Remembering Santa Wells

Some children dream of having their own Santa Claus, but just 10 years ago IU students didn't have to dream. IU had its own Santa Claus -- a jolly man who made believers out of those who met him. \nHis suit still hangs in the Woodburn House on College Avenue, where he once lived. A life-size cardboard cut-out of this Santa hides in the University Archives. It was found in the attic of the Chancellor's House on 10th Street across from the Herman B Wells Library three years ago, although those who knew him do not know how or why it was made.\nThis story is not just a legend, though. \nSoon after becoming IU president in 1938, Herman B Wells started taking on the role of Santa Claus around Christmas time. He dressed in a red suit, passed out candy and visited groups both on and off campus until the few years before his death in March 2000. Those who knew him say that people believed in Jolly Old Saint Wells because he believed in them. \n"He loved being around students, so this was always \nsomething he looked forward to," said Linda Bucklin, secretary to Wells from 1988 to 2000 while he served as University chancellor. "He had an outgoing personality and enjoyed it."\nHis first appearances as Santa Claus date back to his first years as president -- the late 1930s, said Brian Kearney, who works with the IU School of Law and once worked for Wells as a member of his personal care-giving staff. The tradition began with Wells inviting students to Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union for a send-off before their winter break. Wells would come in a Santa suit, wish the students a good break and pass out candy canes his "elves" -- costumed student leaders -- handed him.\nAfter retiring as IU president in 1962, he continued to dress as Santa Claus, spreading his holiday spirit by visiting with students and faculty.\n"I think he put a very human face on administration that sometimes seems separated," Bucklin said. "The University can seem very large and overwhelming. To be able to put a face with someone very familiar, I think it makes it seem not so intimidating."\nWells also began giving away baskets of apples and boxes of chocolate candies as part of the tradition. As the holidays approached, he would become excited about giving his gifts away, Bucklin said. He would begin asking her, "Have you ordered the candy? Have you ordered the boxes?" \nThen, before the students left for winter break, the goodies would be delivered to several groups on campus, including the switchboard operators and the IU Police Department -- close to 30 boxes of candy in total, Bucklin said. He also sent apples from Melton's Orchard to several campus groups.\nBut Wells also wanted to deliver some of the treats himself, as Santa Claus.\n"Santa Wells" made special visits to various groups over the years. The visits went under the radar at first, but as the tradition's fame grew, so did Wells' schedule of appointments as Santa Claus. Wells made a speech in 1948 as Santa and appeared at Union Board Christmas parties in the '50s and into the '80s. Wells even traveled to Indianapolis to play Santa at a Christmas party for Riley Hospital for Children in 1950. Today, a research center connected with the hospital bears his name. Wells always made a special point to visit the Indiana Daily Student newsroom, where he worked shortly as an undergraduate. Marge Blewett, a former IU student who graduated in 1948 and worked at the IDS for three years, said Wells began stopping by the IDS informally to visit with the staff and bring candy in the late 1930s. \nBlewett returned to do administrative work in the journalism school in 1965, at which time she began arranging Wells' visits to the IDS with his secretary. Wells called Blewett 'Mama Claus.' She would alert the staff, and on the decided day, Wells would come to the IDS office bearing gifts. \n"They would be the nicest, reddest apples you ever saw in brand new bushel baskets," Blewett said. "And then there would be these big boxes of candy chocolates."\nWells also brought cigarettes in earlier years, but Blewett eventually explained to him that students smoked less than before and he might want to stop bringing them.\n"After that, he would tell them, 'Well, I used to bring cigarettes, but Marge told me not to,'" Blewett said, laughing.\nWells spent time talking with the students, asking questions about the semester and their experiences with the paper, which surprised many students. \n"They just couldn't believe he would care this much about them," Blewett said. \nBlewett said Wells wore a Santa suit the Union Board had tailor-made for him in the 1960s, and he also started jingling antique sleigh bells over his shoulder when he visited. He always prided himself on still fitting into his Santa suit, she said.\nIU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis also remembered this about Wells.\n"He wore a Santa suit every year, and at one event shortly before he died, I mentioned the suit, and he called out during my remarks, 'And it still fits,'" Gros Louis said. "He was an extraordinary man, to whom everyone working for IU was equally important, and he made that clear by making friends with custodians as well with the most senior professors."\n"Santa Wells" continued to pass out candy canes even in the 1990s in a wheelchair in the IMU lounge. He visited the IDS until his health would not allow him.\n"People really cared about him because he always really cared about us," Blewett said.