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A Day of Commemoration: IU's 200th Anniversary

On January 20, 2020, we commemorated the university’s 200th anniversary and Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a keynote lecture featuring Viola Davis on the Bloomington campus.

Other events included the dedication of the new IU Bloomington history mural panels in Wright Quad as well as the newly commissioned Lux et Veritas paintings in Presidents Hall, the dedication of the Big Red 200 Supercomputer, and the return of Megalonyx jeffersonii, a digitally reconstructed skeleton of a giant sloth that once existed within the natural history collections at Indiana University.

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A Day of Commemoration events

10:00am

Big Red 200 Supercomputer Dedication Ceremony

Cyberinfrastructure Building
2709 E. 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47405

The dedication, before a standing-room-only crowd of 500 audience members, of the university's new Big Red 200 supercomputer, one of the fastest university-owned, artificial intelligence-capable supercomputers in the nation. Big Red 200, which is over 300 times faster than the original Big Red supercomputer IU acquired 15 years ago, will push the boundaries of basic and applied research at the university across a wide range of disciplines, including health and medicine, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, environmental science, machine learning and physics.

 

 

11:45am

Inaugural Ringing of the Arthur R. Metz Bicentennial Grand Carillon

Jesse H. and Beulah Chanley Cox Arboretum
E. 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47405

The inaugural ringing of the bells of the Arthur R. Metz Bicentennial Grand Carillon, relocated and rebuilt in the center of the IU Bloomington campus and which, through the addition of four new bells, is now one of fewer than 30 grand carillons in the world and one of only a handful nationwide. About 300 onlookers braved 20-degree weather at midday to hear world-renowned carillonneur and IU Jacobs School of Music alumnus John Gouwens performed the IU alma mater on the carillon, which more than 10,000 people have viewed online. The carillon also tolled 200 times in acknowledgement of IU's first 200 years.

12:00pm

200th Anniversary Luncheon

Presidents Hall (in Franklin Hall)
601 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405

The unveiling of two new allegorical paintings representing the university's Latin motto, Lux et Veritas at a 200th Anniversary Lunch held for about 250 students, faculty and staff who have developed numerous IU Bicentennial-related projects. These superb paintings, which now hang in Presidents Hall, were created by Bonnie Sklarski, professor emerita in the IU Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, and they are the first-ever works of art to interpret IU’s motto, which translates as "light and truth."

The debut of "Megajeff," a digitally reconstructed full-sized skeleton of a giant sloth that roamed Indiana during the ice age, which had been housed at IU during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Megalonyx jeffersonii, as it is officially known, will tour various buildings at IU Bloomington and other IU campuses and schools around the state.

4:00pm

Keynote Lecture

Viola Davis
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall
1001 E 17th St
Bloomington, IN 47408

A keynote lecture commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by acclaimed actress Viola Davis. Around 6,000 current and former students, faculty, staff and friends gathered at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to hear Davis' truly inspiring lecture and see her receive an honorary IU doctoral degree. Davis, the first black actor to win acting's triple crown—Oscar, Emmy and Tony awards—also met with a group of IU students and gave a pep talk to members of the critically acclaimed IU African American Choral Ensemble, who delivered a rousing and uplifting performance before her address.

5:30pm

200th Anniversary Dinner

Wright Quadrangle
501 N Jordan Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405

The unveiling before about 500 invited guests at a 200th Anniversary Dinner of a six-panel mural depicting the modern history of IU Bloomington. The mural, created by Caleb Weintraub, associate professor of painting in the IU Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, was permanently installed in the Wright Quadrangle dining hall alongside seven existing murals that depict IU's history from 1820 to 1998, and it fills the gap through 2020. Among its other areas of focus, it highlights IU's commitment to building a diverse, multicultural community with its inclusion of IU's first African American president, Adam Herbert, as well as the first vice president focused on diversity matters in any Big Ten institution, Charlie Nelms. It also depicts the commitment of IU students to the pursuit of social justice, equality for all and the improvement of quality of life for members of the IU community and Indiana residents.