President Pitts announces plans to retire
University of Indianapolis President Beverley Pitts announced on Oct. 4, in a campus-wide email, that she will retire in June.
Pitts will have held the position for seven years at the end of her tenure and believes that this year is a good time to retire.
“I wanted to retire when the time was right for the university,” Pitts said. “It’s at a strong time for the university.”
Pitts attributes some of these strengths to the completion of projects around campus. These projects include seeing the completion of Hanna Avenue and the opening of the Athletics and Recreation Center.
She will be able to see the ARC used to host an NFC team for the 2012 Super Bowl.
Her plans for retirement include staying involved with K-12 programs and volunteering in the community. She wants to stay active with writing, since journalism is where she has focused most of her career.
President Beverley Pitts speaks at “Sharing my Story.” This event was held on Oct. 7 at noon in Good Recital Hall hosted by Thursday Night Alive. Photo by Jessica Stucky
“I believe I have things to offer to the community,” she said.
Even though the official end of her UIndy career will be on June 30, she also will see the completion of Roberts Hall between Cravens and Warren Halls.
Pitts believes that some of her biggest accomplishments during her time as president of the university have included changing some of the facilities to help provide for students, improving the Schwitzer Student Center and finding ways to make residence life more enjoyable.
Other achievements during her time have included rising enrollment and bringing meaningful connections between other organizations and UIndy.
“There are a lot of things the president is proud of, but the people behind them are the reason they are a success,” Pitts said.
Administrative Assistant to Pitts, Gloria Eichenberg, has seen many of the accomplishments that Pitts has had during her time as president. Eichenberg believes that one of Pitts’ greatest achievements has been her work to help UIndy achieve more recognition.
“I think she [Pitts] has helped to make the university a little more visible in the community,” Eichenberg said. “She has excelled our name in the community.”
Pitts has held many administrative positions at other universities. During her time at Ball State, she worked as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. She also served as Acting President.
She taught at various points throughout her career as a professor of journalism and has been active as a practicing journalist.
She has her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism. She received the degrees at Anderson University and Ball State University respectively. She also holds a doctorate in higher education with a cognate in journalism from BSU.
Pitts has had experience working in both private schools and public schools and has noticed the differences between the two environments.
Pitts said she has enjoyed being part of a private university and some of the freedoms that come with it.
Being the president of a university has required her to take on a different mindset from her previous positions.
“When you’re president, you’re always there. You’re always engaging and thinking about the institution and how to make it a better place to be,” she said.
Pitts also impacted the university by helping to push for the nickname UIndy.
Even though the nickname had been around campus, the initiative for promotion started about five years ago.
Pitts believes the nickname makes the university stand out from other institutions that have similar letters in their names, such as the University of Illinois.
“The phrase was around, but we hadn’t branded it as our own,” Pitts said. “We wanted people to know who we were. UIndy means us and only us.”
The official search for President Pitts’ successor has started.
The Board of Trustees will work with a national search firm to find a new president to take office on July 1.
The committee will create a pool of candidates, and the board will work from there. It is uncertain when the search for Pitts’ successor will be completed.
Pitts believes that the candidates the search committee chooses will be a good match for the university.
“[They will be] getting a good pool of candidates to choose from,” she said.
