Retiring IUSB professor will get a tattoo for scholarship money

Tattoos can have a lot of meaning. An IU South Bend professor is hoping to send a message with his own: students come first. 

Mike Keen is retiring at the end of this year. But he's going out with a bang, raising money for scholarships at the school through a tattoo contest.

It's something you don't typically see a professor do. For $25 dollars, people can vote what they would like to see tattooed on Keen's body. It could be the new South Bend flag, or the IUSB Titan mascot. 

The goal is to take the money raised from votes and put it into scholarships for underrepresented students. It's a cause that Keen hopes leaves as lasting a mark on the campus and community as the tattoo will on him. 

"Quite frankly one of the challenges for everybody, particularly students who don't have a lot of resources, is tuition," said Mike Keen. "So we think if we can help take away the problem of tuition and help support that, that students can come here, they can focus on their studies, and they can take that into the community and benefit all of us."

The tattoo and the money raised will all be unveiled at his retirement celebration on June 23.