Indiana University Foundation

IU Ambassadors in the Land of Purdue

Sherri and Vincent Guido love Indiana University Health.

Specifically, they love that a billboard for the new statewide health system has appeared over Interstate 65 near West Lafayette. When you live in the land of the Purdue Boilermakers, any IU symbol is a welcome sight. “It does make me smile,” says Sherri, BA’79, ASDH’81.

So does the time and energy they have spent serving on the IU Parents Association Advisory Board, a body they are now leaving. Not by choice, though. “I tried to convince them to let us stay on, but even though our daughter is going to IU dental school, it does not count,” jokes Vince, BA’78, DDS’82.

Advisory board members must have a child enrolled as an IU undergraduate and be invited to serve by the dean of students. The Guidos’ daughter, Valeri, just graduated this year with a degree in biology. Their oldest son, Dominic, graduated in 2008 with a degree in religious studies. Their youngest daughter, Maria, however, is a high school sophomore.

“Of course, we hope she goes to IU,” notes Sherri. “But it’s her decision.”

If she does, the Guidos will be on the board again, sharing their ideas about how to improve student life.
Working with the IU dean of students, the board reviews funding proposals and makes recommendations for directing financial support from the Parents Fund to help start new programs or complete needed projects.

“The work we did was beneficial to all of the student body—like the placement programs for career counseling or 24-hour on-call physicians in the health center,” says Sherri.

The Guidos’ strong connections to IU were forged by their own student experiences. Sherri loves athletics; she was on campus when IU won the 1976 men’s basketball national championship. For Vince, it was the IU students he met.

“I encountered all these people from all over the world, and getting to know them broadened my whole worldview,” he observes.

The Guidos believe that part of their role as involved parents is to be ambassadors of the university. “If someone we know has a concern about a new policy or issue at IU, we are able to say, ‘Here, these are the people to contact,’” says Vince.

This is a role the Guidos are happy to fulfill. And should Maria decide to attend IU like the rest of her family, Sherri and Vince will be happy to do it again.

No pressure, Maria. But IU would love to have your parents back on the board.

To find out more about how you can connect to IU via the Parents Association Board and the Parents Fund, contact Dave Spencer, Director, Parent Giving, at daaspenc@indiana.edu or 812-855-4569.

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