Bepko 'goes to bat' for objectives

Gerald Bepko, the man the IU board of trustees picked earlier this month to replace outgoing President Myles Brand, spoke to the Bloomington Faculty Council Tuesday not about the administration but the Freudian subconscious.\nBepko confessed that for the 20 years he has been an IU administrator, he has had a reoccurring dream that he is the pitcher for a four-man baseball team.\nThe dream first appeared when he was dean of the IU Law School. The batters he faced were law professors, and they ran around the bases even when he struck them out. Later when he was chancellor of IUPUI, the batters became the deans. \nAs Bepko prepares to move into the role of interim president of IU at the year's end, his dream has again returned. It's a metaphor for the challenges he'll soon face.\n"This time I'm pitching in an even larger stadium, and the crowd makes a deafening noise," Bepko said. "The batters are more intimidating. They are trustees, chancellors, faculty and deans.\n"Professor (Richard) Shiffrin hit a line drive that knocked off my cap, and Dean (Kumble Subbaswamy) Swami hit a 610-foot home run," Bepko says. "The reoccurring dream has come back even more vividly."\nOn Tuesday he told the BFC that he is up to the challenge. His arm still feels good. \n"I'm going to keep on pitching," he said. \nIn an hour long speech Bepko outlined his agenda for his six-month interim term, pledging to dedicate himself to student success, research excellence, teamwork and the arts.\nAs retiring IUPUI Chancellor, Bepko paid particular interest to the importance of IU's regional campuses. He said he wants IU to be the best multi-campus institution in the country. \nBepko made it clear that his main activity will be lobbying the state legislature in the coming biennium. He said IU faces competition for money from the popular community college system. \n"I want to focus on making our case to the 2003 General Assembly," Bepko said. "Research universities are key to the new economy."\nBepko also said he would stick to the agenda set by President Brand. \nBloomington Faculty Council member Mary Popp cheered Bepko's speech. \n"He sees himself as someone keeping the fires burning," she said. "He has a wonderful reputation for listening and for looking at all sides."\nCouncil member Barry Rubin praised the choice of Bepko as interim president.\n"I don't think there was a better candidate than Bepko," Rubin said. "He is very comfortable working with the legislature and faculty, and we're very lucky to have him."\nBepko was named interim president at the Nov. 1 board of trustees meeting held in Fort Wayne, less than a month after Brand's announcement that he was leaving IU to lead the NCAA. The trustees have set July 1, 2003 as the deadline for hiring a permanent replacement. Bepko has said that he is not a candidate for the position.