Swarens: From Cali, young love for old IU

In a far outpost of Hoosier Nation — in the land of Disney, Angels and Ducks — a deep infatuation for the glory of old IU is growing.

Every Friday is College Day at Rio Vista Elementary in Anaheim, Calif. And every Friday it’s Indiana University Day in Tessa Ashton’s kindergarten classroom.

The 26 children under her direction wear IU clothing. They chant, “Go Big Red!” And they sing the IU fight song — “Indiana, Our Indiana, Indiana, we’re all for you!”

Call it Indiana University — Far West.

“My kids all think they’re going to Indiana University,” Ashton told me this week.

All of this is not an underground recruiting ploy by Tom Crean, in search of a point guard for the class of 2028. It is rather a fun, but serious, exercise in raising expectations and broadening horizons for children who, in many cases, would become first generation college students.

Rio Vista is a federal Title I school, which means it serves a high percentage of low-income students. Many of the families have immigrated to the United States from other countries, and for many of the students, Spanish is the language of home and neighborhood. Some children arrive for the first day of kindergarten speaking only a sparse amount of English.

But Ashton, an IU graduate, and her colleagues look at those challenges and see an opportunity. Inspired by a program called “No Excuses University,” they have begun to plant seeds for a vision of a big world with big opportunities.

And those opportunities blew up beyond even Ashton’s dreams this week.

I first heard of Tessa Ashton and her students Wednesday night when CNN posted a story about a remarkable gift from a Southern California couple. Marty Burbank, a lawyer, and Seon Chun-Burbank, a university professor, have pledged to cover the cost of in-state college tuition and books for every student in Ashton’s class. The price tag is estimated at about $1 million.

Burbank, according to the Orange County Register, had saved money to buy a boat. But, inspired by a sermon he’d heard at church, he decided instead to buoy the future of Ashton’s students, whom he had met earlier as a school benefactor and volunteer.

“The families work so hard to support their kids,” Ashton said. “But their reality is difficult and attending college is not a part of that reality. This gift will help change that.”

Ashton was herself a transplant from Southern California to Indiana for almost a decade. She arrived in Bloomington in 1999 to attend IU’s famed music school and stayed long enough to complete a master’s in elementary education.

Along the way, she fell in love with the Sample Gates, Dunn Woods and Assembly Hall. And in love with a particular Hoosier; her husband is a native of North Manchester.

A return to California brought her to Rio Vista five years ago, and the creation of College Day last school year gave her the chance to share her devotion to all things IU. Ashton’s page on the school’s website even features an IU pennant and a photo of her wearing an IU T-shirt.

Although it’s unlikely any of Ashton’s students will actually attend IU (the Burbanks’ gift, after all, is for tuition in the California university system), that’s not the point. College Day is about opening a new world for the children — one that could stretch to the Jordan River and beyond.

I asked Ashton if this week’s College Day would be extra special. Her enthusiastic laugh answered yes. The kids have a million reasons to cheer. And to dream.

So today, more than 2,000 miles from Showalter Fountain, a classroom full of children donned the Cream and Crimson. They flew their IU flag with pride.

And they lifted their voices for a rendition of “Indiana, Our Indiana” raucous enough to make Assembly Hall’s most die-hard partisans proud.

Contact Swarens at tim.swarens@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @tswarens.