Ben & Jerry Will Bring Ubben Lecture (and Free Ice Cream!) to DePauw November 18

September 24, 2002

September 24, 2002, Greencastle, Ind. - They brought the world Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey. On Monday, November 18, 2002, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, better known as Ben & Jerry, will bring their insights (and their tasty product) to DePauw University for a Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture. The men behind one of the most talked-about, and least conventional success stories in American business, Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., will present "An Evening of Entrepreneurial Spirit, Social Responsibility and Radical Business Philosophy," at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium of DePauw's Performing Arts Center. Like all Ubben Lectures (see list of past speakers here), Ben & Jerry's speech is free and open to the public, and all audience members will be treated to a serving of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

In a year when headlines have been dominated by stories of corporate fraud, greed and malfeasance, Ben & Jerry will deliver a message that it's not necessary, in fact, not wise, to sell your soul in the search for success. A model for American success, the two men built a storefront venture into a $200 million ice cream empire by making social responsibility and creative management strengths instead of weaknesses.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were born in Brooklyn, New York in 1951, four days apart. They met in junior high school, and Jerry's biography recalls that he and Ben "were two of the widest students in their school and actually came to know each other trying to run the track in gym class." Ben's bio, no less irreverent, says that as a child he "watched his father put away an entire half-gallon of ice cream at the dinner table, eating directly from the carton with a soup spoon. Ben also recalls creating his own ice cream concoctions by mushing up his favorite cookies and candies into his ice cream."

After high school, Ben & Jerry went their separate ways to different colleges and seemingly, different paths. Jerry had hopes of becoming a doctor; Ben was trying to become a potter. After those dreams created more frustration that fruit, in 1977, the two men got together and, with about $12,000 to invest (a third of it borrowed), decided to start a food business. "The two settled on ice cream (as opposed to bagels due to the expensive machinery needed) and started performing research," Jerry's biography states. "They chose Burlington, Vermont as the second-best place to start their ice cream venture, mostly due to the fact that it was a great college town in desperate need of an ice cream parlor."

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream Parlor opened for business in May, 1978, in a renovated gas station on a busy street corner in Burlington and quickly became well known for its rich, unusual flavors, all-natural ingredients (Ben & Jerry's is committed to using milk and cream that have not been treated with the synthetic hormone, rBGH) and community approach to business. That small shop was the seed that sprouted into one of the late 20th century's greatest entrepreneurial success stories.

In Ben Cohen's view, "Business has a responsibility to give back to the community." For he and his partner that has not been idle talk. Early on, they established a "Free Cone Day' to mark the business' anniversary, and created community events such as free outdoor movie festivals. But the good deeds extended well beyond goodwill. They earmarked 7.5% of all pre-tax profits for donation to not-for-profit organizations which facilitate progressive social change by addressing the underlying conditions of societal and environmental problems. Decisions on how to distribute the money via the Ben & Jerry's Foundation are made by a team of employees that meets to review proposals. The Council on Economic Priorities honored Ben & Jerry with the 1988 Corporate Giving Award. That same year, the men were named America's Small Business Persons of the Year by the US Small Business Administration, were recognized as the James Beard Humanitarians of the Year award in 1993 and as the Peace Museum's Community Peacemakers of the Year award in 1997. Both men are very active in a number of organizations, among them, Businesses For Social Responsibility, a group that works to promote an alternative business model based on socially responsible business practices. "The prevailing thought had been that [being] a business engaged in social activities would take away from your ability to make money," says Jerry. "The more our company was involved with social interests, the more profitable we became."

Named one of the 50 Companies That Changed the World in Howard Rothman's recent book, Ben & Jerry's is more than a product, it's a set of values: from the founders' insistence on giving back to its employees and community, to using all-natural ingredients in its products, and making fun one of the company's hallmarks. Cohen and Greenfield's books, Ben & Jerry's: The Inside Scoop: How Two Real Guys Built a Business With a Social Conscience and a Sense of Humor, and Ben and Jerry's Double-Dip: How to Run a Values-Led Business and Make Money, Too, deliver a rousing tribute to America's entrepreneurial spirit and point to the growing international influence of the "socially conscious" or "mission driven" corporation.

In 2000, Ben and Jerry's board sold the company to a major conglomerate, Unilever, which vowed "to create an even more dynamic, socially positive ice cream business with global reach." Ben & Jerry's operates separately from Unilever's other U.S. ice cream business, and is governed by an independent Board of Directors. Jerry Greenfield remains with the company as vice-chair of the board and director of mobile promotions and continues to oversee the work of the Ben & Jerry's Foundation. Ben Cohen also remains a force for positive change. His main projects include The Priorities! Campaign, which focuses on education and health care for children; TrueMajority, an enterprise aimed at reducing world poverty and hunger, promoting renewable energy and closing the gap between the rich and poor in the United States by making people more aware of the issues of the day (read more here); and he provides venture capital funds to other social-minded entrepreneurs. The two men's legacy? "I hope the message from the company was that you could have a business that was not in existence solely to make money; it had a purpose and mission that was larger than that. And that [entrepreneurs] who want to have businesses that address social needs can do that in a way that also makes money," says Jerry. Ben, agreeing, "on top of that, to have a role that is restorative, to help make things better, not just not do bad. On a very small scale, Ben & Jerry's demonstrated that."

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield did set a benchmark for companies, and one the firm they founded has not lost sight of. Last month, Ben & Jerry's announced that it will fight global warming by offsetting one year's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its Vermont ice cream production facilities - while supporting the construction of a new wind turbine on the rolling grasslands of South Dakota. Ben & Jerry's action will have the same impact on global warming as avoiding 10 million miles of car driving. The initiative will support construction of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wind Turbine Project -- the first Native American owned and operated large-scale wind turbine in the country -- which is expected to be operational by November, 2002. Ben & Jerry's has teamed up with Dave Matthews Band and SaveOurEnvironment.org, a coalition of the nation's most influential environmental advocacy groups, in a campaign called "One Sweet Whirled," to help stop global warming.

Expect an evening of enlightenment, entrepreneurial wisdom and humor when Ben & Jerry come to DePauw. Twenty-four years after serving their first scoop of ice cream, the two men who gave the world Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey have many insightful and hilarious anecdotes to share on the power of ideas, and partnership. "If either of us had started it on our own," Jerry says, "we would have failed --- or not been as successful."

You can visit Ben & Jerry's Web site by clicking here. You can read Ben's biography here and Jerry's here.

The Ubben Lecture Series has brought distinguished individuals to the DePauw University campus since 1986, including former British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, General Colin Powell, Ross Perot and, earlier this semester, Mike Krzyzewski and Harry Belafonte.

To view a complete list of Ubben Lecturers, which includes links to video clips and news stories, click here.

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