>newground
When it comes to sports, everyone knows that the state’s two largest public universities, IU and Purdue, have been rivals for years. But the schools have competed in other ways, too: for students, funding, and recognition.
That was then, and this is the 21st century. The world of higher education is changing, and that includes fundraising.
The change is evident at IU East in Richmond, where IU and Purdue are embarking on their first-ever joint fundraising campaign.
The two schools are ready to embark on a $2 million to $4 million campaign that will benefit the work of both universities on the Richmond campus. But more importantly, this campaign will benefit the community as a whole.
Hence the name, “The Campaign for Community.”
“The message we want to send is that the schools can join forces to benefit the community,” says Brent Pieper, executive director of University Advancement. “We hope this will serve as a model for other regional campuses.”
The new campaign will strive to:
bullet Improve culture in the classroom and community by building a modern art gallery and fine arts classroom on campus.
bullet Create scholarships through both IU and Purdue.
bullet Develop new jobs in the community by creating endowed faculty scholarships and internship awards in an IU Entrepreneurial Center.
bullet Prepare the community workforce for tomorrow’s economy by investing in IU’s departments of nursing and information sciences, and in equipment and faculty development at the Purdue School of Technology.
As Campaign Chair Rob Quigg (BA ’93) says, “Planning for the future means investing in higher education. As a committed professional and member of this Indiana community, I realize the importance of taking care of such an asset.”
Another local leader and veteran campaigner, Danny Danielson, is the campaign’s guiding spirit. It was Danielson who first shared the dream of IU and Purdue unifying their efforts on behalf of the community.
“So far the cooperation between schools has been in high gear, with everyone working together to help the campus succeed,” says Pieper. “Because really, it is not about which school gets the money; it is about educating the people of the regional community.”
>Jana Wilson
Find out more at the IU East website.
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