After announcing their plan for a split in August 2022, Indiana University president Pamela Whitten and Purdue University president Mung Chiang made the breakup official on Wednesday, with a special signing ceremony in the Campus Center Atrium.
In the special ceremony, both presidents made remarks and signed the papers that officially separate IUPUI into two universities within Indianapolis on June 30, 2024. Those new universities will be Indiana University Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis.
Envisioning the future, Whitten remarked that this historic agreement between IU and Purdue will be beneficial for both universities.
“This agreement will be a stepping stone for both Indiana University and Purdue University toward even greater possibilities for innovation and collaboration and impact for our students in the city of Indianapolis,” Whitten said.
For IU Indianapolis, Whitten believes that the regional campus can grow to be a premier urban research campus.
“For IU Indianapolis, our vision is grounded in the belief that a world-class city deserves and its future demands a truly world-class research university in the heart of our city,” Whitten said. “Put simply, IU Indianapolis will become one of the nation’s preeminent urban research universities. Consistent with our IU 2030 Strategic Plan, our goal is nothing short of extraordinary impact and students transformed and discoveries made and communities strengthened.”
Some of the initiatives Whitten mentioned include establishing a direct path of admission from the School of Science to the IU School of Medicine, doubling enrollment in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, and investing $60 million to expand research facilities on the IU Indianapolis campus.
Mayor of Indianapolis, Joe Hogsett, emphasized just how invaluable IUPUI has been for Indianapolis in the past half century. As such, that may lead many to wonder why this split even took place. Hogsett believes the split was necessary to facilitate more space due to the vast growth of Indianapolis.
“Why mess with a winning formula? … Like so much in our city right now, IUPUI has grown in ways that require a new approach.” Hogsett said. “Not to mention, more space. For more than half a century as a duo, these icons of the Hoosier state will now double the gift they provide to this city as separate institutions. They will serve as two magnets for talent attraction, building a larger, more educated workforce for our city, the city of Indianapolis.”
Chiang announced the establishment of a new Purdue campus in Indianapolis which will not be one of their three regional campuses.
“For today, [the] Purdue board [of trustees] also voted to establish Purdue University in Indianapolis. Our first comprehensive urban campus with multiple locations throughout the city including the autonomous operation of a piece of land nearby,” Chiang said. “It will confer Purdue West Lafayette degrees from all of our colleges and departments.”
After the split, Purdue students and faculty will continue to have access to all campus and academic buildings indefinitely, but Purdue will seek to expand to other locations across Indianapolis.
Mayor Hogsett, a graduate of IUPUI, concluded his remarks by sentimentalizing the impact that IUPUI has made on Indianapolis for the past several decades.
“For the opportunity it has provided for fifty years for the city of Indianapolis, I give my thanks, on behalf of that city, to the entire IUPUI community, past, present and future,” said Hogsett.
Nathan Ensley is a photographer and writer for The Campus Citizen, IUPUI's student news publication, focusing on sports and campus. He is a sophomore majoring in Informatics.
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