EXAMPLE PAGE - SCHOOL BROCHURE - DEMOCRACY - Flipbook - Page 38
INSIDE AN ELECTION
nate. We are here for such a short period of time, and if
we can’t make a difference, if we can’t improve life for the
people around us, then why are we here?”
One of the key ways that Crouch is doing just that is
as the head of the state’s Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities Task Force. Across the state, there are 100,000
people with autism, cerebral palsy, or Down syndrome.
“The task force looked at housing, support services,
sheltered workshops, day care services — all the different
facets that affect individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
The task force came up with a list of 34 recommendations, including accessible and affordable housing.
“We’re working to ensure that these individuals have
equal opportunity in life and access to a safe, affordable
environment,” says Crouch. “We work to ensure that they
can live the life they want to live and help build the dreams
they dream.”
Indiana and Women’s Right to Vote
SHARED DREAMS
SUZANNE CROUCH REFLECTS ON THE VALUES THAT LED HER TO
POLITICS AND TALKS ABOUT HUMILITY AND HISTORY 100 YEARS
AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT
36 PUR D U E A LUMNUS
says Crouch. “Purdue was a good fit for me
— I think it really fit my values and helped
prepare me for the future.”
And although she didn’t grow up in a
very political family, Crouch cites the Catholic values of her upbringing for leading her
to public service.
“My parents raised me to believe in God
and to believe it takes hard work to get
ahead,” shares Crouch. “They also raised
me to readily accept that I have a responsibility to help others who are less fortu-
OF F IC E O F S UZA N NE CROUC H
Suzanne Crouch (la’75) arrived in West
Lafayette as a sophomore, having spent
her freshman year at the University of
Southern Indiana.
“My father insisted we spend our freshman year in our hometown,” reflects Crouch,
Indiana’s 52nd lieutenant governor. “He
didn’t want us going off to a big school until
we had some good study practices and experience under our belt.”
Purdue, it turned out, was a perfect fit.
“I had to work hard; I had to study hard,”
A hundred years ago, women across the United States
had a dream of their own — to have a voice in the political
process. As the nation marked 100 years since the passage
of the 19th Amendment earlier this year, Crouch chaired
the Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission,
working to bring awareness to an aspect of the state’s history that’s not popularly known.
If you’re familiar with the women’s suffrage movement,
you likely recognize the name Seneca Falls, New York — the
site of the first women’s rights convention in 1848. But what
about Dublin, Indiana? Just three years later, the small
town in eastern central Indiana held another convention,
bolstered by the community’s sizable Quaker population.
“The Quakers believed that all humans were created
equal in the eyes of God, and women should have the right
to vote,” says Crouch. “In terms of the women’s suffrage
movement, Indiana was truly a leader. National leaders
would be writing to Indiana saying, ‘How are you doing?
How’s the movement proceeding?’”
The fact that many don’t realize the state’s impact on
the women’s suffrage movement, Crouch says, is attributable to the no-nonsense way of getting things done typical
of Midwesterners.
“I think it speaks to who we are,” says Crouch. “We work
hard. We put our nose to the grindstone. We do what’s right.
That makes me proud, and I think it speaks to the character
of who we are as Hoosiers, that we respect one another and
we collaborate to get things done.”
