Cavanaugh is the home of a community. Many faculty and staff—retired or currently active—had their offices and taught their classes in Cavanaugh Hall, whether they were in the Purdue School of Science, the Herron School of Art and Design, Business, Engineering, Journalism, and so on. For our longest-serving faculty and staff colleagues as well as for those who have retired from their university work, Cavanaugh was where they worked. And for alumni throughout IUPUI, Cavanaugh Hall was where most of them attended classes, stood in line to register and pay their bills, apply for financial aid, buy their books, sprawl across lounge furniture of questionable condition and eat food of questionable origin.

Cavanaugh itself and the School of Liberal Arts remain at the center of this vibrant campus. Liberal Arts students, alumni, staff, and faculty are among the most active and engaged at the university. Our undergraduate courses and programs remain the gateways to higher education for the majority of IUPUI students, strengthened and enhanced by the graduate degree and certificate offerings we've developed since becoming a school.

Today, Indiana University's one and only School of Liberal Arts continues to promote the enduring value of the liberal arts as the core of university education, and to adapt and innovate liberal arts teaching, research, and civic engagement to our changing local, national, and global contexts. Cavanaugh's 40th year is also the School's 40th anniversary, and as we commemorate this building we also celebrate our School. A look back at the developments of the last 40 years convinces all of us that the trajectory of the next 40 and beyond will be remarkable indeed.