From the Desk of the Chancellor, Nov. 1, 2010

Chancellor Charles R. Bantz View print-quality image

Today (Nov. 1, 2010), we launch the IUPUI United Way Campaign with a campaign goal of $415,000. This has been a particularly challenging year for many in our community. The United Way of Central Indiana agencies that receive funding through our pledges provide direct services in our local community. UWCI works continually to identify the community's most important priorities and measure the impact of the programs it helps to fund. Based on research which shows that “children raised in safe, supportive, and encouraging environments are more likely to begin school ready to succeed,” and knowing that many families in central Indiana find themselves struggling to make ends meet, UWCI has stated its priorities as:

• Sustaining vital human services for those who need help most.
• Helping kids enter school ready to learn and graduate ready to earn.

IUPUI's Campaign for UWCI offers an avenue for expressing our commitment as individuals to improving the quality of life in our city and symbolizes IUPUI's commitment to civic engagement. UWCI's emphasis on children, education, advocacy, and voluntarism is a natural fit with our university's mission, vision, and values.

For several years, members of the IUPUI community have thoughtfully, but persistently, asked that we reconsider our participation in the UWCI campaign in light of the discriminatory practices of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) with respect to sexual orientation. We have listened carefully to arguments on all sides, but have determined that it is inconsistent with our values for us to—however passively—support the BSA with the pledge procedure we had been using, which allowed donors to “opt out” of having their contributions going to the BSA. Beginning with this year’s campaign, we will conduct IUPUI’s UWCI campaign so that donors must “opt-in” to direct their contributions to the Boy Scouts. The online pledge form now reflects this change in policy.

Our community is counting on us in this time of great need. I hope you will step forward to make IUPUI's United Way Campaign a huge success this year.

Comments? Write chancllr@iupui.edu.