Giving to Susquehanna can be a hands-on experience, as Trustee Edward R. Schmidt ’69 can attest. When he decided to issue a challenge to students in the Susquehanna University Fund calling program, he made a personal visit to the student callers.

Schmidt’s challenge was to encourage alumni to give by credit card; he would match all gifts up to $125 for a total of $10,000. Not only did he develop and fund the challenge, he also worked with the students to develop the calling scripts. Spurred on by his enthusiasm, the students brought in gifts that hit the goal within two weeks. He in turn was so impressed by their work that he offered an additional $5,000 to the cause.

“It was a good vision for my students to see—great inspiration,” says Judy Newcomer, associate director of the Susquehanna University Fund, who heads the calling program. “Ed did more for my students in those few minutes by showing them he cares so much.”

Schmidt says he thought the matching-gift offer was “a good way to motivate gifts to the annual fund, and it was pretty well received by the student workers and alumni.”

The energy Ed displayed in his involvement with the calling program is evident in every aspect of his life. A corporate and real estate attorney with the Indianapolis law firm of Krieg DeVault LLP, he is licensed to practice in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Michigan, and before the U.S. Supreme Court and several federal district and circuit courts. He also is active in several organizations related to his career, including the Indianapolis Bar Association, which has recognized him as a Distinguished Fellow.

In 2003, he and his wife, Donna, established the Edward S. and A. Rita Schmidt Lectureship in Ethics, named after his parents. “We wanted to take a multidisciplinary approach and have a program that applied across many different majors, but it was also appealing to my field of interest,” Schmidt says.

The program brings distinguished scholars and civic leaders to campus to address topics of importance in the field of ethics. The goal of the program is to highlight ethical issues across disciplines and encourage thought and exploration of these issues among students, faculty and the community. The 2008 lecture brought Michele Goodwin, Everett Fraser Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, to campus to discuss organ trafficking. Other topics have included reproductive medicine, computer ethics and collegiate athletics.

“We are really believers in values-based education,” says Schmidt. “In my educational experiences, both as an undergraduate at Susquehanna and at Notre Dame for law school, ethical determinations were key components of the learning experience.”

The Schmidts also support other programs at Susquehanna. Ed serves the university’s alumni corporation of Theta Chi fraternity, and he and Donna have contributed to the athletic internship program established by John Strangfeld ’75, chair of the Susquehanna University Board of Trustees, and his wife, Mary Kay. “I was very impressed by the grant John and Mary Kay made and was impressed by the work of the program and how it fit into the work and mission of the university,” he says. “It is a very creative program.”

And just as the creativity of the Strangfelds encouraged their gifts to the university, the Schmidts’ ingenuity inspired others. The credit card challenge was so well received that Robert Buckfelder ’77 established a similar one for the 2008–09 calling program, which achieved similar success.

Posted August 21st, 2009.