UIndy unveils $50M fundraising campaign, research institute
Poverty research institute to include multifacted approach to problem, university president says.
The University of Indianapolis announced a new $50 million fundraising campaign and the founding of a poverty research institute Friday night.
The campaign, called "UIndy Starts with You," will focus on four areas: student opportunities, faculty and academic excellence, campus and community, and transformational opportunities.
Supported by a major gift of an undisclosed sum, the Gene and Mary Ann Zink Poverty Institute will be a school for interdisciplinary poverty research.
The new institute will bring together experts on all aspects of poverty, including health care, nutrition, education and law, said UIndy President Robert Manuel.
"It's a little unique because most centers study individual phenomena," Manuel said. "But you can't really identify poverty solutions if you're only looking at it from a singular standpoint."
At Friday's gala, the university also announced that the private phase of the fundraising campaign has raised $34 million. The public phase, which will continue through June 2021, is aimed at raising the rest.
The campaign is chaired by Board of Trustees member Yvonne Shaheen, the retired CEO and president of Long Electric Co. Shaheen made a $5 million gift to the university earlier this year to endow the liberal arts program, now known as the Riad and Yvonne Shaheen College of Arts & Sciences.
The four focus areas were identified by input from the UIndy community during the university's Vision 2030 strategic planning process, which Manuel initiated in 2012.
Other projects undertaken since Manuel joined the university include the opening of a Health Pavilion to house the university's health and wellness programs, a new student apartment complex and major renovations to the library.
The Health Pavilion could lead to the opening of a clinic to serve the community, said Manuel, who added that serving the community will continue to be a consideration of the university in future projects.
He said UIndy is committed to supporting the quality of life in the surrounding community, because it has unusually strong ties to the city. Eighty-five percent of alumni remain in the Indianapolis area. Forty percent of students are first-generation college students.
Giving back is "an opportunity to help the aspirational development of people who, without this experience, wouldn't have the same life chances and life options," Manuel said. "They're coming here to get life chances they wouldn't get anywhere else."
Contact Star reporter Ellen Garrison at (317) 444-6179. Follow her on Twitter: @EllenGarrison.