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New DePauw president stresses importance of relationship with city
Wanting “to affirm how important” the relationship is between DePauw University and the City of Greencastle, new DPU President Lori White addressed the City Council during its September meeting.
“Event in the midst of current challenges, I’m excited to be here,” President White assured the Council via Zoom.
Explaining DePauw’s school-opening tactics amid a pandemic, White said the university “opened in hybrid fashion” with some students on campus, some in the community and others living at home and attending classes virtually.
About 800 students are currently living on campus, which is about 50 percent residential occupancy. And that, by design, allows each student to have a single room.
Each student was required to have a pre-metriculation test and a post-metriculation test. Six students tested positive, White said, leading to a low positivity rate of .61 percent.
“At this point,” she told the Council, “I feel really good about our opening plan.”
Students, she said, have lived up to expectations and have been wearing masks and avoiding “any big social events like Indiana University and Purdue and others have had.”
President White shared that one of the big things she is working on this year is developing a renewed strategic plan. The goal, she said, is “to make DePauw the best or one of the best liberal arts colleges in the country.”
The university, she added, needs to “be fiscally responsible, attract the best and brightest students and continue to have a great relationship with the city.”
Councilman Dave Murray, who formerly served as admissions director at DePauw, told President White he was interested in the university’s strategic plan.
“When you have that developed,” Murray suggested, “I think it would be great for you to come back and share with the Council what that looks like and are there ways in which we can help you with it because DePauw is an important and integral part of the community.”
Saying she would be thankful for the input, White stressed, “You all are such an important part of what makes DePauw is the town of Greencastle. I would love to have your input, your ideas and your thoughts.”
White assumed the presidency of DePauw on July 1 as the school’s 21st president and the first female and first person of color to hold that post.
After eight universities and 39 years in higher education, White said she hopes DePauw will be her “final stop.”
Thankful for “all the wonderfully warm welcomes” she has received since coming to Greencastle, White said whenever she spoke to alumni and people who worked at the university, “they always spoke so positively about their DePauw experience.”
In other business, the Council:
-- Approved a request from Old National Bank to put a mobile banking facility in front of the Crown Equipment Co. offices on the already closed South Indiana Street. The approval lasts through Oct. 17, allowing Old National Bank to back at the Oct. 8 Council meeting to request more time if needed. Bank spokesman Cara Goodin said it provides walk-up banking availability and an ATM until construction of the new bank on Washington Street will allow the mobile unit to be parked on that property. The need for the unit, Goodin said, was motivated at least in part by senior citizen needs. Some seniors, she said, don’t want to do online banking or use an ATM outside their system. The bank will be asked to sign an agreement similar to that signed by Moore’s Bar when its owners requested the street closure so that customers could eat outside durnig pandemic restrictions.
-- Approved a 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. street closure for the annual Greencastle Masonic Temple fish fry on Oct. 2. Masonic Temple spokesman Jerrod Baugh said the Masons would close Vine Street from Washington Street to the alley so as to not affect the city parking lot. People will eat outside so social distancing can be imposed.
-- Authorized a noise waiver for an Oct. 3 grill-off at the Elks Lodge. Fewer than 50 people are expected for the event. The waiver will be in effect for 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
-- Held a public hearing on the proposed 2021 city budget. No public comment was made.
-- Heard Clerk-Treasurer Lynda Dunbar report that letters will be sent out to utility customers with delinquent accounts now that the state has ended the moratorium on utility shut-offs. Currently 83 city customers are behind on their water bills with “different amounts all over the board,” Dunbar said. Users will be asked to keep their monthly bill current while making arrangements to pay the arrears. Dunbar said it is likely she will ask the Council to rescind its resolution on the moratorium on water shut-offs and penalties at the Oct. 8 meeting unless the state does something to the contrary.
-- Heard Mayor Bill Dory, in his mayor’s report, note that the Whispering Winds subdivision at South Street and Zinc Mill Road has opened up a second phase of 33 lots. The city has already issued eight to 10 building permits at the site.
-- Heard Council President Mark Hammer make his annual plea to residents to report any streetlights in their neighborhood that are out or starting to flicker as a sign of going out. Residents can call City Hall (653-3100) to report any affected streetlights.
-- Unanimously passed Ordinance 2020-6 on first reading for tax rates and appropriations for 2020. The proposed tax rate of $1.8422 would raise $3,811,351 as the adopted tax levy portion of a total city budget of $8,868,074.
-- Unanimously approved Ordinance 2020-7 on first reading, setting the size and salaries of city departments.
-- Unanimously approved Ordinance 2020-8 on first reading, setting the salaries of elected officials. The ordinance sets the mayor’s annual salary at $70,400, the clerk-treasurer’s salary at $67,137 and the salaries of City Council members are at $6,078 apiece.
In addition to Mayor Dory, City Clerk Dunbar and Councilmen Hammer and Murray, in attendance were Councilors Adam Cohen, Jacob Widner, Veronica Pejril, Stacie Langdon and via Zoom, Cody Eckert, along with City Attorney Laurie Hardwick.
The next regular session of the City Council is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8 at City Hall.