As a child growing up in Indianapolis in the 1950s, Jean McAnulty Smith didn’t initially see herself attending Butler. “I lived three blocks away from campus,” she says. “I always thought I’d go away for college.”
Fate, though, had other plans. “I went to Butler, and it worked out beautifully.”
Today, Jean is one of Butler University’s most treasured alumni. She served on the Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1993, and continues to serve as an Emeritus Trustee. In 2007, she established the Reverend Jean McAnulty Smith Scholarship, which is awarded to Butler students with special consideration to African-American women and other women of color.
In nearly every way, Jean is a shining example of what it means to live—and give—The Butler Way. What’s more, her giving spirit will impact future generations thanks to her decision to establish a planned gift to Butler via her life insurance policy. “It is one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made,” she says. “It’s such a simple way to make a lasting contribution.”
______________________________________________
Called to Contribute
As a young black woman, Jean attended Butler in the heat of the Civil Rights era. “The country was, at that point, still fairly segregated,” she recalls.
Hoping to contribute to the movement, Jean majored in journalism and earned an internship at the Indianapolis News her sophomore year. “It was a great gift,” she says of the internship, “because it allowed me to prove to my father that I wasn’t wasting my time as a journalism student.”
She recalls a day in November 1963 when the newsroom’s national wire machines began ringing with alarming intensity. As Jean hurried into the newsroom with the other reporters, she learned that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. “We spent the rest of the afternoon putting out five or six ‘extras.’ That was back when they actually had a guy on the street yelling, ‘Extra, extra!’”
After graduation, Jean took a job covering the Federal Building beat for the Indianapolis News. That job paved the way for her next position as the press secretary for Indiana Governor Roger Branigin. From there, her career took a series of interesting and impressive turns. She became an Episcopal priest, and worked for Lilly Endowment Inc. in their religion division. She worked for the Indiana National Bank, where she helped manage the bank’s philanthropic sponsorships. “That was a key experience for me,” she says, “because it really helped my philanthropy begin to take shape.” These experiences proved useful when, years later, she joined Butler’s Board of Trustees as its first African-American female member.
______________________________________________
A Beautiful Legacy
As a priest, Jean is a big believer in what the Episcopal Church calls “the way of love.” This figures prominently in her relationship with Butler. She takes time to get to know her scholarship recipients, and she takes pride in serving a university that prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion among its student body. At a recent dinner for students of color, Jean encountered a crowd of hundreds of Butler students from various ethnicities, faiths, and backgrounds. The experience, she says, filled her with joy. “When I was a student, that would have been a much smaller room. It was a beautiful thing to see.”
Jean’s philanthropy has played a key role in Butler’s evolution. With her first scholarship, she cleared a path for women of color to follow their dreams. And she recently established a second scholarship with Lydia Johnson ‘12 MFA ‘15—the first recipient of the Reverend Jean McAnulty Smith Scholarship—for local first-generation college students, in honor of Lydia’s grandparents. “It’s probably even more rewarding than the one I set up in my own name,” she says.
From her work as a reporter to her career in the church, Jean has devoted her life to contributing to the greater good. By giving back to Butler, she hopes to help launch countless similar journeys. “People have lots of choices in their giving, and there are many worthy causes,” she says. “But I know in giving to Butler, whether through a planned gift or a scholarship, the money is going to support future students. That’s what matters.”
______________________________________________________________
Mike Eikenberry ‘95 | Executive Director, Major Gifts & Planned Giving | Butler University | (p)317-940-8940 | meikenbe@butler.edu
______________________________________________________________