Dear Colleagues:

     I am proud to share that Dr. Renee Twibell, a Ball State University graduate and associate professor emerita in the University’s School of Nursing, was selected to receive the 2026 Pioneering Spirit Award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).

    Dr. Twibell serves as nurse scientist for IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie and as faculty in Ball State’s School of Nursing, where she teaches undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students. Her career has integrated clinical practice, nursing education, and research, including the development of instruments that advance the science of nursing. Several instruments she helped design and test have been used in research studies on four continents.

    I am grateful to Dr. Twibell for her many contributions, which have had a meaningful impact across her field—from nursing education to research and clinical practice. Ball State is fortunate to have her as a member of our faculty.

    You can read more about Dr. Twibell and this recent recognition in this Ball State press release.

    Below are a few more stories I hope you will enjoy and share. Let your friends and colleagues know how “We Fly” at Ball State.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey S. Mearns
President
Ball State University

Gem Sambugaro, a third-year student at Ball State’s Honors College, has been selected for the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship—one of America’s most prestigious scholarships, awarded to college sophomores and juniors for leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to the environment or Native American nations.

Ms. Sambugaro is majoring in biology with a pre-veterinary concentration in the College of Sciences and Humanities and minoring in Spanish.

This marks the second consecutive year that a Ball State student has been named a Udall scholar. Shaina Miller, ’26,  was awarded this scholarship last Spring. Since 2005, 15 Ball State students have received Udall Undergraduate Scholarships, and eight others have received honorable mentions from the Udall Foundation, an independent federal agency.

Read more in this Ball State press release. 

Ball State University’s Sports Link earned two honors at the 18th Annual Sports Video Group (SVG) College Sports Media Awards ceremony, receiving Collegiate Student – Championship awards for the special feature “Billy” and the cinematic recap “Ball State Gymnastics at Southeast Missouri State.” The awards recognize top college sports video production nationwide. The ceremony, presented in association with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), was held May 27 in Atlanta.

Sports Link is an Emmy®Award-winning immersive learning program at Ball State. Through a mix of coursework and co-curricular experiences, students create exclusive content for Ball State Athletics, including live event broadcasts, pregame and postgame shows, long- and short-form documentaries, and social media content. Sports Link is housed within the Department of Media, part of Ball State’s College of Communication, Information, and Media.

Ball State student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom and in competition, earning a number of conference and national honors this season. Many of these academic distinctions require student-athletes to maintain a cumulative GPA above 3.2 or 3.3 while actively competing in their sport.

Men’s Volleyball

Five members of the Ball State men’s volleyball team earned AVCA All-America honors, including senior Patrick Rogers (first team) and junior Lucas Machado (second team). Sophomores Ryan Louis and Wil Basilio, and junior Braydon Savitski-Lynde received honorable mention recognition.

Mr. Rogers was named MIVA Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, while Mr. Machado helped lead the Cardinals to a program-record .385 hitting percentage.

Five Cardinals also earned Academic All-MIVA honors: Griffin Satterfield, Marty Canavan, Lucas Machado, Will Patterson, and Ryan Louis.

As a team, Ball State won the MIVA regular season and tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA Final Four, highlighted by a regional victory over No. 4 Pepperdine.

Read more about the Cardinals’ Academic All-MIVA honor in this Ball State Athletics press release.

Softball

The Ball State softball team placed 11 student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC Team: Payton Fox, Jessica Hoffman, Ashlee Lovett, Bridie Murphy, Allee Noble, Veronica Peitersen, Maia Pietrzak, Hayley Urban, Brinkley Kita, Grace Spencer, and Ella Whitney.

Read more in this Ball State Athletics press release.

Baseball

Eleven Ball State baseball student-athletes earned Academic All-MAC recognition: Gavin Balius, Alex Burden, John Chambers, John Colligan, Brendan Garza, Brett Griffiths, Brayden Huebner, Keegan Johnson, Max Kalk, Zach Kwasny, and Owen Quinn.

Five of those honorees—Mr. Chambers, Mr. Griffiths, Mr. Kalk, Mr. Kwasny, and Mr. Quinn—were also named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.

Read more in this Ball State Athletics press release.

Women’s Golf

Five members of the Ball State women’s golf team were named Academic All-MAC: Jasmine Driscoll, Sarah Gallagher, JJ Gregston, Sabrina Langerak, and Sophie Korthuijs.

Read more in this Ball State Athletics press release.

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