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Honorary degree conferred upon IU Kokomo’s founding father
May 13, 2003 | |||||
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Portions of this story are by the IU Office of Publications KOKOMO, Ind.—Indiana University presented an honorary degree to Virgil Hunt during the May 13, 2003 Commencement ceremonies on the IU Kokomo campus. The Doctor of Humane Letters degree pays tribute to Hunt’s role in founding the Kokomo campus, his leadership as its first director from 1945–1956, and the Hunt family’s continued interest in and support of the university. Hunt, escorted by Professor of Marketing David Rink, was hooded by Grand Marshal Paul Eisenberg and platform marshal Robin Gress. Interim President Gerald Bepko sited Hunt’s “unwavering dedication, leadership, and generosity [which] have set an inspiring example for others to follow,” during the conferring of the honorary degree. When Virgil Hunt first arrived at the site of the new Indiana University Extension Center in Kokomo in 1945, he found the doors locked. Never one to let an obstacle stop him, he climbed through an open window and spent the night on a sofa. Then he spent the next 31 years ensuring that the doors of IU Kokomo—and then Indiana University Indianapolis (which later became Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis)—remained open for everyone. “From the beginning, a beginning conceived and shaped by Mr. Hunt, the mission of IU Kokomo has been to offer a college education to all regardless of race, ethnicity, or religious background,” says Kokomo Mayor James E. Trobaugh. This was a courageous vision, one that was unfortunately controversial at the time. One of Hunt’s first acts as the first executive secretary of the IU Extension Center in Kokomo was to enroll a group of Jewish students who had been denied admission to colleges in New York. Later as director of the Extension Center, he recruited John Grimes, the campus’s first African American student, who went on to a distinguished career as a judge. He also hired the first African American faculty member—a deed that he repeated at IU Indianapolis when he became dean at that institution. Under Hunt’s tutelage, the IU Extension Center in Kokomo grew from 188 students in 1945 to well over 700 students when he went to IU Indianapolis in 1956. This was partially due to the passage of the GI bill, but it was also the result of Hunt’s tireless efforts to promote the campus and to recruit local students. One of those students was Ted L. Grayson, a local farmer with little money and no plans for college. “Mr. Hunt called me and suggested I enroll at IU Kokomo,” Grayson says. “His phone call started my path to IU Kokomo, to the IU School of Medicine and to becoming a practicing surgeon and a surgery faculty member in Indianapolis. None of this would have happened without the encouragement and support from Mr. Hunt and IU Kokomo.” To make room for the growing student population, Hunt convinced area high schools and the local YMCA to allow IU Kokomo to teach classes in their facilities. But it did not take long for the campus to outgrow those venues as well. Throughout his career at IU Kokomo, Hunt worked hard to raise funds and acquire new buildings for the campus. “Single-handedly, he secured facilities, support, funding and most important, students,” says Robert R. Roales, chairperson and associate professor of anatomy and of physiology at IU Kokomo. “Through his vision and leadership, the Indiana University Extension Center at Kokomo grew steadily, eventually outgrowing the facilities at two separate locations.” Hunt brought the same interest and passion for his students with him when he accepted a position as dean at the IU Indianapolis campus in 1956. There he established the Indianapolis Youth Council on World Affairs and the American Institute of Banking program. He also established the Columbus Center of IUPUI—Columbus, Ind. In addition to hiring the first African American faculty member (who later became dean) at the Indianapolis campus, Hunt actively recruited students from a variety of racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds in Marion and the surrounding counties. In 1966, he became registrar of the Indiana University Medical Center. He retired from that position in 1976. Even though the now-91-year-old Virgil Hunt officially retired from Indiana University 27 years ago, his legacy lives on and his contributions to the university continue. In 1998, IU Kokomo established the Virgil Hunt Service Award to honor faculty and staff members who take an active role in the university and community. In spring 2001, the Virgil Hunt Fellowship in graduate education was founded to help support outstanding IU Kokomo graduate education students. In fall 2002, the Virgil and Elizabeth Hunt Scholars Program was created to assist students at the Kokomo campus majoring in science or science education. And in February 2002, the new science building at IU Kokomo was named Virgil and Elizabeth Hunt Hall in honor of Virgil and his late wife. In recognition of his many accomplishments and contributions, he received the David Foster Award for Lifetime Achievement on October 6, 2002. It is the highest philanthropic honor presented by the Community Foundation of Howard County. “Mr. Hunt’s work in beginning what is now a campus of nearly 3,000 students has made it possible for thousands of individuals to receive a degree from IU Kokomo, and countless more individuals to start their higher education careers here and move on to IUPUI or IU Bloomington,” says IU Kokomo Chancellor Ruth J. Person. “Virgil Hunt is our founding father.”
An IU Bloomington graduate (B.A., chemistry 1932; M.A., chemistry, 1933), Virgil Hunt knows the value of a good education, and it has been his mission to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to get a college education. “He was the educational entrepreneur who convinced more than one generation of north central Indiana residents that they could indeed receive an Indiana University education,” says Ron Harper, President of the Community Foundation of Howard County. “Those students, their communities, and Indiana University are all winners because of Virgil’s efforts.”
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