This past weekend, I was walking in the mall, and noticed a few stores that were selling university apparel. I decided to stop and take a look to see what kind of cool stuff they had. I came to notice that most of the stores I looked at did not even have anything for the colleges in Terre Haute. They were selling stuff for IU, Purdue, and even the University of Illinois, but had nothing for ISU, Rose-Hulman, IVY Tech, or St. Mary of the Woods. Do the people and stores of Terre Haute dislike their own colleges so much that they refuse to buy and sell their shirts, hoodies, lanyards, and hats? If that has become the case it is no wonder why ISU is not running at its full potential. If the citizens of Terre Haute do not want to support the college, then who is suppose to? Who will form the partnership at the crossroads of America and bring about the change?

Located just northwest of Terre Haute is the oldest Catholic liberal arts college for women in the nation. St. Mary of the Woods was founded by a nun named Saint Mother Theodore Geurin in 1841. The campus is beautiful and the college received top scores by the Higher Learning Commission. I have heard many positive things about the college and I believe that the students and teachers are holding true to the schools moto "Virtus cum Scientia" meaning "Virtue with Knowledge United." I learned something interesting about the college last semester in my folklore class. Have you ever heard of the faceless nun? Well, she is a nun that lived at St. Mary's and was painting a self-portrait. She ended up dieing before she could finish the face of her painting. They say that every once and a while you will see a faceless nun walking around campus. That as long as her portrait remains unfinished she will walk the halls forever faceless.

Where is Terre Haute? It is sitting on the east side of the Wabash River in Vigo County. The river was a help with the growth of the city, since it was a major waterway between New Orleans and Quebec. The river is not a major use for transportation anymore, so many people do not even care or think about the river. The Hoosier Environmental Council is hoping that they can get local government and businesses to help with a river restoration project. This project will help clean up the rivers pollution and hopefully make it into a beautiful site for the Terre Haute citizens. Therefore, more people might appreciate the river for all it has to offer the city of Terre Haute, since it is a major asset the the city.

Here We Go

Hi, my name is Jerry Chapman and I am a student at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, IN. I am currently enrolled in a class in which I will research and discover many interesting facts about the city of Terre Haute. Throughout the semester, I will be sharing all of my findings with you. I hope that you find the post to be interesting and that you might learn some new things about the city of Terre Haute.