University of Indianapolis English Professor, Kevin McKelvey, passed away on June 29, 2025, according to his memorial page. However, his spirit and legacy still live on through the countless plants, gardens and lives he nurtured.
At UIndy, McKelvey founded Etchings Press, the student-run publication, and co-founded the Master of Arts in Social Practice program, a graduate degree “focused on using artistic practices to address social issues and engage with communities,” according to Dignity Memorial. The source also states he established the UIndy gardens “to grow fresh vegetables on campus to address food access and scarcity in the area, and through those projects, developed strong and lasting relationships.”
One friendship he established was with Associate Professor and English Department Chair Liz Whiteacre. She first met McKelvey in college at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale when they were both students in graduate school in 2001. She was in her third year of the Master’s of Fine Arts program, while McKelvey was in his first.
“We met through a two-week training program before the term started, and I was part of a leadership team that helped onboard all of the new teaching assistants,” Whiteacre said. “We first started connecting over a ‘How to Teach Composition 101’ class.”
When asked what her first image was that came to mind about McKelvey, Whiteacre said she remembers his office. She said there were books stacked from floor to ceiling, and his desk held countless items that other people might put in their drawers and filing cabinets or spend an afternoon reading.
“We’d have a conversation, I would get a book in my faculty mailbox and there would be a little post-it note on it,” Whiteacre said.
McKelvey took pleasure in finding connections with people, and he was very interested in place and space and people’s connection to the land or others, according to Whiteacre. She noted that he had a tremendous capacity to remember all of those different connections, and in conversation with people, find the common ground that established relationships.
“He was the type of person who would remember your interests and text or email you articles he came across or books that he saw related to you,” Associate English Professor Rebecca McKanna said via email. “He could always make me laugh if I was frustrated or down about something, because he had this very dry sense of humor. Once, he left [Associate English Professor and Director of Graduate Programs] Dr. [Leah] Milne and me little sheets of dog and cat stickers he came across just because he knew they were silly and would make us smile.”
McKelvey’s ability to connect with others came naturally, especially through the gardening process, according to Whiteacre. She added he was very patient with first-time gardeners and taught them the ins and outs of how, why and what they were doing.
“I think that McKelvey very comfortably became that guide because he was very knowledgeable, patient and welcoming of people,” Whiteacre said.
The food produced through McKelvey’s gardening process with students was shared with the campus and surrounding community to address food insecurity, according to Whiteacre. Due to this, she said those who might not have had fresh vegetables suddenly had access to them. She also mentioned that often McKelvey would share his tomatoes with fellow faculty members in the English department.
“During the height of the [gardening] season, there was food dropped off everywhere,” Whiteacre said. “Sometimes he would bring in stuff from his home garden and share. There was a culture of sharing plants as well. Over the years, I can point to places in my garden where things came from his house.”
In terms of what McKelvey would want most from his former students, Whiteacre said she believes he recognized everybody has something to offer, no matter whether it was their first time doing something. She said he encouraged people to engage in all areas of life, whether it be gardening, academics, service projects or reading a book.
“He would want students reading more, then thinking and talking about what they read,” Whiteacre said. “Then, he would want them to talk about what they are producing, and then give themselves their own attention, where they write a draft, go back to it, read it, work on it more and share it with other people, so that it becomes its best form of communication with the audience.”
McKanna also confirmed this in an email, saying that McKelvey hoped students would believe in the power of art and literature to make them better people. She said poetry, in particular, was so serious to him that he would often say it was “his religion.”
“I think students picked up on how seriously he took writing, how much he cared about them reading and thinking deeply, and about them developing as writers,” McKanna said in an email. “He wanted students to work hard, but he was also supportive and encouraging. He stayed in touch with so many students long after they graduated.”
English Professor and Former English Department Chair Molly Martin first met McKelvey 11 years ago when she came to Indianapolis for her interview at UIndy. He was the one who picked her up from the airport, brought her to dinner and showed her around the city of Indianapolis, according to Martin.
