Honorary Degree and Distinguished Alumni Recipients Named

The largest graduating class in the history of Indiana University South Bend will be celebrated at commencement on May 9. A record 1,236 degrees will be conferred, breaking the previous record of 1,137 set in 2003.

IU South Bend commencement will begin at 6 p.m. at the Joyce Center at the University of Notre Dame. IU President Adam W. Herbert and IU South Bend Chancellor Una Mae Reck will lead the ceremonies. Herbert will deliver the charge to the class.

In addition to the graduation, two awards will be presented to local community leaders.

Dr. Roland Chamblee Sr., local physician, civil rights spokesman and the medical director of the St. Joseph County Health Department, will be awarded an honorary degree from the university.

The second award will be given to Marsha Brook, who is the retired associate director of administration for Madison Center. She will be the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Chamblee has given countless hours to his family medical practice and to community service programs such as the Hope Rescue Mission, Healthy Communities Initiative, American Heart Association, LaCasa and Catholic Social Services.

Chamblee overcame resistance he encountered as an African American physician. As his practice and his reputation flourished, he became an activist in civil rights and social justice.

Following service during World War II in Europe and receiving a Purple Heart, Chamblee graduated from Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College, both in Nashville, Tenn. He first came to the community as a young physician in the early 1950s to intern at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

In the 1960s, he led numerous civil rights marches and, at one point, served simultaneously as the local president of the NAACP, Urban League, United Negro Council, Catholic Interracial Council and a migrant center. Among his many civic service contributions was work on the creation of the Chapin Street Health Center in 1986.

Chamblee has served every chancellor as member of the IU South Bend Board of Advisors since 1980.

In the mid-1970s, Chamblee served a volunteer in East Africa as the physician-in-charge of Naggalama Hospital in Nakifuma, Uganda.

For several years after his retirement he continued to do volunteer work at the Chapin Street Clinic. In 2004, he became the medical director for the county health department.

Brook began her relationship with IU South Bend in the 1960s when she began to take classes in the new Northside Hall. She completed her degree in education and English from IU Bloomington in 1965 and began teaching at LaSalle High School.

She became a full-time mother and community volunteer in the late 1960s. Brook returned to IU South Bend in 1974 to study counseling and she completed her master’s degree in 1977.

Brook took a part time job wit the Sex Offense Services (SOS), the grass roots rape crisis center. SOS was part of the Mental Health Center of St. Joseph County, now called Madison Center. For seven years she counseled victims, and trained volunteers, police officers, prosecutors and emergency room personnel to be sensitive.

Madison Center moved Brook from SOS to a series of positions at the center. In 1986, she was promoted to associate director in charge of outpatient services. Through the years, she was responsible for program development, management and supervision of clinical services.

At IU South Bend, she taught classes in the Division of Continuing Studies and she served on numerous committees, advisory boards and the alumni board.

In the community she has been active with the YWCA, Planned Parenthood, Temple Beth-El, B’nai Brith Women, Hadassah, Organization for Educational Resources and Technological Training (ORT) and Jewish Federation.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is given annually to an alumnus or alumna who has achieved success in their chosen field as well as contributing to the university