Eric Love is leaving IU-Bloomington for a position at the University of Notre Dame, and this was his going away celebration.
“My last official day at IU is Nov. 24,” Love said.
Love has worked as the director of the Office of Diversity Education for 10 years.
The event, organized by students, took place from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. ?Sunday.
Students were invited to perform at the event, Nichelle Whitney, a senior studying human biology, said.
“We had select student artists come up to perform,” she said.
Whitney organized the event and said that it had been in the works for approximately a month and a half.
She said that Love had expressed an interest in the event taking on an open mic format.
At the entrance to the event, a small table with blank pieces of paper stood with a sign instructing guests to leave a “Love Note,” a farewell message to Love.
Love said he was moved by hearing students and colleagues speak at the event.
Whitney said the most moving moment for her was when Love took the stage to speak and was moved to tears.
“At that moment, I felt more relieved than anything,” she said.
She said that seeing Love’s emotional reaction let her know that the event had been successful.
“We didn’t want him to leave IU thinking that what he had done for the past 13 to 15 years was in vain,” she said.
Love said three particular things stand out to him when he thinks of his time at IU. These include the positive effect he has had on students, collaborating with different departments across campus and working with congruence. He said that when he interacts with students, he strives to treat them as more than just students on a college campus.
“It’s ridiculous that I would describe it that way, but a lot of people talk down to students,” he said.
Love will begin work at Notre Dame as director of staff of diversity and inclusion Dec. 1, he said.
He said he will spend some time between his start at Notre Dame and his last day at IU visiting his parents in Idaho.
Love said he thinks his legacy at IU will be mostly that he didn’t just talk about diversity, he lived it.
“Walking and talking,” he said.
Students stopped to say goodbye to Love, some even taking pictures, and he knew each and every one of them.
“I went through a really rough time, and he was there,” Whitney said of her relationship with Love. “Blood cannot make us closer.”
