Portrait honors campus legend

When students arrived in the fall, they found a new portrait on a wall in one of the campus' largest classrooms.\nThe portrait is of Dr. Herman Hudson, founder of Afro-American studies and the Afro-American Arts Institute at IU, a man who died in late February and will be remembered in a memorial service today at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre.\nBut many students who have classes in Woodburn Hall 100 don't know who Hudson is or why his portrait hangs there.\nThat's because months after the painting was hung, there is no plaque identifying Hudson.\nSoon, that will change.\nThe new portrait hangs near the back of Woodburn Hall 100, on the same wall as one of the room's infamous Benton mural panels.\nThe Benton panel, which in depicting Indiana history shows Ku Klux Klan members burning a cross, was protested last spring by a coalition of students who said it was offensive.\nSince the Hudson portrait was too big for its expected home, the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, the painting was hung in Woodburn Hall last summer, said Sherry Rouse, curator of campus art.\nIt is the first painting in what will be a gallery of people who have made significant contributions to race relations at IU, which will also include Herman B Wells, Rouse said.\nIn the portrait, by Bloomington artist Bob Kingsley, a smiling Hudson looks out from an office, with a bookcase, an American flag and a scenic view of campus behind him.\nWhile the portrait was placed in Woodburn to honor Hudson, some students still don't know about his legacy.\nCarolyn Randolph, political action chair of the Black Student Union, said the University "seemed to throw the picture up there with no explanation."\nRandolph said she'd like to see both a plaque honoring Hudson and a mention of the IU legend in a video that educates students on other artwork in the classroom.\nRouse said the placement of the portrait was never intended as a response to the protests about existing art in Woodburn, but as a way to honor Hudson.\nA plaque with a biography of Hudson's contributions to IU is in the works and should be up before the end of the semester, said Gloria Gibson, associate vice chancellor for Multicultural Affairs. IU is working with Hudson's family to best honor his legacy in a place that enjoys high student visibility.\nChancellor Sharon Brehm said the goal was to find a suitable place to hang the portrait, properly recognize Hudson's contributions and make people feel good about the painting.\nHudson is known nationally for his work at IU, said Mike Wilkerson, communications coordinator for the Office of Student Development and Diversity. It's only appropriate that he also be honored locally, in a classroom.\n"He was brilliant and persistent and passionate," Wilkerson said. "It's impossible to imagine the campus without him"