IMU transformed for holiday season

Red and gold bells hang from the ceiling tiles.

Poinsettia sit in flower pots.

Hanukkah menorahs and banners ringing in Kwanzaa are seen all around.

While students enjoyed their Thanksgiving breaks away from campus, employees of the Indiana Memorial Union transformed the building for the holiday season.
 
“There’s not really anywhere else that decorates on campus,” junior Katie Allman said. “So it’s kind of cool that the Union does it.”

Teri Hruby, a secretary in the director’s office of the Union, Sandi Robertson, head cashier auditor in the cash office, John Walker in maintenance, and a few other employees have been putting in this effort for years.
 
Several offices in the Union remain open for a few days during Thanksgiving break.
 
Some employees use down time during their working days to decorate the Union.

Part of the reason the Union is only decorated by a few dedicated volunteers can be attributed to modern society’s emphasis on political correctness, Hruby said.

“There was a really long span of time when nothing went up in the building,” Hruby said. “We had a lot of complaints. And at the risk of offending anybody, everything just came down.”

A few years ago, the director at the time made the decision to once again decorate the IMU for the holidays.
 
Since then, select employees have been trying to, “do a little bit more to include a little bit more,” Hruby said.

Most of the decorations are left over from years past. Of the few that are new, most have been recently purchased by Hruby, Robertson and the others involved in the process, which they buy out of their own pockets.

“We have to ask ‘What can I do for nothing?’” Robertson said.
 
They also regularly “repurpose” decorations.

What is part of a wreath one year appear in a Christmas tree the next.

“With the separation of church and state, we’re probably never going to have the budget to decorate the building properly,” Hruby said.
 
The volunteers are also making an effort to be more inclusive of all holidays celebrated this time of year by putting up more decorations for Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
 
IMU Director Bruce Jacobs has been involved in this part of the process in particular.

He once personally bought a bag of Hanukkah decorations, which increased the number of decorations available for that holiday.
 
“It’s nice to include everyone, because in general it’s all about Christmas,” junior Rachel Osman said. “There’s a big Jewish population, in particular, at IU, so it’s great that they’re including Judaism.”

Another complication in the decorating process has been getting students involved, Robertson said, which has been difficult because the decorating traditionally takes place during Thanksgiving break.
 
“We decorate the three days before Thanksgiving, and everyone’s going to be gone,” Robertson said.

Despite the difficulties, they are not likely to give up their efforts anytime soon.
Hruby remembers one incident in particular, when a woman entered Starbucks with her laptop minutes after they had finished putting up a Christmas tree.

She took a picture of herself in front of it, sent it to her family, Hruby recalled, and she said, “Look, it’s already Christmas at the Union.”
 
“That’s why we do this,” Hruby said. “It’s not for us, it’s not for our employees, it’s for our students and the people who come through the building.
 
Hruby said holiday decorations in recent years haven’t been  quite as impressive as in the past, but maybe it will improve with time.

“The building doesn’t look anything like it did 30 or 40 years ago when it was elegant. But it’s a start.”