January 16, 2016

Celebrating Athletic Excellence at IUPUI

IUPUI Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Brunch
Woodstock Club
Indianapolis, Indiana
(Remarks as prepared)

Introduction

Thank you for that introduction, John [Rasmussen], and thank you all for coming this morning. I know he has already spoken, but would you join me again in officially welcoming our new Athletic Director Dr. Roderick Perry.

Athletics and Campus Life

First and foremost, I love sports and I love IUPUI, so I’m delighted that this event lets me focus on two of my favorite things.

Today, as we honor Odell, Kat, and Brittney, it gives a wonderful opportunity to think about the great importance of athletics in the life of a university campus.

For student athletes, it gives them lessons in discipline, leadership, commitment, all of those things that they carry with them and can apply throughout their lives. It cements friendships that will last a lifetime. It helps them achieve at the highest levels on the court, field, or course, and in the classroom. In fact, IUPUI student athletes have maintained above 3.0 cumulative GPAs for 14 straight semesters, and this fall they reached their highest cumulative GPA of 3.325.

That deserves a round of applause!

Our Front Door to the Community

Of course IUPUI Athletics reaches far beyond our student athletes. It touches faculty, staff, and other students. It can bring a campus together creating energy, excitement, and connections.

And athletics is our front door to the community. Through athletics, people in the community come to know our campus. They learn about what we value. In a very real sense, our student athletes, coaches, and trainers are ambassadors who demonstrate—through good sportsmanship, performance, and success across the board—what it means to be an IUPUI Jaguar.