“He immediately gave an impression as someone who loved what he did and loved his city,” Martin said. “He asked if I wanted to go to the hotel to rest, or if he could show me Indianapolis, his Indianapolis. And, of course, I went with the latter and got the official ‘McKelvey tour,’ which was amazing.”
The first image that came to mind for Martin was that McKelvey was a “taller gentleman,” about six feet four inches, she said. She also noted his “blue puffercoat” that he used to wear, which she said he wore standing in the back of a meeting or at a Kellogg Writers Series event. A few of the English Department faculty members bought blue coats, just like his, which now hang in their office as a daily reminder of him, according to Martin. McKanna also mentioned in an email the “blue Patagonia puffer coat.”
“I picture him in it standing in the back of UIndy Hall during different campus events,” McKanna said in an email. “Several of us bought similar Patagonia coats in tribute [to him]…”
Martin said that McKelvey wielded his bigness and “BFG,” or “Big Friendly Giant,” to benefit other people as necessary. She said he had a booming voice that he would use to speak for students and faculty and always stood up for important things.
A memory of Martin’s she discussed was when she co-taught a class with McKelvey and English Professor Jennifer Camden in 2018. Martin said they taught a Scottish literature course, where they took students to Scotland over spring break. However, what stuck out most from that trip to Martin was the way that McKelvey worked with a student who had difficulty getting a passport and could not make the trip to Scotland due to personal reasons. The student was convinced they were going to need to drop the course, but McKelvey met with them individually, told them they were not going to drop it and came up with a unique virtual travel plan for the student, so that they could join in on the trip, according to Martin.
“His one-on-one teaching was really where he excelled and was just phenomenal working individually with students,” Martin said. “I think that’s where he was really comfortable. He was really good at assessing someone’s situation.”
McKelvey was very much a gatherer of people, as well as someone who enjoyed time to himself, according to Martin. She said it was this mixture that made him connect so well with people.
Regarding McKelvey’s love for gardening, Martin said he had such a deep love for nature, and particularly Indiana nature. McKelvey loved gardening, both food and flowers, but Martin said that gardening was a social event for him and used it as a way to connect with people.
Next steps in the healing process
“The whole English department really feels his loss. For 17 years, he was a leader and developed relationships across the university and maintained them with alumni,” Whiteacre said. “I think his legacy will be continued throughout the work of the department because other professors value the same things that he valued. They have personal relationships with him and carry his memory with them.”
A memorial service for McKelvey will be hosted on campus on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, from 4 to 6 p.m. in UIndy Hall, according to Whiteacre via email. The service is being coordinated with the Shaheen College of Arts and Sciences.
“Our UIndy 2025-2026 Student Poet Laureate Piper Parks is organizing the collection of memories about Kevin McKelvey in the next few weeks from UIndy alumni, students, faculty and staff,” Whiteacre said in an email.
Students involved in English 479, the Etchings Press course, under the leadership of Associate Professor Dan Vice, are compiling a book full of gardening prompts in remembrance of McKelvey, according to Whiteacre via email. Anyone is welcome to write their thoughts regarding the prompts or share their memories and drop them in the memory box at Krannert Memorial Library’s digital repository. You can also share your memory digitally by filling out the online digital memory box form.
Students are invited to stop by the English Department’s tailgate spot at Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. to share their memories, chat with faculty and students, and cheer on the Greyhounds as they play McKendree University at 6 p.m., according to the UIndy English department newsletter. The following week after the game, the memory box will move to the Krannert Memorial Library’s first floor by the Ask Desk and will remain there until Friday, Oct. 24.
Amidst this difficult time, new UIndy mental health resources are available for students who may be struggling emotionally. UIndy students can sign up for Timely Care, schedule counseling sessions by booking online or engage with others in the UIndy community by dropping off thoughts and memories, filling out prompts in honor of McKelvey and dropping them off in the memory box. Also, students may utilize the new Meditation and Biofeedback Center, which will open on Thursday, Sept. 25, according to the Student Counseling Center.
