Students sit and walk inside Schwitzer Student Center’s Shreve Atrium at the University of Indianapolis.
UIndy photo
A $5.2 million gift will make college more affordable for University of Indianapolis students.
UIndy received a $5.2 million endowment from the estate of Jack “J.J.” and Mary Kaye (Vanderipe) Ott, the university announced last week. University officials say the gift will make college more affordable for generations of Greyhounds to come.
The Otts’ love for UIndy began when J.J. Ott met Mary Kaye Vanderipe while they were both students back when the university was known as Indiana Central College. While still students, they married in August 1971 — a year before J.J. would graduate with a degree in business, according to a news release.
The couple would call Indianapolis home throughout their personal and professional lives together. Mary Kaye Ott would continue to take an assortment of courses over the years from UIndy in accounting, shorthand and personnel management, the news release said.
After J.J. Ott graduated in 1972, he served in the U.S. Navy and eventually pursued a successful career in healthcare administration. Mary Kaye Ott was a secretary in the Accounts Receivable Financing and Communications Financing divisions at the Indianapolis Morris Plan before being promoted to secretary to the president. In her personal time, she enjoyed boating, swimming and sewing, according to the news release.
J.J. passed away in October 2002 at the age of 60. At the time of his passing, he encouraged family and friends to make memorial gifts to UIndy.
Mary Kaye passed away in her Indianapolis home in October 2023 at the age of 82.
“The establishment of the Jack and Mary Kaye Ott Scholarship at the University of Indianapolis will inspire countless future Greyhounds to chase their dreams and allow our graduates to find their own love story here,” said Tanuja Singh, the university’s president, in the news release. “As we establish and expand UIndy Online and the Sease Institute to meet the growing needs for post-traditional education, I’m excited that we will be able to more easily and effectively help lifetime learners like Mary Kaye.”
The Otts were students during the final years of President I. Lynd Esch’s leadership and the first years of President Gene Sease, who began serving in 1970.
“We are deeply touched by this extremely generous demonstration of the Otts’ lifelong dedication to the university where their love story began,” said Deborah Daniels, chair of UIndy’s board of trustees, in the news release. “Their gift will provide students in all stages of their learning journey an opportunity to enjoy the life-changing education provided by the University of Indianapolis.”
