The former director of the International Center left more than her legacy.
Phyllis Yuhas recently left a $1 million grant aimed at sending more students to study abroad.
The funds will fuel a scholarship designed to finance trips for students wishing to study abroad and international students looking to study at Ball State, said Jim Coffin, the director for the Center for International Programs.
"We're going to enable students who were otherwise unable to go but want to go," Coffin said. "To go study abroad is like investing in their futures. It's going to enhance their careers."
When Yuhas was director of the then-International Center in the mid-1970s, it was only an informal part of Ball State. It formalized its relationship with the university relationship in the mid-'80s and was renamed the Center for International Programs.
Yuhas, also a former history professor, used the money from her parents' trust fund.
Through Yuhas' efforts, Coffin said, Ball State became a member of the International Student Exchange Program, a new organization at the time.
But today it is a worldwide program, with Ball State as a charter member and President Blaine Brownell as a member of the International Board of Directors.
"(Yuhas) did a lot of work to get our students abroad," Coffin said. "Through ISEP we have partnerships with universities in 80 countries around the world."
The center will use the 5 percent interest from the $1 million for the scholarship, withdrawing $50,000 from the fund every year. The $1 million principle will remain untouched.
Currently a committee is being formed to determine how to disperse the money. Scholarships will be awarded once the committee is complete.
Scholarship amounts will be distributed with first priority given to semester and year-long programs, as well as student programs created by faculty, such as the London Centre and the Australia Centre.
Coffin said students should take advantage of the scholarship and apply to study outside the country.
"It's an enlightening experience to study in another country," he said. "Employers admire students who study abroad and have successfully lived in another country. To have colleagues around the world is a great advantage to have no matter what your career of choice."
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