Professor remembers Chancellor as scholar

Your coverage of Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis' retirement announcement reported his accomplishments as an administrator and as a champion of IU's students. You omitted a less tangible, but I think more important, reason that he will be greatly missed. Gros Louis publicly lives the life of the mind in a way that all of us on this campus -- students, faculty, administrators and staff alike -- should emulate.\nAt every commencement, every academic convocation, every informal talk, he would remind us that the University is a place for intellectual adventure and spiritual quest, a place devoted to human growth and to celebrating the best of human achievement. Invariably, he would read poetry, narrate history, think together with us about ideas and challenge us to rise to our higher, rarer selves. In his quiet, unassuming way, he would relate that his grandfather was a Huron Indian, whose school was the woodlands and rivers of Canada. In sharing this personal story, he paid respect to two ways of life and education.\nLast May, a rock star swaggered onto IU's commencement stage to collect the honorary degree that he had bought with a big donation. Gros Louis did this man the honor of calling him a poet and quoting from his songs. It was a gracious act of inclusion by an extremely civilized man.\nIn this dollar-driven world, our University now styles itself as a business, eager to make deals with other businesses and to market itself as a product to consumers. Chancellor Gros Louis has continually shown us that we can be better than this. May IU be fortunate enough to find in his replacement another scholar, teacher and human being who will continue to exemplify for us all the ideal of the intellectual life.