IU Kokomo salutes former Chancellor Victor Bogle
September 22, 2005
KOKOMO, Ind.—Indiana University Kokomo honored former Chancellor Victor Bogle and his wife, Fern, on September 10, by rededicating its Victor M. Bogle Conference Room in the Main Building.
Victor Bogle served as the campus' chief administrator from 1959–1980. He presided over construction of the campus' Washington Street site in the mid-1960s, and the institution's eventual transformation from an Indiana University extension to an autonomous, degree-granting regional campus of IU.
At the rededication, current Chancellor Ruth Person unveiled a photo of Victor Bogle overlooking the Main Building's construction in 1964. The photo will be displayed in the Bogle Room, which was first named to honor Bogle following his retirement from teaching in 1992. Chancellor Person described the location as a “situation room” where campus leaders gather on important issues. “This is a fitting tribute to the man who inspired many important discussions and movements that shaped IU Kokomo,” she said.
Professor of History Allen Safianow, Ph.D., and Bogle's former assistant for University Relations Bob Morr also spoke during the rededication ceremony. Safianow said Bogle “could be considered the founder of this current campus since he directed the move from the Seiberling campus to here.” Safianow cited numerous educational innovations Bogle championed, “particularly the development of the baccalaureate degree in liberal studies, and the implementation of Project Outreach, whereby IU Kokomo offered classes in Logansport, Tipton, Peru, and other communities throughout our service region.”
Equally important to the campus' growth and success, according to Safianow, were Bogle's unflagging personal qualities: “The hospitality that he and his wife, Fern, offered to all faculty members, particularly newcomers; his accessibility to faculty; the passion he had for teaching and learning; his love for ideas and intellectual debate.” Above all, Safianow said, Victor Bogle demonstrated “a commitment and dedication to this campus, which was—together with his family—at the core of his life.”
Morr praised his former boss as “a humanitarian, always very mindful of other people's needs,” who “very much believed in IU Kokomo's mission to educate local people who were unable or didn't want to go to a residential university.” That mission, Morr said, was Bogle's focus when the latter developed IU Kokomo's first master plan. “It had population projections for the seven counties that IU Kokomo served then and looked at what academic disciplines were needed” to enhance the local workforce, Morr said.
In 1972, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education floated a proposal that would have eliminated four-year undergraduate degree programs at the local campus. Barr recalled how Bogle orchestrated extensive community protest; by the next year, the proposal was dropped.
Bogle taught history during his entire tenure at the university, retiring in 1992 as a full professor. “Victor never stopped being an educator,” Morr said. “He still has an inquiring mind that loves to engage other minds.”
Construction of the Main and East buildings and Havens Auditorium might be the major landmarks of her husband's time at IU Kokomo, but Fern Bogle also recalled the small moments, such as when the Chancellor spent time before the 1970 Commencement planting pansies around a campus sign. “My husband considered IU Kokomo his 'child,' and I tried to support him in everything he did,” she said. That even extended to allowing a large stainless steel sculpture called the Phoenix to be built in her family's garage in 1965. Created by former student Bob Hamilton as a symbol of the school's growth, the Phoenix later was installed at the campus entrance.
About 30 people attended the rededication ceremony, including the Bogles' two daughters, family friends, and current and retired faculty and staff.
