Tennis star Venus Williams enrolled in online courses at IU East

Monday, Venus Williams fired serves clocked as fast as 126 miles per hour during her opening match against Vesna Dolonts of Russia. The American tennis player won the match 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and eight minutes.

Monday, thousands of freshman sat through their first class at IU. Some classes lasted an hour and fifteen minutes.

What those Hoosier freshmen didn’t know is that although Venus Williams was on a court in Flushing Meadows and they were stuck in a classroom in Bloomington, they share something in common. They’re both working toward their first IU degree.

Palladium-Item released the news today that Williams is enrolled in classes at IU-East Richmond.

The former world No. 1 is taking online business classes to pursue a bachelor’s degree through a online degree-completion program.

-- Stephanie Kuzydym