Up next: State Street to Mitch Daniels Blvd.
West Lafayette set to rename part of State Street in honor Purdue President Mitch Daniels as he prepares to step aside.
Thanks to sponsors of today’s Based in Lafayette edition:
Long Center for the Performing Arts, presenting Dragons & Mythical Beasts, featuring a magical world of myths and legends in this fantastical new show for all the family. Coming March 24 to the historic downtown theater. For tickets and more, check out longpac.org/events/dragons-mythical-beasts
And the Bindery Studios, which will host a Holiday Open House, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3. (Perfect before the Lafayette Christmas Parade.) The Bindery is located at 511 Ferry St. in downtown Lafayette. Opening that same day in the Bindery Gallery will be a show of paintings by Michael J. McNeil. Also, there will be a writing contest regarding the story told by the window display at the Bindery. Entries may be mailed or dropped at the Bindery between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31. There is a $1 entry fee and a $100 first prize. The window story contest is open to any area student in kindergarten through eighth grade. For more information, see the flyer below.
ROLLING DOWN DANIELS BOULEVARD?
In recent months, as Purdue racked up big announcements at the university’s Discovery Park District – a $1.8 billion semiconductor facility by Minnesota-based Skywater Technology, new Rolls Royce research facilities and more – Purdue President Mitch Daniels hasn’t missed opportunities to talk about State Street.
“Just a few short years ago, when (West Lafayette Mayor) John Dennis and I stood out there and looked around at a lot of empty space and vacant lots and said, you know, now that the city owns this street finally, what if?” Daniels said at a Nov. 8 groundbreaking for an Ascension St. Vincent micro-hospital at Discovery Park.
That “what if” turned into the State Street Project, a $120 million joint project with West Lafayette first broached in 2014 and that reconfigured traffic patterns from the Wabash River, through campus and to the city’s newly annexed land along U.S. 231. Without that investment by the city and the university, Daniels says whenever he gets the chance, the things Purdue is doing along the campus’ western edge don’t happen.
Friday morning, the West Lafayette board of works will consider renaming the campus stretch of West State Street – from the Purdue gateway at Grant Street to U.S. 231 – to Mitch Daniels Boulevard. (The board of works meets at 8:30 a.m. Friday at West Lafayette City Hall, 222 N. Chauncey Ave.)
The move would be the latest street on or through campus named for a past university president. Purdue renamed Intramural Drive to Martin Jischke Drive in June 2007, as Jischke closed out his time as president. In 2000, Purdue renamed a stretch of North Russell Street, running next to Ross-Ade Stadium between Cherry Lane and Stadium Avenue, to Beering Drive to honor outgoing President Steven Beering. Between Jischke and Daniels, Purdue renamed the Co-Rec to honor President France Córdova.
The move also comes on a day Purdue is touting as the start of “MitchFest.”
IF YOU GO: At 1:30 p.m. Friday, at the corner of State and Grant streets, Purdue will have a community ceremony to honor Daniels. He’ll be there with the Purdue All-American Marching Band and refreshments to take selfies with people on the Purdue Memorial Union lawn.
PURDUE NAMES 3 PROVOST FINALISTS
Three Purdue deans on Thursday were named finalists to be the university’s next provost, the top academic position on campus.
Each will interview one day next week, including a public forums on campus.
One will replace Jay Akridge, who has been provost since 2017 and will return to a post on the faculty in the College of Agriculture.
The finalists are:
Eric Barker, dean of the College of Pharmacy since 2010. Barker has been at Purdue since 1998. He will have a public forum at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, in Fowler Hall in the Stewart Center. The livestream of his presentation will be here.
Patrick Wolfe, dean of the College of Science. Wolfe came to Purdue as dean in 2017. He will have his public forum at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, in Fowler Hall. The livestream will be here.
Marion Underwood, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences. She came to Purdue as dean in 2018. She will have her public forum at 10:45 a.m. Friday, Dec. 9, in Fowler Hall. The livestream will be here.
For more on the provost search, go to: purdue.edu/provost/searches/provost/
Thanks to the Long Center for the Performing Arts and The Bindery Studios for their support of today’s edition.
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Why don't we anoint Mitch as the patron saint of the Koch Brothers and be done with this meadow muffin/road apple nonsense? Cripes. Sorry, Saint Mitch is the bro who had a hissy fit about Howard Zinn's book which I read thinking it was going to be like Malcolm X or something, the way that white boy was carrying on. Good grief. Mitch is just another recent newbie to these shores trying to preach American history to those of us who have been here since the 1600s. Mitch can go to that special place before the plains of Erebus, as far as I'm concerned. He has no blood or bones in this sacred soil.
Well deserved tribute. 4+ hours of students lined up to thank him and get selfie taken with him. Without a doubt the most successful and popular president Purdue has had in a long time.