Oldest USI organization celebrates 40 years
Mary Lou Russler reads a tribute to Dr. Don Bennett, professor of education and vice president emeritus of Student Affairs, during a bosses' luncheon.
Carol Mann, senior accounting supervisor, left, and Janet Duncan, senior administrative assistant, play cards at a fundraiser.
 Betty Rice, USI's founding First Lady, demonstrates how to make an herb wreath at a meeting held in the University home. |
The University of Southern Indiana organization with the longest history is celebrating this fall. The Administrative Assistants and Associates will mark four decades at USI with a luncheon on September 16, 2009.
Mary Lou Russler, the club's second president, talks enthusiastically about the years she was a member of the Secretaries of ISUE, the first name of the organization. Russler joined the University in June 1969. That fall she was part of "Operation Move," the name used to describe the effort to move the USI offices from the Centennial campus to new facilities on the current University site.
Shortly after the move, the support staff, with endorsement from the administration, organized as the Secretaries of ISUE and planned social time and opportunities to develop skills, plus raised money for scholarships.
"We did so many interesting things," said Russler. "We learned crafts and had our handwriting analyzed, faculty members gave presentations on their areas of expertise, and we observed Halloween and then Thanksgiving, exchanged gifts at Christmas, and topped it off with the yearly bosses' luncheon. We established a family atmosphere, felt good about ourselves, and always had so much fun."
Russler will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon. Her passion for the University and the support staff will be evident as she recalls her work with the members during the first two decades, including the effort of the club to have administrators approve women wearing pants in the workplace.
Cash for college
Raising money for scholarships was a major goal of the organization. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, when the University held a fall campus-wide open house, the members made and sold apple butter to raise money. They peeled and cut up bushels of apples and cooked the apples and other ingredients in copper kettles over an open fire near the Grimes House on campus. Members took turns stirring the apples. The apple butter was poured into pint jars and sealed. It sold out each season garnering several hundred dollars for the coffers.
Bosses' luncheons were a popular event for support workers and supervisors. In 1990, the 25th anniversary year of USI, the club held the luncheon at Western Sizzler Restaurant (now Tumbleweed). An illustration of what the future campus of USI would look like in another 25 years was unveiled at the luncheon meeting. Members told Ray Walker, who drew the future campus, what they envisioned. The drawing included a Rice Rotunda and a cone-like tower.
The drawing proved to be prophetic as the Rice Library has a rotunda-like façade and the University Center's conical-shaped structure is under construction.
New name
The organization evolved over the years. The name was changed to Administrative Assistants and Associates to include male counterparts and to better reflect the membership. Earlier fundraisers were replaced with a Valentine's Day Gift and Bake sale, where members donate or bake candy, cookies, and other treats or bring Valentine-related items for sale.
The core mission, to bring support staff together for friendship, education, and fun remains.
Technology has changed the way the AA&A circulates announcements and minutes and a new web site, including a calendar of events, will be unveiled at the luncheon meeting.
Twenty-eight women have served in the role of president of the organization, some serving two- year terms. The current officers are Terri Alvey, president; Jeanne McAlister, vice president; Rebecca Ball, treasurer; and Debbie Whiteside, secretary.
An invitation to join
Alvey invites all members and prospective members from support staff to attend the September 16 meeting. It will be a carry-in luncheon held from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Education Center Room 3104 and no reservations are needed. "Hopefully everyone will show up with food in tow," said Alvey. Membership is $10 a year which gives a person voting privileges. Alvey said, "We welcome all support staff if they want to attend the monthly meetings."
Starting at dawn
A 1979 newspaper article carried this detail of the apple butter sale:
"You start before dawn. You peel, slice, and core nine bushels of apples.
The mixture cooks over an outdoor fire and is poured into 230 pint jars. By afternoon you've raised funds for two college scholarships!"
Like the apple butter effort, the club started at the dawn of the University. With hard work, a united effort, and lots of love, the AA&A can boast about its endowed scholarship and being the oldest organization on campus.
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| In 1990 during the 25th year of USI, the Administrative Assistants and Associates commissioned this drawing which is a compilation of the member's interpretation of how USI would look in the future. This was created years before the Rice Library's rotunda-shaped facade or the conical tower planned for the UC. Click here for a larger view. |
Kathy Funke, director
News & Information Services
812/465-7050 or kfunke@usi.edu
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