December 16, 2022
Dear Colleague:
I write to share a few highlights from today’s meeting of the Board of Trustees.
During the meeting, Alan Finn, vice president for business affairs and treasurer, presented to the Board the financial report for our University for Fiscal Year 2022.
The University received a clean audit opinion from the Indiana State Board of Accounts. Among our institution’s strengths are: our consistently solid operating performance, notwithstanding the pandemic; our comprehensive strategies to increase enrollment and student success; and our collective ability to manage our financial resources conscientiously, despite external challenges exacerbated by the pandemic.
The Board also approved my request to recognize the recent gifts of some of our most loyal donors by honoring these generous people with named spaces inside our future Performing Arts Center (PAC).
The lobby inside the PAC will become the Marianne Glick and Mike Woods Lobby in recognition of the couple’s $5 million gift to the project. Ms. Glick is a trustee emeritus of our University. Her generosity includes funding our TeenWorks@BSU student diversity initiative, as well as providing gifts to our Discovery Fund and to support student scholarships.
The PAC will also be home to the Scheumann Studio Theatre—a recognition that honors the Scheumann family’s $2.5 million commitment to the project. June and John Scheumann, ('71), who passed away in 2020, are longtime benefactors of our University. In the past, the couple provided lead gifts for the renovation of our Scheumann Stadium and for the construction of our Scheumann Family Indoor Practice Facility.
As many of you know, our Performing Arts Center will serve as the catalytic anchor for our phased revitalization of the Village. The completion of this new state-of-the-art facility will leverage approximately $100 million in private investment from Fairmount Properties, the development firm our University selected in March to help us implement this important plan.
Also during the meeting, the Board received several presentations, including:
- A presentation from Dave Ferguson, dean of our Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning, about positive enrollment trends and innovative partnerships, including the college’s sponsored studio and presence on the campus of Electric Works, Fort Wayne’s new mixed-use development district
- A presentation from Amy Barsha, assistant vice president for lifetime learning, about the launch of a new marketing campaign to promote our expanded offerings of credentials, courses, training, and certificates designed for learners of all stages of life.
Finally, the Board approved my recommendation to award an honorary doctor of laws degree to Dick Emens in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to our University and his family’s remarkable legacy at our institution. Dick is the son of Dr. John R. Emens, who served as the sixth president of Ball State from 1945 to 1968.
In 1977, Dick and his wife, Bea, created the Emens Leadership Scholarship to honor his parents. Every year since then, Dick and Bea have helped select deserving recipients of this scholarship as active members of the Emens Scholar Committee. Dick is also a past chair of the Ball State University Foundation.
I look forward to awarding Dick this honor at tomorrow’s Commencement ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. in Worthen Arena.
During the ceremony, our University will recognize more than 1,200 candidates for doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees. I am proud of the academic accomplishments of our graduating students, and I hope you will join me in honoring them by attending the ceremony in person.
At the end of the Board meeting, I made a few comments. If you would like to read my remarks, please visit the website.
It is a privilege to serve with you, and I am grateful for your encouragement and support.
I hope you have a safe and festive holiday season with your family and friends.
