September 16, 2021
Dear Colleagues:
Our Ball State University community has safely returned to a more traditional way of learning, living, and working on our beautiful campus. I am grateful that we have been able to resume in-person classes, events, and activities.
Ball State has returned to a vibrant, on-campus experience for our students, faculty, and staff in large part because of the high COVID-19 vaccination rates throughout our campus community. I am also pleased with the compliance we are seeing with our indoor mask protocol.
As of this week, more than 76 percent of our full-time employees are fully vaccinated. That figure includes 87 percent of our professional employees and 84 percent of our faculty. And approximately 70 percent of our eligible on-campus students, including more than 75 percent of those living in our residence halls, have confirmed they are fully vaccinated.
I continue to encourage everyone else to get vaccinated as soon as possible to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The future is bright for all of us who live, learn, and work at Ball State. I look forward to more in-person, on-campus events, including Family Weekend on Sept. 24-26. We will also embark on new beginnings with commemorative events for major campus additions. There are three ribbon-cuttings coming up soon—one for our North Residential Neighborhood on Sept. 25, one for our Foundational Sciences Building on Oct. 1 and another for the Scheumann Family Indoor Athletic Practice Facility on Oct. 2.
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 University Celebrates Another Standout Year of Philanthropic Support
Ball State University raised $36 million in philanthropic gifts and commitments in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021, marking the third consecutive year of more than $30 million in new private, philanthropic gifts to the University.
President Geoffrey S. Mearns credited the University’s latest fundraising success to our partnership with our colleagues in the Ball State University Foundation, who work to advance the mission of the University.
Among the many philanthropic highlights at Ball State within the past year
- The University generated $4.6 million in commitments for 54 new scholarships.
- Ball State opened the doors to its brand new Scheumann Family Indoor Practice Facility. This $15 million, 84,000 square-foot structure was funded by private donations.
- In December, Ball State’s Teachers College received the largest single gift in its history. A $1.45 million commitment from Michelle (Asby) Ryan, a 1981 Ball State graduate, and her husband, Jim, helped establish the Michelle A. and James T. Ryan Family Scholarship, the Ryan Family Navigators Program, and the Ryan Fellowship for Community-Engaged Teacher Preparation. The initiatives will assist students with diverse and economically-challenged backgrounds by providing them with financial assistance and comprehensive services.
- One Ball State Day (OBSD), Ball State University’s annual 24-hour online fundraising event, celebrated its best single day of fundraising ever. Held on April 6, this year’s OBSD resulted in more than 10,000 total gifts totaling more than $900,000. Next year’s One Ball State Day is being held April 5, 2022.
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You’re Invited: Author Ashley C. Ford Talks with Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns
Ms. Ford, a Ball State graduate, is the author of the New York Times bestseller Somebody’s Daughter—a powerful memoir that explores her life coming of age in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with a single mother and an incarcerated father. The book was published in June by Flatiron Books under the imprint, An Oprah Book. Ms. Ford will be available to sign books after the event.
Experience the event in-person, or watch as it happens by visiting bsu.edu/live. After 7 p.m., free parking is available in most campus lots and garages.
The final public engagement in Ms. Ford’s multi-part Writer-in-Residence on-campus event series will happen on November 11.
Ball State professor Jill Christman will join Ms. Ford to moderate a lively discussion about Somebody’s Daughter in the Student Center Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. That event is free. Ms. Ford will be available to sign books afterward.
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Ball State University Becomes Official Partner of The Esports Combine™
Ball State University has become an official partner of The Esports Combine™, the world’s premier collegiate recruiting event for esports athletes. The partnership further solidifies Indiana’s reputation as the hub for esports, esports development, and esports academia.The Esports Combine™, which returns this year from Oct. 15-17, is organized by Indiana Esports Development LLC., a formation between Harena Data and Indiana Sports Corp. This combine is a showcase where esports candidates from across the world can demonstrate their skills in front of the nation’s top recruiters and earn college scholarships for esports. The event is virtual and will be livestreamed by Super League Gaming.
Through the partnership, Ball State University will integrate students of its Esports Production concentration into The Esports Combine and promote their participation.
Ball State began its varsity esports program as part of its College of Communication, Information, and Media in January 2021, becoming a founding member of the Esports Collegiate Conference. The University opened its state-of-the-art Esports Center in April 2021. This multi-use facility houses the esports program and serves as a cutting-edge classroom.
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First Recipient Selected for Service Award Named after Slain Ball State Graduate Eric Talley
Mr. Talley, who later became a police officer, was killed while responding to a mass shooting at a Colorado supermarket on March 22, 2021. He was a Ball State student from Spring 1997 to Spring 2004, earning his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and his Master of Science in Information Communication Sciences.
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Ball State Honors College Graduate Earns Prestigious Scholarships
Chris Adams, an accounting major who graduated summa cum laude from Ball State University’s Honors College in May, has been awarded two major scholarships for outstanding scholar-athletes.He plans to use these scholarships to pursue a law degree beginning in the Fall of 2022. Mr. Adams has a career goal of addressing wealth inequality by providing legal services to small businesses and non-profit organizations. He is spending the 2021-22 academic year at Ball State, where he plans to advance his business expertise by earning his Masters of Business Administration degree, while also using his final year of athletic eligibility with the men’s tennis team.
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Arts Alive 2021 Event Series Starts This Month
With the goal of making arts and entertainment more accessible to community members and students, Ball State’s College of Fine Arts has expanded the offerings in this year’s Arts Alive. Previously focusing mainly on the School of Music, Arts Alive 2021 includes events from DOMA, the School of Art, and the Department of Theatre and Dance.
This year’s Arts Alive schedule also includes:
- Oct. 19, 2021
The School of Art will host performance artist Nick Cave at Sursa Hall. - Oct. 30, 2021
The School of Music will host the Wycliffe Gordon quintet at Sursa Hall. - Jan. 22, 2022
The Department of Theatre and Dance will host artist collective Applied Mechanics in DOMA for two performances. - Jan. 28, 2022
The Department of Theatre and Dance will host tap dancer Ayodele Cassel at Sursa Hall.
Additional information on these events, including ticket prices and packages, will be announced in the coming weeks.
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Ball State’s Applied Anthropology Laboratories Awarded Major Grant
AAL will work with descendant tribal communities and the Ohio History Connection in Columbus, Ohio, on the traveling exhibit. It will be called “St. Clair’s Defeat Revisited: A New View of the Conflict.” The exhibit examines the victory of a coalition of American Indian tribes over the U.S. Army, and the consequences of the Northwest Indian War that reverberate into the present. In addition to museum exhibits, the project will include associated public presentations by humanities scholars and citizens of American Indian tribes who are project partners with AAL.
Christine Thompson, archaeologist and assistant director of Ball State’s Applied Anthropology Laboratories, is the project’s director. She and Dr. Kevin Nolan, director and senior archaeologist at Ball State’s Applied Anthropology Laboratories, along with Ben Garcia of the Ohio History Connection, serve as the project’s co-principal investigators.
The exhibit will be displayed first at the Ohio History Connection, and later at Northeastern Oklahoma (NEO) A&M College in Miami, Oklahoma.
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Entrepreneurial Experience Lecture Series Planned
Entrepreneurs will share their experiences during a speaker series offered this Fall by the Entrepreneurship Center. The center is hosting provocative entrepreneurs, from all walks of life, who are changing the world economically and socially. Each lecture includes a presentation on the entrepreneur's story, lessons learned, and advice. Learn more about the scheduled speakers. Watch the lectures live on the Entrepreneurship Center’s Facebook page.
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