April 14, 2022
Dear Colleagues:
Ball State University strives to achieve positive community engagement and impact. With that in mind, the University is implementing a long-term, phased plan to revitalize the Village. This commercial area has experienced a slow, steady decline in recent decades. Our vision for this district will create a more vibrant and dynamic environment surrounding our campus.
To achieve this revitalization, Ball State will invest in the design, construction, and operation of a new performing arts center on the vacant land at the corner of University and McKinley Avenues. This performing arts center will serve as the catalytic anchor for the Village as a new arts district. Our new performing arts center will host more than 160 Ball State student performances each year. We anticipate that more than 35,000 people will attend these performances. And, this venue will be available to local schools and other arts organizations for their own events.
We anticipate that, as a result of our University’s investment, Fairmount Properties, the developer that we selected for this project, will invest approximately $100 million in the Village. These investments may include a hotel, a mix of retail and restaurant tenants, innovation space for office and research use, an events plaza, and apartments and townhouses designed to attract professionals from our University, Ball Memorial Hospital, and other nearby employers.
At the March 25 meeting of Ball State’s Board of Trustees, the Board authorized me to sign a memorandum of understanding with Fairmount Properties.
I am grateful to my colleagues and my predecessors who established the foundation upon which we will build this new partnership with Fairmount Properties. I am confident that Fairmount will be an excellent partner in this revitalization project.
In the next few months, we will finalize a development agreement with Fairmount Properties, which I anticipate presenting to the Board in December 2022. If we are able to meet our aggressive timeline, we will begin construction in 2024. I encourage you to learn more about our Village revitalization plan.
Below are a few more stories that I hope you will enjoy and then share. Let your friends and colleagues know how “We Fly” at Ball State.
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Sincerely,
Geoffrey S. Mearns
President
Ball State University
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Ball State Eclipses Record-Breaking $1 Million Dollar Fundraising Goal on One Ball State Day 2022
Ball State University is once again celebrating its best single day of fundraising ever following the results of the fourth annual One Ball State Day held April 5.
Preliminary figures indicate the University received more than 7,000 gifts totaling more than $1 million during its annual 24-hour online fundraising event, providing much-needed support to the financial needs of students, faculty and staff, and programs.
This year’s One Ball State Day preliminary fundraising figure represents a fourth straight year of increased giving. In each of the last three years, Ball State received a gift from donors in all 50 U.S. states. Also, for this year’s One Ball State Day, the University received gifts from 10 countries across the world.
Gifts made during the annual 24-hour fundraiser are vital to advancing Ball State’s strategic priorities. This generous philanthropy will help continue to transform the University’s campus and community and provides opportunities for students to learn, grow, and thrive within the state of Indiana. Read more about the outpouring of gifts during this year’s One Ball State Day in this press release.
Anyone who still wishes to make a gift to Ball State University can do so by visiting bsu.edu/give.
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Volunteer to Help Your Community as part of Ball State’s ‘Day of Beneficence’
Be a part of Ball State’s Day of Beneficence on Saturday, June 11. Alumni and friends are encouraged to perform a service project in their communities.
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Ball State University Foundation Honors Top 10 Students From ‘Top 100 Students Award’ Program
On April 2, the Ball State University Foundation revealed the University’s Top 10 students from its inaugural “Top 100 Students Awards” program. This new annual award recognizes 100 outstanding junior and senior undergraduates who represent the spirit of Beneficence, Ball State’s institutional statue and icon that symbolizes the generosity of the five Ball brothers whose land donation to the State of Indiana allowed the University to flourish.
The Top 10 students of this year’s program:
- Isabelle Behrman*, senior, Muncie, Ind.
- Jordyn Blythe, senior, Wesley Chapel, Fla.
- Alyssa Brinkman, senior, Milan, Ind.
- Kimberly Ingold, senior, New Palestine, Ind.
- Eli Lucas, senior, Carmel, Ind.
- Anne Mei McClain, senior, Muncie, Ind.
- Elizabeth Nguyen, senior, South Bend, Ind.
- Astra Sisson, senior, Muncie, Ind.
- Rin Steitz*, senior, Greenwood, Ind.
- Elizabeth Nguyen, senior, South Bend, Ind.
- Amy Wyse, senior, Elkhart, Ind.
(* indicates Top 2 students)
In February, the Foundation announced the complete list of its 2022 Top 100 Students. Almost 200 applications were submitted by students, which were scored by a select group of 10 University graduates. On April 2, the students with the top 25 scores were invited to attend an awards ceremony, where the following students were revealed within the Top 10 of this year’s program.
