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Last modified: Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Matching the Promise fundraising campaign for IU Bloomington passes $1 billion mark

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 13, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie announced today (Oct. 13) that the "Matching the Promise" fundraising campaign for the IU Bloomington campus has surpassed the $1 billion threshold on the way to its $1.1 billion goal.

Michael McRobbie

Michael McRobbie

Print-Quality Photo

The campaign, launched six years ago, was initiated to provide scholarships and fellowships to help keep IU affordable and attractive to top-notch students, provide funding for faculty chairs to attract and retain leading academic talent, and to construct high-quality teaching and research facilities.

"This is a major milestone," said McRobbie. "We have now reached the original $1 billion goal we set for the campaign when it was launched in 2003, and we are very confident that we will be able to reach our ultimate, $1.1 billion goal next year. We are extremely grateful for the generosity of so many people whose gifts and pledges are strengthening the future of Indiana University. This is an especially remarkable achievement given America has been in a recession for the last year."

Since the start of the campaign in July 2003, gifts and pledges have been made by more than 155,000 individuals and 7,600 corporations and foundations. The campaign is being managed by the Indiana University Foundation, in collaboration with the academic leadership and development staff of IU Bloomington's schools, departments and programs.

McRobbie challenged the IU Foundation and IU fundraising partners to achieve a new and higher goal of $1.1 billion last February as one of several university initiatives aimed at keeping IU affordable and accessible to qualified Hoosier students, particularly students from low- and moderate-income families across the state.

"If we had stuck with our original plan, we would be finished now and celebrating a successful conclusion to the campaign," McRobbie said. "But in these difficult economic times we must redouble our efforts to continue to help deserving students find ways to finance their college educations. That is why we decided to extend the campaign and place renewed emphasis on scholarship endowments."

A major objective of the Matching the Promise campaign has been to give students a chance to earn a degree from IU Bloomington and leave campus with no or minimal debt. Of the $1 billion in gifts and commitments received to date, more than $324 million has been committed for scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students. These funds will provide substantial scholarship support for well over 2,000 students at IU Bloomington each year in perpetuity.

One such student is undergraduate Kali Hopkins, from Loogootee, Ind., who is majoring in neuroscience and chemistry. "It means more than I can fully express in words to have scholarship support for my education," she said. "Truly, it is gratifying to know that there are people who care about, and are willing to support, the education of the next generation. Because of this scholarship, I will be able to complete my studies in neuroscience and chemistry and pursue my dream of becoming a pediatric neurologist. I am honored and grateful for the support."

Other Matching the Promise gifts are being used to fund at least 20 academic positions and to build several major academic facilities.

"This ambitious campaign has had a dramatic impact on the IU Bloomington campus," said IU Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson. "It is helping to raise the academic quality of our campus, while at the same time making an IU education more affordable and accessible to deserving students."

University officials credit the success of the Matching the Promise campaign to alumni and friends who are eager to play a role in strengthening the university's future and match their philanthropic interests with the university's most significant needs. Because of their commitment to philanthropy in support of education, officials add, the campaign has maintained its momentum, even during difficult economic times.

"Donors have been tremendously supportive," said Gene Tempel, president of the IU Foundation. "In spite of the recent economic downturn, they realize that we must pull together in these final months.

"We have eight months to go and some $84 million to raise," continued Tempel. "Philanthropy is more important than ever if we are to help the students of today achieve their dreams, and our dreams for them."

A few of the many notable gifts made during the Matching the Promise campaign include:

  • $61.3 million from Jesse and Beulah Cox and from their estate for scholarships for IU Bloomington working students; the largest gift for scholarships at IU;
  • $44 million from the Lilly Endowment for the Jacobs School of Music to construct and equip a studio building that will provide technologically and acoustically superior teaching and practice facilities to rival those of any music school or conservatory in the world;
  • $40.6 million from Barbara and David Jacobs for the School of Music for scholarships, fellowships, endowed faculty positions and other enhancements -- at the time the largest single gift for a school of music at a public university;
  • $35 million from Michael S. "Mickey" and Janie Maurer for student scholarships, the largest gift from an individual for the Maurer School of Law;
  • $25 million from William J. Godfrey, the largest single gift from an individual for the Kelley School of Business, for need-based scholarships and for the William J. Godfrey Graduate and Executive Education Center;
  • $25 million from the Lilly Endowment for the Maurer School of Law to attract and retain world-class teachers and scholars and to establish the school as one of the very best public university law schools in the country;
  • $15 million from William R. Fry for need-based scholarships in the Kelley School of Business;
  • $15 million from an anonymous donor for the renovation and expansion of the undergraduate facility in the Kelley School of Business;
  • $10 million from the Glaubinger Foundation, on behalf of Larry and Lucienne Glaubinger, for student-athletes in non-revenue Olympic sports; at the time, the single largest gift in the history of IU Athletics;
  • A second $10 million from the Glaubinger Foundation for the Adam Herbert Scholar-Athletes Fund;
  • $10 million from the estate of E.W. Kelley for Kelley Scholars, a program for academically talented undergraduates in the Kelley School of Business;
  • $9 million from Edward L. Hutton for the International Experiences Program to expose students to other countries and cultures, and $3.5 million for the Hutton Honors College to attract and retain outstanding students to IU;
  • $9 million from the Simon Family for Simon Hall, the multi-disciplinary science building; and
  • Multiple donors contributed to the North End Zone Facility, which transforms Memorial Stadium into a horseshoe shape and provides training and conditioning resources for 640 student-athletes in all 24 varsity sports, offices and meeting space; the gift total includes $1 million from the Steve and Kathy Henke Family for the Henke Hall of Champions.