Kelley professor builds website for networking

Kelley School of Business professor Richard Schrimper is working to build a network for artists and musicians alike.

Schrimper is creating CultureU.org, an interactive cultural network for students to promote their work and celebrate different forms of art.

“The whole idea, for me, is that if we could get students together collectively to share their experiences through cultural creations — their content, their blogs, their chatrooms — all that kind of thing and give them a community to explore that, that can be monetized,” Schrimper said.

Sam Herwitz manages much of the technical and Web side of CultureU.

“There’s not really a lot like it,” Herwitz said. “It’s going to be giving back to students. It’s a pretty cool organization.”

Originally, CultureU was meant to be a not-for-profit organization, Schrimper said.
Schrimper and an investor temporarily shifted his plan for the project into a for-profit enterprise.

“I had a partner that just kind of went the wrong direction on building it, and wanted to keep too much of the money,” Schrimper said.

“So, I said ‘Screw that. I’m done with that. We’re going to do this totally not for profit.’”
Schrimper said he had an epiphany  when he had a conversation with a student in class.

The student explained to him some of the religious beliefs behind the idea of anonymous donations.

“He also enlightened me that if I create all this cash, don’t just give a kid a scholarship,” Schrimper said.

“Give a kid an internship, because that’s the stepping stone that they need.”

Last semester, Schrimper said, was when his relationship with his investor fell apart.

They split up and went their separate ways.

Halle Hill, Schrimper’s former student, is now in charge of student involvement with CultureU.

Hill was initially taken with Schrimper’s idea during her A200 accounting class.

“Professor Schrimper is one of those rare individuals who is 100 percent dedicated to helping others without expecting anything in return,” Hill said.

“He is passionate about giving all students the equal opportunity to succeed, which is what drew me to CultureU.”

Schrimper needed both legal and software help to rework CultureU.

“We’re trying to create a new business model that uses the same old stuff everyone is using: networking and all of that sort of stuff, but monetize it for a different purpose,” Schrimper said.  

Hill was able to connect Schrimper with her father Curtis Hill, who is a prosecutor in Elkhart.

“I asked him if he would be able to just meet with Professor Schrimper to advise us on our plan of action, but when I told him more about CultureU, my dad said that he had a good friend who owned a software company in India that was constantly taking on projects like ours,” Halle Hill said.

If all goes well with her father’s friend, CultureU should be able to partner with his software company and expand its reach, Hill said.

“The purpose of CultureU isn’t to make money, but to give money, which is a difficult concept to grasp in the business world,” Hill said.

Follow reporter Kathrine Schulze on Twitter @KathrineSchulze.