The Foundation recognized all Top 100 Student Award recipients during One Ball State Day on April 5. This event, held in the David Letterman Communication and Media Building, included a casual reception and award pick-up opportunity. Students who earn a Top 100 award also received a gold tassel to wear at their Commencement ceremony.
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Next Episode of Our Call to Beneficence Will Feature Ball State President Emerita Dr. Jo Ann Gora
Dr. Jo Ann M. Gora, who served as Ball State University’s president from 2004-14, is the guest on the next episode of the monthly podcast Our Call to Beneficence.
The podcast features conversations between host, Ball State University President Geoffrey S. Mearns, and graduates and friends of Ball State who embody the spirit of Beneficence through their professional success and personal service. The episode featuring Dr. Gora is scheduled for release on or shortly after April 28.
Dr. Gora arrived as the 14th president of Ball State in 2004, becoming the first woman to serve as president of a public university in Indiana. During her tenure at Ball State she oversaw two long-range strategic planning processes. More than $520 million of facilities construction and renovation were completed or undertaken during her presidency, dramatically transforming the campus. At the same time, admissions standards were raised significantly, and numerous academic programs achieved national rankings and recognition.
All episodes of the Our Call to Beneficence podcast are available online, as well as on multiple platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Subscriptions and reviews are also encouraged to help grow the audience for this podcast.
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Michael Lewis Hired as Ball State’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Ball State formally introduced Michael Lewis as its new head coach of the University’s men’s basketball team during a press conference on April 6. Beth Goetz, Ball State’s director of athletics, announced the hiring of Coach Lewis, most recently UCLA’s men’s basketball assistant coach, on March 25. Coach Lewis has spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach, including the last three at UCLA. Mr. Lewis is a former standout player at Indiana University under head coach Bob Knight, and is a Jasper, Ind., native.
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U.S. News & World Report Rankings Recognize Ball State’s Excellence in Graduate Education Programs
Ball State University’s Teachers College was once again recognized by U.S. News & World Report for its standout graduate degree programs in education. Ball State recently earned two top-30 national rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 “Best Graduate School Rankings” list, including 22nd in Elementary Teacher Education and 26th in Curriculum & Instruction, a specialty category. Overall, Ball State ranked 76th in the nation in overall graduate education programs, an increase of 15 spots from last year’s list. Ball State now ranks in the top 17 percent of all institutions of education across the nation in its graduate offerings.
Graduate education and lifetime learning are foundational to Ball State’s strategic plan, Destination 2040: Our Flight Path. Each year, more than 5,400 graduate students choose the University for the depth and quality of its programs and the forward-thinking research they conduct with its stellar faculty.
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President Mearns Talks Ball State, Career on Business & Beyond with Gerry Dick Podcast
Ball State University President Geoffrey S. Mearns is the featured guest in the April 4 episode of the podcast Business & Beyond with Gerry Dick. The episode is titled “Geoff Mearns: From Prosecutor to President.” Host Gerry Dick, of Inside INdiana Business, talks to President Mearns about highlights of his lifetime achievements—including his work as a federal prosecutor, the time he qualified for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials, his career in higher education, and his work as Ball State’s 17th president.
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Broadcast Education Association Recognizes Ball State University’s Excellence in Broadcast Education, Student Creative Works
The University’s College of Communication, Information, and Media (CCIM) placed seventh nationally out of 101 ranked institutions in “2022 Top Winning Overall Programs.” Ball State also placed second in the nation in “Top Winning Sports Programs,” seventh in “2022 Top Winning Documentary Programs,” and 27th in “Top Winning Film & Video Programs.”
These BEA rankings came off the heels of the University’s strong performance in the 2022 BEA Festival of Media Arts competition, in which several Ball State students and faculty members earned recognition as either Best of Festival, First Place, Second Place, Third Place, or Award of Excellence in their respective categories. Among Best of Festival and/or first-place finishers for Ball State this year were:
- Faith Denig: Best of Festival, Student Sports and Promotional Video/Tease/PSA categories; Ball State Sports Link: 2021 Men's Basketball Intro
- Sarah Akins, Cameron Surdyk, Ryan Klimcak, and Lexi Eblen: first place, Video Sports Live Game Production category; Ball State Sports Link: Women's Volleyball vs. NIU
- Jordan Nemeth: first place, Esports Coverage category; Ball State Sports Link: 2021 Esports Intro
Ball State also recently claimed “Television School of the Year” honors for a fifth straight year—and seventh time in the last nine years—in the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters (IASB) college competition.
