Last modified: Thursday, November 3, 2011
IUPUI chancellor points to faculty, staff contributions to IU's highest fundraising campaign
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 1, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Chancellor Charles R. Bantz highlighted the IUPUI IMPACT Campaign, which has pushed through the $1 billion mark on the way to the highest fundraising goal in Indiana University history, during his State of the Campus address today (Nov. 1).
He delivered his address in the IUPUI Campus Center before an audience of faculty and staff.
The $1.25 billion campaign was publicly announced in October 2010. Through September 2011, the campaign raised $1.061 billion from more than 86,000 donors.
Gifts enable IUPUI to better serve its students and to meet the vital needs of the community, region and state. Donations enrich the educational experience of students, enable breakthrough discoveries in the prevention and treatment of disease, bind the campus to the community and make the dream of higher education a reality for many who thought they might not ever have that chance.
In his remarks on the IMPACT Campaign, Bantz focused on IUPUI faculty and staff donations. In fiscal year 2011, 2,248 IUPUI faculty and staff donated $2.4 million to the IMPACT Campaign.
"IUPUI has moved forward in challenging times. Faculty and staff contributions to the IUPUI IMPACT Campaign have contributed to our momentum," Bantz said. "Many scholarships, professorships and other awards honor or memorialize faculty members. Their devotion to their work inspires donors to provide a legacy in their name. Some faculty and staff have memorialized students or family members with their gifts. They make personal gifts -- small and large -- whether by payroll deductions to the annual campaign or planned gifts -- to honor the life and accomplishments of those who have served as beacons of inspiration to them."
Among faculty and staff campaign donors cited by Bantz was Larry Such, a building services staff member at IUPUI.
For nearly 30 years Such has awoken at 3:30 a.m. to ensure that the campus building he serves is open and ready for early-arriving students. But three decades of dedicated service isn't all that he's given to the campus.
This spring, Such made a planned gift leaving his entire estate to the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis. The bequest will be used to create the Larry Such Endowed Scholarship Fund, which will provide financial assistance to students who are admitted directly to the Kelley School in their first year on campus.
Such is gratified to know that his gift will support future students. "If I can help a young person get an education here, and then they go on to become some successful executive, I'll be happy knowing I played a part in that," he said.
He also hopes that other donors will be motivated by his story. "I didn't necessarily earn a huge salary throughout my life, but I was able to save and to acquire some collections of real value. I hope that someone out there might hear my story and think, 'If he can make a gift like that, I can, too.'"
IUPUI is tremendously grateful for all the contributions that have brought it to such a significant milestone, Bantz said. "We have much work to do yet, and we are inspired by donors' support that increases IUPUI's impact by supporting endowed chairs, scholarships, research centers and facilities."
"The IMPACT campaign is strengthening the campus's deep and longstanding involvement in the community and bringing more talent and research dollars to our state, contributing to Indiana's economy," Bantz added. "We are developing academic programs and research that address the educational and economic development needs of our partner -- Indianapolis -- our state and our nation."
