Tomorrow will be a 24-hour long IU-loving, , celebrating, kind of day! And those of us who don those cream and crimson colors with pride: we can’t wait!
IU Day is a full day of online and on and off campus activities to help celebrate IU. At the Northwest Indiana campus, Indiana University Northwest, the students and staff are ready to show off their school spirit.
Vice Chancellor for University Advancement and External Affairs Jeri Pat Gabbert is excited for the day’s festivities to start, which will begin on the dot at 12:00 a.m. and end at 11:59 p.m. that night.
“IU day is 24-hours, starting at the tick of midnight,” she said. “We will be online all day long for people to engage.”
The day is a technology-driven event, meaning everyone is invited to post, share, like, comment, and engage with people from all over the world who love the IU school as much as they do.
“This is just an opportunity to engage via technology and interact in ways to celebrate IU,” Gabbert said. “Traditionally, everyone came back for homecoming and that was the way to celebrate. Today, we can connect over the internet 24 hours a day.”
IUN’s University Advancement and External Affairs office is teaming up with the IUN Alumni Association to raise the IU spirit in Northwest Indiana. But IU day is being promoted from all IU branches, all calling for IU joy.
The online action includes contests and a day-long slew of posting photos and videos. Competitions of how many likes they can get and how many #IUDay and #IUN hashtags can be tallied will be going on throughout the day as well.
Plus, the school is hosting an online fundraising effort, called “Warm Hearts and Warm Hands With IU Northwest,” which already kicked off this week.
The staff will be “lending a helping hand” to the Boys & Girls Club of Northwest Indiana and will be accepting donation gifts of $25 or more for the program. With each gift received, IUN will pay it forward by donating a pair of IU stitched gloves to the kids of the Boys & Girls Club.
The fundraiser has already raised $155 thanks to several donors.
For on-campus events, the students and faculty are invited to the Moraine Student Center between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. for more fun games, music, and prizes. Chancellor William Lowe is hosting the Thrill of the Grill, which is an opportunity for the faculty and staff to enjoy food together during the celebration.
Rufus the Redhawk will also make appearances throughout the day.
There are several off-campus events taking place in Northwest Indiana. Alumni will be at four hospitals during the day to show their love: Methodist Hospitals (Northlake and Southlake), Community Hospital, and St. Mary Medical Center. Everyone is invited to gather in the cafeteria of the hospital between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to pass out stickers, cookies, and check out everyone’s cream and crimson colors peeking out from their white lab coats. They also are available to answer any questions about the IUN programs offered.
IU Day is a 24-hour binge-watching, social-sharing, gift-giving, IU-wearing online celebration. Last year, the day brought the party to about 9.4 million people worldwide and raised $11.2 million.
“It is so exciting to see everyone coming together to celebrate IU,” Gabbert said. “My favorite part is giving the gloves to the kids; being able to give back to the community, and to see the smile on the kids’ faces. It is great to see the good work happening in the community.”
Posts will be made from the IUN Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram, the IUN Alumni Facebook page, LinkedIn, and the Boys & Girls Club of NWI Facebook page.
Hashtags to use are: #IUday, #IUN, #April19. Also use the IU Day filter on Snapchat!
