Michelle Jarvis: Why I Give
For Michelle Jarvis '73, it was a passion for dance that first led her to Butler University, where an undergraduate liberal arts degree added depth to her dance training and prepared her for an unexpected career path. Now the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Butler University, Jarvis says it was a desire to be part of Butler’s future that compelled her and her husband Jeffrey Maess to include Butler in their estate with a planned gift. The couple recently committed a percentage of their estate to Butler’s dance program in hopes it will continue to enrich the lives of future students as it did for Jarvis.
“I studied dance throughout my youth, and I knew that I wanted a college degree but also wanted to continue with my study and performance of dance,” Jarvis says. “Butler offered all of this to me with very high-quality training and performance values, standards, and opportunities.”
After earning her undergraduate degree, Jarvis taught dance at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where she also taught community dance students. A desire to continue her own training led her back to Butler, where she earned a graduate degree in dance, with a particular focus in ballet. She joined the Jordan College of the Arts dance faculty in 1986 and went on to serve as the Associate Dean of the College, Chair of the Department of Dance, and Artistic Director of the Butler Ballet. She also served as the Interim Dean of the College for the 2010-11 and 2016-17 academic years, before being named to her current position in 2017.
“I have a strong sense of gratitude to Butler for all the opportunities the institution has provided me,” Jarvis says. “My career blossomed at Butler, and I am grateful for the long and rich career I am experiencing.”
Jarvis says she is particularly proud of Butler’s dance program, which provided her own training and continues to produce some of the nation’s finest dancers. Butler's department of dance has alumni who have served as apprentices, corps de ballet, soloist and principal dancers on Broadway and in prestigious dance companies around the world. Butler’s dance program was recently ranked third in the country by College Magazine, behind only Juilliard and New York University.
“Butler is among the finest dance programs in the country,” Jarvis says. “The program is among a few that offer ballet as the focus of a comprehensive and versatile dance program both academically and artistically, including a residential experience with a strong sense of community, exceptional instruction, and a welcoming campus. The dance program has consistently attracted students from across the nation and international students as well.”
Butler Beyond: The Campaign for Butler University is Butler’s largest-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign, with a goal of $250 million in support of student access and success, innovations in teaching and learning, and community partnerships. Planned gifts like the one committed by Jarvis and Maess provide a strong foundation for Butler’s future, allowing the University to take bold steps in the direction of its strategic vision with the confidence of forthcoming financial support.
At Butler, gifts to academic departments in particular touch on all three of the campaign’s pillars, supporting student learning, faculty development, and departmental partnerships within the broader community. For instance, Butler’s dance program provides enriching arts programming for the greater Central Indiana community, reaching audiences well beyond campus.
“Philanthropy can provide sustainability to the institution, which provides opportunity for future students to gain knowledge and skills, open their minds and hearts, enhance their talents, become critical and creative thinkers, to see the broader picture of life, and to become contributing citizens to society,” Jarvis says. “Butler has offered many opportunities to me, and I want to contribute to the future of Butler University and the students to come.”
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