Dowling International Center resources move

The Leo R. Dowling International Center, nestled at the bottom of a hill next to the Office of Admissions on Jordan Avenue, is one of the first buildings prospective students might see.

The center is almost synonymous with the culture of international students on campus.

In an effort to repurpose Franklin Hall last summer, several offices, including the Office of Overseas Study and the Office of International Services, were relocated to other buildings. The Office of Overseas Study took the place of the Leo R. Dowling Center. The Office of International Services was transferred to the Poplars
Building.

Rendy Schrader, director of International Student and Scholar Advising, said the move was beneficial to the international services staff and possibly the students,.
“We are now combined with International Admissions Office, so we have a much bigger staff and bigger area,” Schrader said.

In 1951, University President Herman B Wells and French and business administration faculty member Dowling helped create the international center on campus. In 1958, Wells and Dowling moved the center to an old 1920s sorority house on the bottom of a hill.

Wells and Dowling both envisioned a global learning and understanding for IU, as well as a place international students could call home. The center had tours, discussions, academic tutoring and social events for international students’ development.

Throughout the years, the international student population has grown from 531 in 1960 to almost 6,000 in the 2012-13 school year. With the enrollment increasing, more issues have surfaced.

Schrader said the office informed some of the student members near the end of the 2012 spring semester about the move.

“We wrote to the students in May and told them that this was happening,” Schrader said. “Sandy Britton met with each student leader group individually. She researched all the different places they could meet for the meetings, different facilities they could use.”

However, despite the extra efforts by the directors of international services, Paul Chen, president of the Chinese Student Association, said he believes the international center was their home.

“Basically what we do now is look for different places to have events, it’s like we’re homeless,” Chen said. “We’re looking for some place to have events. I have to tell my members, OK today we’re going to meet at Wright, tomorrow we’re probably going to meet at McNutt.”

Chen said he isn’t quite sure what is going on.

“We need the international building,” Chen said. “It belongs to us — it’s like a house, like a family, and a school just took it away.”