IU Sample Gates wouldn't have been built without this man. But who was Edson Sample?

Indiana University's Sample Gates don't really need an introduction. The imposing silhouette makes it one of the most distinguishable landmarks of IU's Bloomington campus. Some would argue the iconic structure is woven into Bloomington's tapestry. The gates have been the stage of student protests and the backdrop for graduate photo shoots since 1987.

It's a tried and true pitstop during a campus tour for gawking visitors and anxious freshman alike. When alumni pass through those tall columns, they're transported back to a nostalgic version of their 20-something selves.

In sharp contrast, Edson Sample, the man behind the gateway, died in relative obscurity in early December. Despite passing away in Bloomington, where he spent the majority of his life, a local obituary was not published. No public funeral was held. With Sample opting for cremation, there's not even a gravestone marking his departure from this life.

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Sample was a private man. The Herald-Times could only glean snapshots of who he was. A proud alumnus. An ardent supporter of access to higher education. A generous benefactor. While there were many sides to the man, one thing is clear: Whether he was funding limestone pillars or lobbying D.C. politicians, Sample made sure the gates to higher education were never locked.

The story behind Sample Gates: How it was nearly never built

The idea for a campus gateway on East Kirkwood Avenue sprouted in the minds of students and faculty as early as 1883, but it took more than 100 years of aesthetic quibbling and penny pinching before Sample Gates was constructed.

An IU blog post notes that in the late 19th century, two different funding plans began brewing for a campus archway — one led by the classes of 1899-1902 and another by an alumnus named Theodore Rose, who would later go on to be an IU trustee. When the group of students heard of Rose's plan, they diverted their fundraising efforts to purchase chimes for the Student Building.

In the summer of 1904, Rose presented his plan, which included repurposing archways from the old University Building, to his fellow trustees, but it never fully materialized. It was later determined that these gothic arches would create too narrow of a gate, working more as a blockade rather than a sprawling invitation into campus. These arches were instead repurposed to create the Rose Well House in 1908.

In 1931, a former U.S. senator threw his idea in the ring, but his proposal for a gateway petered out when the politician and IU leadership sparred over aesthetic choices. For the next 35 years, as many as 10 other designs were submitted, all of which failed to materialize.

The mock-up for what would become Sample Gates, financially backed by alumnus Benjamin Long, finally clinched approval in 1968. But when the topic of money entered the conversation, nothing came of it for about two more decades. Though his proposal garnered the hard-won approval of IU leadership, Long was met with public outcry from the community, criticizing the project as wasteful alumni spending, according to the blog post. Unable to weather the backlash, Long withdrew his financial support.

Suddenly, it seemed like it was all back to square one. For a little over a decade, the gates lingered in bureaucratic purgatory, where the project could have very well faded into obscurity. That is, if it wasn't for Edson Sample.

Sample was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on Jan. 7, 1934. Little about his early life is well documented, but records show Sample was at Indiana University in 1958. He eventually settled into a role within the office of scholarships and financial aids in 1961. In just seven years, he rose among the ranks to the office's directorship, a position he held for 22 years.

In the mid-1980s, Sample approached then-IU President John Ryan about making a donation to fund the gates. Sample had spent his entire career at IU, obtaining a master's degree in higher education at IU's School of Education in 1971. This was a way, he reasoned, to give back to the university that had become his longtime home.

"I assured John if there were student protests, I wasn't going to pull the money back," Sample said in a past H-T article. "There were."

Sample stayed true to his word. The gates were finished in 1987.

“The gates stand as a monument to those who have gone before us, to the work and vision of all who’ve helped to bring this university to greatness,” Ryan said at the dedication ceremony that June.

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Even though he saved the project, Sample was shy to take centerstage. While he alone funded the construction, the "Sample Gates" don't actually bear Sample's personal namesake. Instead, he dedicated that honor to his parents, Louise Waite Sample and Kimsey Ownbey Sample Sr.

Sample's other work: IU Athletics donor, financial aid champion

In the following years, Sample continued to give to his university. In 2018, long after retiring from his post at IU, he returned to his alma mater to financially support the IU Athletics Excellence Academy, located in the south end zone of Memorial Stadium. In thanks for his donation, the academy's top level, which features family-friendly activities and children's programming, is named Sample Terrace.

In 2020, 30 years after his retirement from IU, Sample was awarded the university's Bicentennial Medal, in recognition of his distinguished contributions and longstanding support.

Sample's contributions sprawled beyond IU's campus. He was a lifelong champion of financial aid, working tirelessly at the helm of several boards and councils to ensure everyone had access to higher education regardless of means or status.

In the late 1960s, he served as president of the Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and also provided direction for the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association. These organizations worked to help students achieve their educational potential through awards and disbursements of monetary resources.

"Through his years in student financial aid, dating from 1961, Sample has kept Indiana interests at the forefront of the fledgling profession," the ISFAA describes in a blog post about its early advocates.

He's considered a co-founder of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, which promotes student access and success in higher education by lobbying for better federal student aid programs. The organization boasts nearly 3,000 higher education institutions and over 20,000 individual members. Sample served as its president from 1974 to 1975 and remained active within the nonprofit for several decades.

In a 2022 newsletter detailing his passing, some of his peers reflected on how he impacted their lives, including Craig Slaughter.

"As a graduate student walking past Sample Gates on the Bloomington campus in the late '90s, I had no idea at the time who Mr. Sample was and what impact his legacy would have on my future development as a professional," Slaughter wrote, later adding, "Although we mourn his passing, his legacy to our profession will endure."

While Edson Sample has passed on, his name is quite literally engraved in Bloomington's cityscape. So long as the Hoosier limestone stands, his legacy lives on.

Reach Rachel Smith at rksmith@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana University alumnus, Sample Gates donor Edson Sample dead at 88