Hello John Whittenberger Society,
My name is Laurie Frederickson, and I am the president of the 115th Indiana Memorial Union Board. Previously, I served as the Director of Spirit and Traditions in 2022 and then the Vice President of Internal Affairs in 2023. I am originally from Denver, Colorado, and I study Criminal Justice and Psychology. The 115th Union Board is off to an excellent start, and I am excited to share the goals of this passionate group of directors!
The 115th Board kicked off our year at the annual Malkin Retreat. Though a surprise snowstorm turned our destination from Ann Arbor, Michigan to the Union Board office, we were not deterred from having a fun-filled weekend of bonding and brainstorming. During this retreat, we solidified four central goals: increasing internal and external consistency of our practices; maintaining mindfulness of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; building meaningful relationships both within our organization and through our partnerships; and fostering community for IU students through our programming.
Including film screenings, this board will have programmed a whopping 43 events in our first two months. We had a Party for the Pacifika featuring Hawaiian bands, hosted the annual Bloomington Ki Badtameezi Bollywood dance competition with teams from across the country, and a Black History month cooking event with Hell’s Kitchen winner Rock Harper. Coming up, we’ll have a lecture with famous actress Hunter Schafer, a concert featuring indie band Peach Pit, and even a trip to Indianapolis to see NCAA March Madness games with our brand new “Out and About” committee. I continue to be amazed by this board’s drive for planning a high volume of events and to collaborate with groups from across campus.
We are grateful for the John Whittenberger Society’s continued support for learning opportunities and scholarships for our directors. Thanks to your generosity, some of our directors recently attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and will attend Pollstar (Beverly Hills, CA) and ACUI (Denver, CO) later this year. We also revitalized the selection process for these trips, helping ensure that students are the key decision makers as to who attends.
The 115th board has continued the strong momentum from the 114th board to take on serious governance initiatives in the IMU and across campus. Recently, thanks to generous donations from the John Whittenberger Society, we were able to bring three new paintings to the IMU featuring work by Black artists. This incredibly successful initiative has been recognized by the IDS, WTIU Public Television, WIUX Radio, Indiana University News, Ebony Magazine, and more. We are thrilled to kick off the next step of the initiative to diversify art in the IMU, and we are partnering with La Casa and Latino Unidos to bring Latine art to the IMU.
Beyond the art initiative, I, alongside the vice presidents, am currently serving on the IMU Visioning Committee. This committee consists of stakeholders from across the IMU, and will provide recommendations for the future structure and functioning of the IMU. We have worked diligently to ensure that the interests of Union Board and IU students are represented by these recommendations, and we are excited to see the Union continue to evolve to better meet the needs of students.
I am honored to lead the 115th Union Board, and thank you for entrusting me to do so. If you have any questions about our programs or governance initiatives, do not hesitate to reach out to me at ubpres@indiana.edu.
Laurie Frederickson
115th Indiana Memorial Union Board President
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