Kelley receives school's largest-ever donation for diversity recruitment

The IU Kelley School of Business is receiving a $15 million donation from an IU alumnus to benefit minority scholarships.

It is one of the largest donations ever given to the school, and with interest and IU’s match program, it the single largest contribution.

The donation, made by William Fry of Carmel, Ind., will give between five and 10 full-tuition scholarships to minority students next fall. When the program is in full swing, at least 80 students at one time will receive scholarships. For now, recruiting for the program will be largely in-state, but as the program expands, the recruitment will too, said Dean of the Kelley School of Business Dan Smith.

“The Kelley School is not at the present time as competitive as we need to be in respect to diversity,” Smith said. “This gift will substantially change that.

“I think that learning in a diverse environment provides tremendous benefits for all of our students. As the work force in this country becomes more diversified, it becomes even more critical that students become comfortable working on diverse teams during their time at IU and the Kelley School.”

Edwin Marshall, vice president of the office of diversity, equity and multicultural affairs, said the gift will help not only to change the face of Kelley School of Business, but in its ability to function as an innovative, competitive school as well.

“I think his generous contribution will translate into scholarship opportunities for a lot of students who, you know, may not have been able to attend IU, and in doing so, it helps contribute to diversity,” Marshall said. “So you have increased diversity not only in terms of individuals but of thoughts, of ideas.”

The $15 million should earn $750,000 in interest each year, and the University has agreed to match that amount, which will give an additional $1.5 million to the scholarship fund. After tacking on the interest and going through the University’s match program, the donation will actually reach about $30 million, making it the largest monetary gift ever to the Kelley School of Business.

This money will not only benefit the students who earn the scholarships but will also keep Kelley competitive as corporations become more diverse.

“The corporate community has realized a long time ago that the demographic of this country as well as the world is becoming a much more global society – a much more diverse society,” Marshall said. “And to be competitive in that society you have to resonate with the population you are serving, and one of the most effective ways of doing that is obviously being able to attract individuals from those populations.”

Malik McCluskey, director of the office of diversity initiatives at the Kelley School, agreed this scholarship will help IU to follow national precedent.

“In terms of the changing demographics in the U.S., it requires that all schools adopt to these developing trends,” he said. “As we’re moving into a more diverse society where members of color will outnumber whites, this helps all involved including people who are here and will be here. If students don’t have (diversity), they will enter a world where they are unprepared.”

The donation has been in the works for more than a year and will affect scholarships for the upcoming school year.

“It was a number we thought was significant enough to make a difference,” said Fry, a 1958 Kelley School graduate. “It will give the students a chance to get an education. It will be a chance for us to learn more about them and for them to learn more about them.”

Both McCluskey and Smith stressed the importance of making the Kelley School of Business a competitive school in terms of diversity. This donation will allow the school to compete with other Big Ten schools and universities across the country.

“We compete with major private business schools across the country, and we’ve never had a scholarship pool available to us of this size,” Smith said.

Smith said the school is also in the process of attracting a diverse faculty.

“Our goal is to attract top faculty regardless of ethnicity,” Smith said. “We often need what are called faculty fellowships to attract talent. That is true for attracting world-class minority faculty because of the demand for their talents.”