutions -- especially Indiana University -- provide the best education possible to innumerable students. He left a legacy here at IU, and around the world, that is best exemplified by the achievements of the students he empowered."
The beneficiary of an IU scholarship and mentoring from caring faculty members himself, Hutton was also generous in funding other student scholarships and endowed faculty professorships at IU through the IU Foundation. He chaired the IU Foundation's volunteer fund-raising committee that raised $23 million for the Herman B Wells Scholars Program in the 1980s. Hutton received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from IU in 1992 and the IU Foundation's Herman B Wells Visionary award in 2002.
Matt Auer, dean of the Hutton Honors College, said that by creating a new building for Hutton Honors students, Ed Hutton wanted a public space similar to what students have at places like Oxford in Cambridge. The airy, light-filled limestone building has a library with red oak paneling, a great room for distinguished speakers with a projection screen and seating for special events, breakout rooms with meeting space for students, and offices for advisers and administrators.
"His love for IU was certainly an inspiration for his largesse. But anyone who spent time with him recognized that Ed Hutton had a profound love for students, generally," said Auer. "Mr. Hutton understood that one's college years are transformative, particularly when the right kinds of opportunities are made available. His International Experiences Program sends more than 600 IU students abroad each year. I can testify that Mr. Hutton's student grantees are forever changed, and always for the better, by their overseas experiences."
Students taking classes in the new building have deep gratitude for the support. For sophomore Caitlin Daley, an English major at IU, having a central location for the Hutton Honors College is convenient -- and meaningful.
"Whenever you take a group of people and give them a place that they can call 'home,' it always brings them closer together. Just knowing that everyone you pass in the building has something in common with you adds to the sense of community," Daley said. "I appreciate the fact that the university built such a nice building exclusively for honors students. It shows that IU is dedicated to its honors program -- which in turn makes me more dedicated to IU."
