Howard S. “Howdy” Wilcox was a public relations expert, World War II veteran, president of the IU Foundation and even a former IDS editor, but perhaps his greatest legacy is creating the legendary Little 500.
In the fall of 1950, Wilcox was walking through IU’s campus when he stumbled upon an informal bike race at a dorm. Seeing the cyclists, he developed the idea for the Little 500, a bike race created to raise money for scholarships that would eventually grow into an event billed as “the greatest college weekend.”
Wilcox was inspired by the Indianapolis 500, which he had a close familial connection to. His father, Howard Wilcox Sr., was a prominent race car driver and won the Indy 500 in 1919.
As president of the IU Foundation, Wilcox created the IU Student Foundation to further the aims of the Foundation.
“The IU Foundation simply had no identity on campus, neither with the students nor the faculty,” Wilcox said, according to the IU Student Foundation page. “I wrote a letter to President Wells recommending that we form a Student Foundation Committee and charge that committee with spreading the word.”
The IU Student Foundation still exists today and hosts the Little 500 every year. The IUSF offices are located in the Wilcox House, named after the man who started it all.
