Steve Campbell '92 Serving as Deputy Mayor
by Aaron Hunckler
Steven Campbell feels it is always better to be lucky than good. However, the latter trait may be more likely to credit for his position as Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson’s Director of Communications. Peterson announced earlier this year that Campbell will take over as his new deputy mayor.  In his role as communications director, Campbell is in charge of all the media relations, public information, public outreach, and marketing for the Mayor’s office and the Indianapolis city government.
"By marketing we mean kind of all the long-term strategies for promoting whatever the city government is working on," Campbell said. "Depending on what the initiative is, (whether) it’s the Colts, the NCAA, the Convention Center initiative, Indianapolis Works, the Blue Print to End Homelessness, or Bio Crossroads, whatever the initiative is … me and my staff are involved in promoting that to the public and media pretty much wherever we can." Campbell is also the key spokesperson for the city's tentative agreement to build a new stadium and to keep the Colts in Indianapolis. Through his public outreach efforts, Campbell draws on various entities to reach any number of people who gather together in Indianapolis. "Whether it’s through the neighborhoods service folks or whether it’s through some of our economic development people, it’s our job to be able to reach people and tell them what we are all about," he said. Campbell, ’92, is quick to credit his Wabash education for preparing him to deal with a wide variety of issues and activities on a daily basis. "Working in city government is much like being in a liberal arts education," the former Malcolm X Institute member said. "At Wabash you had the opportunity to be exposed to so many different types of classes and professors and issues (which is helpful) because when you work in a place like city government you have to be able to do it all." Wabash also taught Campbell self-reliance by treating him like a mature adult who could make educated decisions. "Wabash teaches you how to be self-sufficient, to be faced with an issue, challenge or a problem and handle it," the political science major said. Though Wabash doesn’t lack guidance or influential mentors, Campbell learned early on that students had majority power over every organization and activity they were involved in. "We controlled the budgets, we controlled who got budget money, we controlled what we did with that and the college never really came in and said this is what you should do," Campbell said. Looking to the future, Campbell doesn’t predict his feet will wander too far from the path he is on now nor would he rule out a run for political office some day. "I am pretty sure I am going to grow old in this city and I think I will end up doing whatever advances the ball for the city, whether it’s in city government or working for a private sector," he said.
Aaron Hunckler is a free-lance writer based in Bloomington, Ind.
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