Fletcher Kitchell is both a staff member and a student. He came to Marian University as a seminarian, but discerned that he was not called to be a priest. Now, he’s studying psychology and working for the Office of Information Technology. If there’s a big event on campus, you’ll probably see Kitchell there with an extra HDMI cable and an assortment of batteries, ensuring that everything runs smoothly.
This semester will be one filled with big changes and celebrations for Kitchell. In May, he’ll be marrying Olivia Kalscheur ’17 on the campus where they met. In February, he became the first employee to take advantage of the Anchor Housing Program, a partnership between Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Project (INHP) and Marian University that offers employees financial assistance in purchasing a home in the Riverside neighborhood close to campus. Right now, he is in the midst of renovating his new home.
Q&A with Fletcher Kitchell
Why did you decide to participate in the Anchor Housing Program?
I like that I’m close to where I work. I see the program as a way for people to start building a community in a neighborhood very close to Marian. There’s a lot of really cool people in my neighborhood. The people across the street from me have been in their house for ten years and they can’t speak highly enough of it. Yes, there are a lot of beat up houses, but if you look closely, you see houses that are well-kept. It’s got a lot of potential to improve and it takes people who are interested in investing in the neighborhood to really turn it around. I’m excited to see where it goes in the next 10-15 years.
What’s your favorite spot on campus?
Alumni Hall or the Dining Commons because there are lots of people in those spaces. I like to be anywhere where there are people.
If you could have one super power, what would it be?
It’s a toss-up between flying and reading minds. I lean more toward mind reading because of the psychology of it and wanting to know why people do certain things…not that it would provide any understanding or rational thought process.
