Double congratulations! Dessa Evans, associate financial manager, and her daughter, Delaney Littlejohn, accounting and financial support specialist, both graduated in December with degrees from IU East. Evans earned  a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and Littlejohn earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. 

Mother and daughter will both attend the graduation ceremony at IU East on May 14. "Stay tuned for future photos from Delaney in upcoming issues—she and her husband Patrick are expecting their first baby (a girl, and my first grandbaby) two weeks after the graduation ceremony."

Mother-daughter degrees. Littlejohn (left) and Evans proudly stand with their new IU East degrees. 

Happy retirement, Julie Kamarauskas, manager of the Application Security and Quality Assurance group. UITS is hosting a virtual open house on Wednesday, April 28 at 2pm ET. Her team has also created a kudoboard where people are invited to write their best wishes as she enters this new phase of life.  

 In retirement, Kamarauskas said that she’s looking forward to taking advantage of the cultural and enrichment opportunities offered by the IU and Bloomington communities, road tripping with her husband to explore new places and to visit friends, and having time to enjoy her many hobbies. 

Director of International Networks Jennifer Schopf has been named to the executive committee of the Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC), where she will serve as secretary for the 2021-22 term. CASC is an educational nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating the use of the most advanced computing technology to accelerate scientific discovery for national competitiveness, global security, and economic success.

Sarah Milward, associate CRM application administrator, has been doing some unique community service. “I’ve written a children’s book that will help fund medical care for the one and only Charlie Bird of Bloomington,” she said.

Charlie Bird, a green-winged macaw, is a local legend in Bloomington, known for riding on the back of a bicycle and dancing to live music at the farmers’ market with his best friend, Jojo Porowski. 

In 2018, Charlie had a health crisis. He nearly died from an avian virus that affects his central nervous system. With treatment from an avian veterinary specialist, he survived and is expected to live a normal lifespan—80 years or more! However, he'll need medical care for his condition for the rest of his long life, with total costs estimated at over $25,000.

Milward’s book, “Charlie Bird Loves Bloomington” is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. Learn more at www.charliebirdbtown.com.

Charlie Bird's book. Here's your chance to help a Bloomington icon live a long, healthy life. 

Steve Wallace, enterprise network architect and technical adviser, has been named a Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) ambassador. MANRS is a global initiative, supported by the Internet Society, that provides crucial fixes to reduce the most common routing threats. Congrats, Steve!

Mike Bennett, director of IT for the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, wrote, “I received an award I am pretty proud of. I was nominated and selected for our school’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Diversity Impact Award.”

Since May 2020, Bennett has led a weekly discussion during team meetings to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion. “We have pretty deep conversations about our language, our biases, and the acknowledgement that we all have room for growth with respect to DEI,” he said. “I try to foster an environment that is safe to be forthcoming about past failures, so we can grow. I generally offer an example of some way in which I have failed, and what I learned along the way, so that others feel safe to share as well. It has been very effective, and we have grown closer as a team as a result.”  

Staff anniversaries, March and April 2021

5 years

• Catherine Bauer-Martinez
• Cory Beyers
• Christian Vallejo

10 years

• Gary Allison
• Joseph Bernard
• John Hoerr
• Derrick Russell
• Joshua Russell

15 years

• Michael Cox
• David Harmon
• Robert Light
• Jim Mullen
• Bernadette Resto
• Zachary Salter
• Phillip Suphal
• Jennifer Witkemper

20 years

• Emily Adams
• Hafid Adnane
• Kenneth Childers
• Kyle Quass

25 years

• Jeffrey Morris

30 years

• Rudeana Honeycutt

35 years

• Robin Ingram