Member Profile
Steve Sanders
BA’84, journalism and political science
Attorney, Mayer Brown LLP, Chicago
Formerly assistant dean, IU College of Arts & Sciences
Assistant to the chancellor, IU Bloomington
Attorney, writer, involved alumnus, IUAA life member
In addition to serving on the board of the GLBTAA, I serve on the boards of the Journalism and Arts & Sciences Alumni Associations and on the executive council of the IU Alumni Association.
Why I chose IU
IU first came to my attention based on the strength of its School of Journalism. I came for a visit and, like countless others, fell in love with the place. The campus, the people — they all just seemed right.
Favorite memories of IU
I was at IU as a student and staff member for over 20 years, so there are a lot! A few that are especially strong:
Registering for classes in the old fieldhouse, where each department had a table, and feeling like you were in a vast academic bazaar. Then, on the way out, seeing IU Bursar Bill Walters — dressed in a golf shirt, chatting with students, looking like someone’s grandfather who had just wandered over — and realizing that the best university administrators didn’t take themselves too seriously.
Sitting in Ballantine 013 as Professor George Juergens brought history alive (and got standing ovations at the end of the semester). Countless late nights helping put out the next day’s edition of the Daily Student; reporting and writing about things ranging from the faculty council to the Chicago mayoral election to Hoagy Carmichael’s funeral. Weekend parties at friends’ apartments off campus where we’d drink beer, hang our arms around each other, and sing Springsteen lyrics at the top of our lungs.
The old crescent part of campus — with its tulips, redbud trees, and gentle green lawns — coming into the height of its spring glory as commencement weekend approached. Walking across campus on a fall evening as WFIU jazz host Dick Bishop played "I’m In the Mood for This October" by the Four Freshmen.
Advice for GLBT students
Never forget that since the days of President Herman Wells defending the work of Alfred Kinsey, IU has been a place that challenged ignorance and respected human differences. A university’s mission is to create an environment where faculty, students, and staff can do their best work and flourish intellectually and professionally. Part of achieving that goal is assuring that people are not harassed and discriminated against for reasons that have nothing to do with their innate abilities, work ethic, and academic aspirations.
Why the GLBTAA is important to me
IU is always a part of you. Alumni keep a university connected to its heritage and values. Universities also need their alumni help recruit students, donate money, and spread the university’s reputation.
The GLBTAA constantly reminds our university that GLBT alumni are, and always have been, a part of its family. It also gives GLBT alumni, even including those who might feel ambivalence about some part of their own student experience, a welcoming, reassuring point of entry to reconnect with their alma mater.