Ball State’s recently renamed Department of Media empowers students to shoot and produce films, make sales pitches, produce newscasts, and host their own radio shows from the minute they step onto campus.
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TV Journalist John Quiñones Featured at Ball State’s Spring 2022 Letterman Lecture Series Event
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Two Ball State Students Awarded Prestigious Scholarships
A Ball State University freshman and a junior were each recently awarded prestigious scholarships:
Freshman Scott Webster has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), which will provide two months of beginning Turkish study in Ankara, Turkey, this Summer.
Mr. Webster is a student in Ball State’s Honors College majoring in Economics and Finance, with a minor in Accounting. His language study and cultural immersion in Turkey with CLS will be the first step toward his goal of becoming fluent in Turkish. Ultimately, Mr. Webster intends to pursue a career with the U.S. State Department or other government agency.
Junior Isabelle Behrman has been awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of America’s most prestigious scholarships for undergraduates who intend to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research.
As a junior recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship, Ms. Behrman will receive an amount equal to the cost of tuition, mandatory fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 for two semesters, or until graduation, if sooner.
Ms. Behrman, a student in Ball State’s Honors College, is majoring in Chemistry (with an American Chemical Society concentration) and Spanish. Selected this year as one of Ball State’s Top 2 Students in the University’s inaugural Top 100 Student Awards program, Ms. Behrman anticipates completing her undergraduate degree in three years. She plans to pursue a doctorate in molecular engineering or material science and engineering, then launch a research career aimed at creating environmentally friendly and biodegradable materials.
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College of Architecture and Planning Student Teams Advance to Finals of Solar Decathlon Competition
All six of the Ball State’s student teams from the University’s College of Architecture and Planning (CAP) competing in this year’s Solar Decathlon Design and Build Challenges—a U.S. Department of Energy competition—have advanced to the finals in the categories of New Housing, Retrofit Housing, Attached Housing, and Office Building and Education Building. Five of the six teams are participating in the design challenge portion of the competition, and one team is competing in the build challenge.
Each year, multi-disciplinary teams of students from CAP compete in the Solar Decathlon Design Challenge by designing high-performance, low-carbon, and affordable homes. This year, the project is to plan and design an affordable, net-zero energy duplex home —which will house two families in the Westminster/St. Philip Neri neighborhood on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis. Read more about this project and some of the students working on it in this Ball State blog post.
This Solar Decathlon effort is one of Ball State’s immersive learning projects—high-impact learning experiences that involve collaborative, student-driven teams guided by faculty mentors. Students earn credit for working with community partners such as businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies to address community challenges through the creation of a product that has a lasting impact.
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Ball State Program Continues Partnership with State Officials on Election Audits
The Voting System Technical Oversight Program (VSTOP)—directed by two Ball State University professors through the University’s Bowen Center for Public Affairs—will continue partnering with the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office to conduct audits of elections in the state.
Indiana Secretary of State Holli Sullivan joined Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns and a host of spectators for the April 1 ribbon-cutting ceremony for VSTOP’s new location at the University’s Oakwood Building. At that event, Secretary Sullivan announced that the state will double its number of post-election audits after each general election, and conduct four post-election audits after each Primary, which are conducted in partnership with the VSTOP team.
At the ribbon-cutting event, a graduation ceremony was also held for the Certificate in Election Administration, Technology, and Security (CEATS). Secretary Sullivan conferred and presented certificates to Cohort 3.
Directed by Dr. Jay Bagga from Ball State’s Department of Computer Science, along with Dr. Bryan Byers from Ball State’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the VSTOP team advises the Indiana Secretary of State and the Indiana Election Commission on the certification of voting machines and electronic poll books in Indiana.
VSTOP helped pioneer first-in-the-nation legislation authorizing the certification and testing of electronic poll books before they are permitted to be used in elections in Indiana. The program also entails the creation of a database containing all voting machines used in Indiana as well as reports on the best practices for operation of election equipment and for poll worker training.
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Ball State’s College of Health Establishes Center for Substance Use Research and Community Initiatives
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Next Cardinal Compass Episode Features Discussion on Ball State’s Plan to Revitalize the Village in Muncie
On this month’s Cardinal Compass episode—titled, “Ball State’s Vision of the Village”—host Geoffrey S. Mearns, Ball State’s president, will be joined by guests Jim Lowe, associate vice president for Facilities, Planning, and Management at Ball State; and Bill Jenkins, chair of the University’s Department Of Theatre And Dance. They’ll discuss how Ball State’s vision to revitalize the Village will enhance the quality of life in Muncie—and create new opportunities for our students in the performing arts.
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