Dear Colleagues:

     Ball State University’s Commencement ceremonies celebrate the achievements of our students as they move into the next stage of their lives. At the main ceremony—our 200th Commencement to be held May 2 on our beautiful Quad—our University will confer approximately 2,800 doctoral, specialist, master’s, and baccalaureate degrees.

    Members of our Spring Class of 2026 and their families will hear from Hugh Jackman.

    At this ceremony, I will bestow an honorary degree, a Doctor of Arts, upon Mr. Jackman. He has starred in many films, most notably as Wolverine in several Marvel movies and as the lead in The Greatest Showman. He has also appeared on Broadway, including The Boy from Oz and the revival of The Music Man.

     Mr. Jackman is a talented and versatile artist, and he is a passionate advocate for the arts and humanities. I am grateful that he accepted my invitation to serve as our Commencement speaker, and I look forward to his address to our graduates and their families.

    He first visited our campus last September, when he joined Sutton Foster, an instructor in our Department of Theatre and Dance, during one of her teaching visits to campus. Mr. Jackman returned to Ball State and Muncie in November to host a screening of his latest film, Song Sung Blue, which premiered in theaters on December 25.

    I appreciate Mr. Jackman’s continued generosity in sharing his time and his inspirational words with our University community.

    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

Ball State University has reached its $350 million goal for Our Call to Beneficence: The Campaign for Ball State University, with fundraising efforts continuing through June 30, 2027. Since its public launch in 2023, the campaign has focused on three key priorities: ensuring student opportunity and success, enriching the academic experience, and expanding Ball State’s campus and community impact.

Campaign support has helped Ball State raise more than $140 million for student opportunity and success initiatives, including the Ryan Family Navigator Program, the George and Frances Ball Scholars Program, and the Take Flight Fund. The campaign also has generated more than $60 million to expand academic programs and high-impact practices that distinguish a Ball State education, as well as more than $110 million to continue the transformation of campus. That work includes the Performing Arts Center, which is the catalyst for the University’s Village Revitalization project, the Eric Foss Championship Performance Center, the Brown Family Amphitheater, and the Alderdice Gates.

While our University has reached this important campaign goal, opportunities remain in the final phase of the campaign, particularly in support of student scholarships, academic programs, and faculty innovation. Altogether, the campaign has generated nearly 60,000 gifts and counting.

Read more in this Ball State press release.

Ball State University celebrated its most successful One Ball State Day (OBSD) yet during the eighth annual 24-hour online fundraiser on April 1. Preliminary results show approximately $1.5 million raised through more than 8,500 gifts made in just one day, highlighting the extraordinary generosity of the Ball State community.

This milestone was driven by strong campus and community engagement, including more than 1,000 social media ambassadors and 150 employee ambassadors who helped amplify the effort and inspire participation. Their collective impact continues to support students, faculty, staff, programs, and initiatives across the University.

While One Ball State Day is a powerful moment to come together in support of Ball State, the impact of giving continues year-round. To make a gift, visit bsu.edu/give.

Ball State University’s Speech Team has won the 2026 National Speech Championship held March 21–22, earning the tournament’s 1st Place Team Award and Top Non-Scholarship Team Award.

The title is Ball State’s second team championship at the National Speech Championship, following its previous win in 2019. Spencer Coile, coach of the Speech Team and director of The Speaking Center at Ball State, was named the tournament’s Coach of the Year.

The national title is the latest achievement in another outstanding season for Ball State’s Speech Team. In February, the program extended its state record with a 16th consecutive Indiana Forensic Association State Championship. Ball State scored 569 points to win the team sweepstakes, and Ball State students also earned the Lee Horn and Scholarship in Communication awards.

Hosted this year at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., the National Speech Championship is one of four national tournaments available to collegiate speech programs. The tournament limits each university to two entries per event, creating a level competitive field regardless of program size.

Read more in this Ball State press release.

Cristina Goletti will join the leadership team at Ball State University as dean of the College of Fine Arts, effective July 1, 2026, President Geoffrey S. Mearns announced earlier this month.

Ms. Goletti currently serves as dean and professor at the College of Performing and Visual Arts at the University of Northern Colorado, where she leads three academic schools—Art and Design, Music, and Theatre Arts and Dance—serving approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

She is an artist, educator, and academic leader whose background spans the performing and visual arts. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in dance from the University of Colorado Boulder, with secondary emphases in gender studies and somatics, and a postgraduate diploma in performance with distinction from the London Contemporary Dance School. Her scholarly and creative work has focused on dance pedagogy, interdisciplinary performance practices, and arts leadership, and she has presented and taught internationally.

Ball State’s College of Fine Arts comprises the School of Art, School of Music, and Department of Theatre and Dance. The college enrolls more than 1,600 students and is home to a wide range of academic, performance, and cultural assets, including the David Owsley Museum of Art, the Marilyn K. Glick Center for Glass, Emens Auditorium, Pruis Hall, Sursa Performance Hall, and the Brown Family Amphitheater. With the opening of its new 65,000-square-foot Performing Arts Center in Fall 2026, the college is poised to elevate further its impact as a center for artistic excellence, creative collaboration, and community engagement.

In addition to announcing Ms. Goletti’s appointment, Ball State expresses its gratitude to Dr. Seth Beckman for his leadership of the College of Fine Arts since 2019. During his tenure, Dr. Beckman helped advance student success, support faculty and staff, strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, and help lead key philanthropic priorities, including the development of the new Performing Arts Center. He will return to the Ball State faculty on July 1.

Read more in this Ball State press release.

Ball State University’s Center for Professional Selling has been named one of the Sales Education Foundation’s Top Sales Programs for 2025–26, marking the 20th consecutive year Ball State has earned the national recognition. The honor reflects Ball State’s longstanding commitment to preparing students for fulfilling careers in professional selling through immersive learning, industry partnerships, and direct engagement with employers.

Housed in the Miller College of Business, the Center for Professional Selling offers students opportunities to build real-world skills in sales courses, experiential learning opportunities, internal competitions, networking events, career fairs, internships, and national collegiate sales competitions.

Ball State’s professional selling students can also sharpen their skills through Ball State’s award-winning Sales Team, which competes against students from universities across the country and around the world in role-play events, management presentations, and speed-selling competitions. Those experiences help students strengthen their confidence, expertise, and professional connections as they prepare to enter the workforce.

Read more in this Ball State press release.

Ball State University’s Women of Beneficence has awarded its annual round of grants to Ball State faculty and staff members. The grants, announced during the group’s annual meeting at the Ball State Alumni Center, will support projects focused on school gardening, teacher preparation, and middle school literacy. Listed below are the 2026 grant recipients and their projects:

Women of Beneficence awards grants of up to $30,000 to Ball State faculty and staff. Since being established in 2002, the group has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants and supported more than 65 projects and programs at Ball State. Formerly known as Discovery, Women of Beneficence was created to support and fund innovative projects and programs that impact students while benefiting local, national, and international communities. In 2023, the group was recognized as the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)-Indiana Chapter’s Philanthropy Group of the Year.

Read more in this Ball State press release.

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