Dunn Meadow: home to a circus, a runway, a farewell speech

It often plays host to games of Frisbee and intramural Gaelic hurling matches. In warm months, it is fi lled with sun bathers and students reading and studying in the shade of trees. It is Dunn Meadow, and rain or shine, IU students and Bloomington residents enjoy it for what it is — a meadow. But throughout the past century, this meadow has been many other things.

A RUNWAY

In 1911, an airplane drove across Dunn Meadow and took off into the sky. Well, almost. IU-Bloomington Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said it was the first airplane flight in Monroe County.

“It crashed into an apple tree,” Gros Louis said.

A CIRCUS

In the 1970s, ‘campus clown’ Leon Varjian ran for student government vice president on the “Birthday Party” ticket. Varjian didn’t win, but he led a march through Dunn Meadow anyway.

He and his supporters danced through the meadow in clown attire, costumes and band uniforms, singing the party’s official song, “Happy Birthday.”

Today, Varjian is a high school math teacher in New Jersey.

A MUSIC FESTIVAL

Small concerts and music festivals are common in Dunn Meadow.

In 1998, a concrete stage was built to better facilitate musical performances and speakers, replacing the old wooden one that had to be repaired or rebuilt every year.

In October 2009, Victoria’s Secret erected a massive steel stage in Dunn Meadow as part of the lingerie company’s BTown Bash — a festival-style celebration that IU won through an online contest. The concert featured performances by artists Girl Talk and Cobra Starship and raised $5,000 for Middle Way House.

The wet, fall weather did little to curb the turnout — which turned Dunn Meadow into a muddy, grassless mess. Victoria’s Secret picked up the tab for its repairs.

A SOAPBOX

On Sept. 13, 2000, about 6,000 people crowded into the meadow, its surrounding sidewalks and roofs of nearby buildings to hear Bob Knight’s farewell address.

The men’s basketball coach had been ?? red earlier that week after he grabbed and shouted at then-freshman Kent Harvey.

During his speech, Knight took a few subtle jabs at the administration, but mostly thanked his supporters and urged students to leave Harvey alone.

“Let that kid be a student,” he said. “Let that kid get on with his life. This thing — believe me — it happened a long time before that situation took place. Believe me.”

A TENT CITY

Since the ’80s, Dunn Meadow has been home to numerous tent cities, peace camps and shanty towns.

Sometimes lasting weeks or even months, these encampments were created by students and local demonstrators reacting to world issues.

In 1986, a shanty town was assembled to send a message to University of?? cials about segregation in South Africa. At the time, students believed IU was investing in companies that supported the apartheid.

Another shanty town was organized in 1988, this time as an anti-rape center.

When America became involved in the Persian Gulf War in the early ’90s, a tent city was erected that lasted two months.

A year later, 10 campers rebuilt the city for a one night remembrance of the two-month protest.

The bombing of Afghanistan and rising concern about the treatment of Muslims in October 2001 led to the erection of another camp. There hasn’t been a peace camp in Dunn Meadow since.

Originally published in the IDS on Dec. 2, 2010.