The Challenge for Academic Excellence

Bob Roeder '71 and Lilly Endowment to match alumni Annual Fund gifts

In a challenge to USI alumni, Bob Roeder '71, of Indianapolis, is offering to match all alumni gift increases to the USI Annual Fund Alumni Campaign between now and June 30, 2003 up to a total of $10,000. The Roeder gift will be used to match all alumni first-time gifts to the Annual Fund as well as all alumni gift increases over the previous year's gift.

When USI alumni receive a telephone call during the Alumni Campaign phonathon beginning October 14, the student caller will explain that a double match is on the line. In addition to Roeder's match, the Lilly Endowment Initiative to strengthen alumni giving - put in place to emphasize the impact private dollars have on the University - is challenging alumni to increase their total charitable gifts to the University by offering to match all alumni gifts in support of academics up to $3 million. The University is calling this effort the Challenge for Academic Excellence.

At the direction of USI President H. Ray Hoops, the Lilly Endowment matching gift will go to the new Endowment for Academic Excellence, a perpetual fund in the USI Foundation, with income to be used to support and strengthen academics.

David Herrenbruck '76, president of the USI Alumni Association, said "This is a real challenge to all USI alumni. Each one of us needs to make the largest gift possible to help meet the $3 million alumni goal." Alumni gifts to the USI Foundation must be received between June 1, 2002 and December 31, 2003 to qualify for the Lilly Endowment matching grant.

Roeder's $10,000 challenge came when he learned that last year 1,629 USI alumni - or 10 percent of USI's total 16,000 alumni - made charitable gifts to USI, totaling $153,198 in 2001/02. This year, between June 1 and September 15, already 405 alumni have made gifts totaling $176,913 which will qualify for the Lilly match.

Roeder is a member of USI's first graduating class, and serves on the USI Foundation board of directors, chairing the committee to enhance the Foundation's visibility among students and faculty. He also serves on the Alumni Major Gifts Committee for the Challenge for Academic Excellence.
 

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