Cox Scholars Program touches 1,100+ lives, creates endless ripples of impact

Twenty-one years. Two campuses. More than 1,100 students.

That’s the impressive impact of Indiana University’s Cox Scholars Program—but the legacy Jesse H. and Beulah Chanley Cox left behind is so much more powerful than the numbers alone.

The Coxes established their scholarship program in 2005 to support the hardest working students from every corner of Indiana. In conjunction with other scholarships or grants, the Cox Scholars Program provides a scholarship and wage package that covers the full cost of attendance to IU Bloomington or IU Indianapolis. The couple didn’t simply aspire to expand access to higher education for residents who demonstrated academic excellence and financial need, though. For Jesse and Beulah, imparting their guiding values of perseverance, service, and community on the next generation of leaders was just as imperative.

“You can give money, but you also need guidance,” Jesse once said of the philosophy behind the initiative.

The Coxes’ combined goals shaped the program to provide a consistent source of financial support, mentorship, and relationship-building—not only student-to-student, but also between current scholars and program alumni who have gone on to excel as professionals and public servants.

When the Cox Scholars Program launched, it welcomed a cohort of 14 students to the IU Bloomington campus. In the years since, the program has created five new pathways to academic and career success for over a thousand students on both the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses.

Additionally, the initiative has also grown to offer Camp Cox, a summer leadership development course for incoming Cox Scholars; Art of Meaningful Work, a class for first-year students in the program; and supplemental educational experiences including study abroad, internships, and graduate studies.

Lily Brown, a sophomore Cox Scholar, has already felt the profound impact of the program in a plethora of ways. From building community with fellow scholars to reflecting on who she is as a person and aspiring professional, Brown said the Cox Scholarship Program has cultivated a growing confidence in her future.

“I've met at least half of my friends here through my scholarship,” she shared. “We took a class called ‘Art of Meaningful Work’ this semester, where we learned a bit about financials and how to manage our scholarship, manage our lives, and really see a future for ourselves.”

In addition to fostering a support system and providing structure upon which to build her professional life, Brown said her status as a Cox Scholar has allowed her to pursue a field she feels deeply connected to as a Media School student.

“Because of my scholarship, I got to really pick something that I'm passionate about. One day, I want to write scripts that are really meaningful and can make an impact on people, because I love art,” she said. “I want to make art that can make people happy and bring them through tough times and also can comment on the world and mean something to me.”

Like so many others before her, the Cox Scholars Program unlocked a door that was inaccessible to Brown before she became a scholarship awardee.

“To be quite honest, I didn't really have the option to go to college in general because I just didn't have the funds for it,” she said.

Determined to exhaust her options to make her goal of earning a college degree a reality, she applied for every scholarship she could find. And because of her tenacity and persistence—values the Coxes held dear—Brown realized her once-impossible dream of becoming an IU student, which has altered the course of her future.

“This scholarship is the single most important thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. It changed my life,” Brown said. “I have the freedom to do what makes me passionate; I have the freedom to do it without worry. I am so grateful every time I sit and think about all the things that it's provided to me.”

Brown’s passion extends beyond her own endeavors—she’s an enthusiastic advocate for future scholarship recipients and the longevity of the Coxes’ legacy.

“Anyone who wants to give to those scholarships, you have the chance to invest in people—there's most likely someone that you're investing in that can change the entire world and you just don't know it,” she said.

Thanks to Jesse and Beulah’s historic generosity, generations of Cox Scholars have been empowered to embrace their passions and impact their communities in 1,100 different ways—and counting.

That impact can expand through IU’s Never Daunted campaign, which aspires to close the gap of unmet need for all IU students. Help ensure that talent and potential are never limited by circumstance by supporting the IUB Cox Scholars Program or the Never Daunted Scholarship.