Bell’s Brewing Founder Donates $200,000 To MSU To Help Future Industry Professionals

It's been a rollercoaster year for Michigan State University. But with every low, eventually things will turn around and the sun will shine. And that's exactly how March has been going for them.

First, they've made the sweet sixteen in the Men's NCAA tournament. And now, on another "Michigan holiday", they're getting a big win that has nothing to do with the basketball court.

On Monday, also known as Oberon Day to beer and Bell's brewing fanatics, tapping a keg wasn't the only big thing the Kalamazoo-based brewery got into.

Larry Bell, the namesake, and founder of Bell’s Brewery, donated $200,000 to establish an endowment fund bearing his name: the Larry J. Bell Support Fund for Beverage Education.

What is that exactly? Well, the funding will directly benefit a course within the School of Hospitality Business, which will be called Hospitality Beverages.

With the donation, the goal is that the approximately 150 students who take it the course every year will be able to better understand their industry’s science and economics beyond experiences and menu pairings.

This money will be used to help purchase beverages and products that can be used in class since the school won't allow professors to charge lab fees to students for this. These drinks can help our future industry leaders to better understand pairings and food combinations to create the dishes and drinks of the future. Something, many people may not realize is a need in classes.

Kudos to Larry Bell for giving back to the industry's future, knowing that he could be creating future employees or competitors. That's the Spartan spirit we're all looking for in 2023.