Gros Louis to speak at Ivy Tech graduation

Gros Louis to speak at Ivy Tech graduation

by Steve Hinnefeld
331-4374 | shinnefeld@heraldt.com
May 10, 2006

Ken Gros Louis has given countless speeches to students, faculty, parents and alumni in his 20-plus years as a top Indiana University administrator.

He will address a different audience this week: the graduating class at Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington and their families.

Gros Louis will be the featured speaker at the 2006 Ivy Tech commencement ceremony, which starts at 6 p.m. Friday at the IU Auditorium. Some 267 students are scheduled to receive two-year associate of science and applied science degrees and technical certificates at the event.

John Whikehart, the Ivy Tech chancellor, said Gros Louis deserves credit for a vastly improved relationship between IU Bloomington and Ivy Tech-Bloomington.

"Whenever I've talked with Ken, he's been not only knowledgeable about the issues but interested in thinking about what we can do to move things forward," he said.

He said Gros Louis' personal history - as the son of a New Hampshire mill worker and the first person in his family to attend college - will resonate with Ivy Tech graduates.

"And he's on the A list in terms of eloquence," Whikehart said.

Since January, Gros Louis has served as university chancellor at IU, a position previously held only by Herman B Wells after he retired as IU president.

He was Bloomington chancellor and university vice president for academic affairs for 21 years, retiring in 2001. He came out of retirement to serve as interim chancellor and senior vice president for two more years.

In that capacity, he worked with Whikehart and academic deans at IU and Ivy Tech to develop agreements on course transfer and articulation of degree requirements between the two campuses.

Thirty percent of this year's Ivy Tech graduates will graduate with honors, and 10 earned high honors with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.

Honors Day speaker

Carol D'Amico, executive vice president of the Ivy Tech Community College system, will be the keynote speaker for the Ivy Tech-Bloomington honors day ceremony.

The event starts at noon Friday in the Student Commons of the Ivy Tech campus at 200 Daniels Way off West Ind. 48.

D'Amico is a former education adviser to President Bush.