by Steve Hinnefeld
331-4374 | shinnefeld@heraldt.com
July 28, 2005

Officials and supporters of Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington on Wednesday launched the public phase of a campaign to raise $3 million for programs, facilities and scholarships.

They said the effort - called "Grow Ivy Tech: the campaign for our community" - has already yielded $1.6 million, much of it in major gifts targeted to expanding programs in the life and health sciences.

"This isn't just about economic development; it's about changing lives," Ivy Tech Chancellor John Whikehart told more than 100 people at a reception at the Bloomington convention center. "It's about breaking cycles and giving people a chance they might not otherwise have had," he said.

Sounding the theme that support for Ivy Tech is "an investment, not a gift," he said the goal includes:

• $1.4 million for expanding life-science programs, including nursing, biotechnology, kinesiology and respiratory and radiation therapy.
• $1 million for scholarships for Ivy Tech students, who last year had average unmet financial need of $4,700.
• $200,000 for the Center for Civic Engagement, which supports service by students and the campus's annual O'Bannon Institute for Community Service.
• $400,000 for future expansion of the Ivy Tech campus at 200 Daniels Way on Bloomington's west side.

Co-chairs for the campaign are Ivy Tech regional trustees' chairwoman Connie Ferguson, physician Carol Touloukian and Herald-Times publisher Mayer Maloney. Honorary co-chairs are Bill C. Brown, Lee Marchant and Joan Olcott.

The face of the campaign belongs to Michelle Taylor. A photograph of Taylor wearing her graduation robe and embracing her son, Nick, is on the Ivy Tech campaign brochure and will appear on billboards promoting the effort.

Taylor said she decided to attend college in her 30s because she was tired of working a dead-end job that kept her from spending time with her children, Nick, now 11, and Karly, 7. She credited Ivy Tech staff with support and guidance that enabled her to finish school and get work as a registered nurse with Bloomington Hospital & Healthcare System.

"I have a job that I love," she said. "I'm making great money and I'm able to spend more time with my babies."

Whikehart said support by a campaign "cabinet" of more than 100 civic leaders shows the community is aware of the importance and needs of Ivy Tech, which offers two-year associate degrees, shorter-term certificates and job training.

He said the campus' life science programs are popular with students and employers, but they are expensive, requiring trained faculty and well-equipped laboratories. And while Ivy Tech tuition is affordable, he said, many students need help paying for housing, transportation and child care. He said the college, which recently bought 16 acres of largely vacant land for future expansion, is already close to outgrowing the $24 million facility that opened three years ago.

State Ivy Tech President Gerald Lamkin said the growth has been good for Bloomington region.

"It's not about money," he said of the campaign. "It's about investment in people."