IU Indianapolis alumna Emily Mellentine has been building community and connection among women and LGBTQ+ groups in Indianapolis. Mellentine graduated in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in women’s, gender and sexuality studies and a certificate in public relations.
IU Indianapolis helped Mellentine build connections with organizations such as Indiana Humanities and Visit Indy, where she completed internships that developed career-ready skills.
She credits her biggest advocate Trevor Potts, a communications professor at IU Indianapolis, who encouraged her to pursue big opportunities throughout her college career.
“Believing in our scholars, and helping them to discover pathways for career and community impact, is the most important ingredient of being an educator, I think,” Potts said. “This is especially true with an urban institution like IUI, with so many avenues for connection with alumni and change agents in the area and beyond. Being a connector and activator is the alpha and omega of why I am a teacher.”
He calls Mellentine a “once-in-a-lifetime scholar leader” whose “motivation to change the world in positive ways is unrivaled in [his] nearly 30 years of college teaching.”
“He really helped me develop that self-confidence to go after what I want,” Mellentine said. “I feel like that’s one of the most important things that I got from school, having someone believe in me and encourage me to do things I’m scared of.”
Mellentine’s former career consultant, Anneka Scott, also played a key role. Scott encouraged her to launch a women’s writing workshop when Mellentine doubted whether there was a need for such a space in Indianapolis. Scott’s encouragement stayed with Mellentine as she built up the group. It took time to gain momentum, but once it did, she hit the ground running and never looked back.
That support, along with the skills she learned in school, continues to shape her path. Mellentine now works as a fellow at Pattern, Inc. located at the Stutz in Indianapolis, and also handles marketing and event coordination at the Rejoicing Vine Winery.
Writings from Her Corner
Mellentine publicly launched Writings From Her Corner in October 2023 as a safe space to connect with others through writing. It is a group that is inclusive to all women, trans women and nonbinary people.
One of the first challenges was finding a consistent space to hold the weekly meetings, with the ideal spot being a cafe or bookstore in Indianapolis. While the group has tried several venues around Indianapolis, meetings are now held at Ash & Elm on the first Tuesday of each month and at Cafe Oztara on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m..
Each session begins with introductions, followed by themed writing prompts handed out by Mellentine.
“I try to make the prompts very self-reflective and introspective, try to push people to get a little vulnerable and deep,” Mellentine said. “There’s some lightheartedness, but you can always choose how deep you want to go.”
Attendees spend about 30 minutes writing before regrouping to optionally share their work. Mellentine encourages sharing, calling it the “most magical part” of the evening due to the intimacy of reading aloud and the sense of community that grows from varying backgrounds and experiences.
For many, carving out time to write or to spend meaningful hours with those who feel safe and supportive can be difficult. Writing provides a common thread that connects people with their own words – and with one another.
Mellentine faced other challenges in building Writings From Her Corner. From the start, she knew that securing a consistent space was crucial. Establishing reliable meeting times and locations became a key goal for the community she hoped to create.
Despite those challenges, Mellentine realized the need for more “third spaces,” especially for women and LGBTQ+ women. A third space is a place that is separate from one’s home–first place–and work–second place–where people can gather and interact to feel a sense of community.
Another motivator behind Mellentine’s need for community came from her personal experience with mental health. Mellentine recalled that her therapist in seventh grade encouraged her to use writing as an outlet, a practice that helps her ease anxiety by moving thoughts from her head onto paper.
“I felt like even if I was around people, I was still kind of just in my own corner,” she said.
Creating this group allowed her to step out of that corner and share parts of herself with others, in hopes they would too. According to Mellentine, she still feels anxious before going into each session, but, with time and the support from the community she has built, it has become easier and her confidence has grown.
Mellentine is proud of the community she was able to create. Like many, she craved community and a sense of belonging but struggled to find it.
“So, I decided to try to create my own,” she said. “It not only gave me a community, but it gave other people a community that they look forward coming to and that they feel safe in.”
This community is visible each week, as women come together to write and connect. Perspectives shift, friendships form and a sense of belonging grows.
“I see the impact it has now and I’m able to recognize that what I have created and what I’m doing is very important, very needed, very special, and it does take skill to successfully create a space where people can be impacted,” she said.
Mellentine admitted that it felt uncomfortable at first, but she wants people to know that growth comes from stepping into discomfort.
“I’ve taken my pain and turned it into poetry, and I always wanted to show people they could do that too,” Mellentine said.
Mellentine describes Writings From Her Corner as welcoming, open-minded and accepting, with no tolerance for disrespect. It’s a space where people from different backgrounds and experiences can come together and happily exist for an hour and a half to write and connect.
“My hopes for the people that come to the sessions are that they feel like they have found a space where they are welcome, they feel seen, heard and inspired,” she said. “I hope that they’re able to find some connection and meaning whether that's in writing, in other people’s writing, or just the peopleI also hope it strengthens their own relationship with writing.”
Carving out community
Mellentine advises those who are struggling to find a community to create their own, despite the risks and fears. “You have to chase your dreams. You have to listen to that ‘why’ within you, that purpose, even if you’re scared, even if you’re going to fail,” she said. “What you’re scared of possibly doing could positively impact so many other people.”
Most people tend to think, “What if it doesn’t work?” Mellentine said it’s still worth trying, because stepping out of your comfort zone leaves a mark. She challenges people to reframe the question: “What if it works?”
More information about Writings From Her Corner is available on Instagram, with links in the bios for tickets and upcoming events.
Taylor Goebes (she/her) is an undergraduate studying professional and public writing. Outside of writing, Taylor enjoys reading, crafting, being outside, and spending time with her cats and favorite people.
From Al-Andalus to Indianapolis: The IU Indianapolis course bringing medieval Spain to Indy
By Salsabil F. Qaddoura | Dec. 3When considering the cultural forces that shape the modern world, few students immediately think of a society that thrived a thousand years ago on the Iberian Peninsula. Yet the history of Al-Andalus, or Arab Spain, remains one of the most influential periods in global intellectual development.
IU Indianapolis Environment and Society course helps in achieving sustainable solutions
By Ian Janke | Nov. 22On the morning of Oct. 17, 2025, Professor Owen Dwyer’s Environment and Society class gathered outside in the green space between Taylor Hall and the Social Work Building to do some tree planting. This is an eight week course and happened to be their last class.
REVIEW: Sticky Notes opens in the Campus Center – serving sweets and smiles
By Regina Graves | Nov. 20A new sweet shop called Sticky Notes has opened on campus this fall 2025, bringing students, staff and visitors a fun and uplifting place to enjoy desserts, candies and different pastries. Designed as both a dessert stop and mental recharge, the shop has quickly become one of many to go spots for students looking for something sweet and positive on campus.
