From the Desk of the Chancellor, Oct. 11, 2010

Chancellor Charles R. Bantz View print-quality image

“The charitable impulse is triggered whenever people see themselves as part of a community, whether it be the family, the neighborhood, or the nation. As the sense of community expands, so does the scope of philanthropy.” (Jim Joseph, former president of the Council on Foundations).

Last Saturday night, we publicly launched the $1.25 billion IMPACT IUPUI Campaign. We will work hard to expand the sense of community and the scope of philanthropy as we work toward this ambitious goal.

Thanks to the community of supporters who have already made gifts to IUPUI during the silent phase of the campaign, we already see how broad the scope of philanthropy is for us. To date, we have received $860,613,670, which brings us 69 percent of the way toward our campaign goal.

IUPUI is the beneficiary of “the philanthropy of civic engagement” because we aim to establish relationships among citizens that address common concerns. By giving to IUPUI, our community shows us that the practice-based orientation of teaching/learning, research/scholarship, and civic engagement that permeates most of the disciplines in which our faculty, staff, and students work across campus is important to them.

I shared this description of IUPUI last Monday, when I was in the nation’s capital to receive The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars 2010  Higher Education Civic Engagement Award on IUPUI’s behalf. The same day, Robert Bringle and Starla Officer, with our Center for Service and Learning, and Jim Grim (George Washington Community High School) were in Raleigh, N.C., at the National Outreach Scholarship Conference to receive the regional  Kellogg Foundation Engagement Award from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. The IUPUI/GWCHS partnership was the North Central Region recipient and is now eligible to compete as one of five finalists for the national Peter Magrath Community Engagement Award and a $20,000 prize, to be announced Nov. 14, 2010.

Because of IUPUI’s commitment to engaged learning, engaged research, and civic engagement—and because of your work and support—IUPUI is where IMPACT is made!

Comments? Write chancllr@iupui.edu.