Ball State University

Ball State University

File:Ball State University Official Vertical Logo.svg
Former names	Indiana Normal School – Eastern Division (1918–1922) Ball Teachers College (1922–1929) Ball State Teachers College (1929–1961) Ball State College (1961–1965)
Motto	Education Redefined
Type	Public coeducational
Established	1918 (details)
Endowment	$165.5 million (2012)
President	Jo Ann M. Gora until June 30, 2014. President-appointed: Paul W. Ferguson starting August 1, 2014.
Provost	Terry S. King
Academic staff	949
Students	21,053
Undergraduates	16,652
Postgraduates	4,401
Location	Muncie , Indiana , US
Campus	Small city: 1,140 acres (4.6 km2)
Athletics	NCAA Division I (FBS) Mid-American Conference Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association 18 varsity teams
Colors	Cardinal and white
Nickname	Cardinals
Mascot	Charlie Cardinal
Website	bsu.edu

Ball State University, commonly referred to as Ball State or BSU, is a public coeducational research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. On July 25, 1917, the Ball Brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball Corporation, acquired the foreclosed Indiana Normal Institute for $35,100 and gave the school and surrounding land to Indiana. The Indiana General Assembly accepted it in the spring of 1918, with an initial 235 students enrolling at the Indiana State Normal School–Eastern Division on June 17, 1918.

Ball State is classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a high research activity university and a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The university is composed of seven academic colleges, including the College of Architecture and Planning, the College of Communication, Information, and Media, the Miller College of Business, and Teachers College. Other institutions include Burris Laboratory School, the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities, and the Center for Business and Economic Research.

Total 2013 enrollment consists of 21,053 students, 16,652 undergraduate students and 4,401 graduate students. Ball State University students hail from 48 states, two U.S. territories, 43 countries, and every one of Indiana's 92 counties. The university offers about 180 undergraduate majors and 130 minor areas of study, 175 bachelor's, 103 master's, and 17 doctoral degrees. There are 381 active student organizations and clubs on campus, including 34 fraternities and sororities. Ball State athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are known as the Ball State Cardinals. The university is a member of the Mid-American Conference and the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

History

Main article: History of Ball State University

The location of today's Ball State University had its start in 1899 as a private university called the Eastern Indiana Normal School. The entire school, including classrooms, library, and president's residence were housed in what is today's Frank A. Bracken Administration Building. The one-building school had a peak enrollment of 256 and charged $10 for a year's tuition. It operated until the spring of 1901, when it was closed by its president, F.A.Z. Kumler, due to lack of funding. A year later, in the autumn of 1902, the school reopened as Palmer University for the next three years when Francis Palmer, a retired Indiana banker, gave the school a $100,000 endowment.

Between 1905 and 1907, the school dropped the Palmer name and operated as the Indiana Normal College. It had two divisions, the Normal School for educating teachers and the College of Applied Sciences. The school had an average enrollment of about 200 students. Due to diminishing enrollment and lack of funding, school president Francis Ingler closed Indiana Normal College at the end of the 1906–1907 school year. Between 1907 and 1912, the campus sat unused. In 1912, a group of local investors led by Michael Kelly reopened the school as the Indiana Normal Institute. To pay for updated materials and refurbishing the once-abandoned Administration Building, the school operated under a mortgage from the Muncie Trust Company. Although the school had its largest student body with a peak enrollment of 806, officials could not maintain mortgage payments, and the school was forced to close once again in June 1917 when the Muncie Trust Company initiated foreclosure proceedings.

The Ball Brothers from left to right: George A. Ball, Lucius L. Ball, Frank C. Ball, Edmund B. Ball, and William C. Ball

On July 25, 1917, the Ball Brothers, local industrialists and founders of the Ball Corporation, bought the Indiana Normal Institute from foreclosure. The Ball Brothers also founded Ball Memorial Hospital and Minnetrista, and were the benefactors of Keuka College, founded by their uncle, George Harvey Ball. For $35,100, the Ball brothers bought the Administration Building and surrounding land. In early 1918, during the Indiana General Assembly's short session, state legislators accepted the gift of the school and land by the Ball Brothers. The state granted operating control of the Muncie campus and school buildings to the administrators of the Indiana State Normal School in Terre Haute. That same year, the Marion Normal Institute relocated to Muncie, adding its resources to what would officially be named the Indiana State Normal School, Eastern Division. An initial 235 students enrolled on June 17, 1918, with William W. Parsons assuming the role as first president of the university.

The close relationship between the Balls and the school led to an unofficial moniker for the college, with many students, faculty, and local politicians casually referring to the school as "Ball State," a shorthand alternative to its longer, official name. During the 1922 short session of the Indiana legislature, the state renamed the school as Ball Teachers College. This was in recognition to the Ball family's continuing beneficence to the institution. During this act, the state also reorganized its relationship with Terre Haute and established a separate local board of trustees for the Muncie campus. In 1924, Ball Teachers College's trustees hired Benjamin J. Burris as the successor to President Linnaeus N. Hines. The Ball brothers continued giving to the university and partially funded the construction of the Science Hall (now called Burkhardt Building) in 1924 and an addition to Ball Gymnasium in 1925. By the 1925–1926 school year, Ball State enrollment reached 991 students: 697 women and 294 men. Based on the school's close relationship with the Ball Corporation, a long-running nickname for the school was "Fruit Jar Tech."

During the regular legislative session of 1929, the General Assembly formally separated the Terre Haute and Muncie campuses of the state teachers college system, but it placed the governing of the Ball State campus under the Indiana State Teachers College Board of Trustees based in Terre Haute. With this action, the school was renamed Ball State Teachers College. The following year, enrollment increased to 1,118, with 747 female and 371 male students.

Daniel Chester French's Beneficence.

In 1935, the school added the Fine Arts Building for art, music, and dance instruction. Enrollment that year reached 1,151: 723 women and 428 men. As an expression of the many gifts from the Ball family since 1917, sculptor Daniel Chester French was commissioned by Muncie's chamber of commerce to cast a bronze fountain figure to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Ball brothers' gift to the state. His creation, the statue Beneficence, still stands today between the Administration Building and Lucina Hall where Talley Avenue ends at University Avenue.

In 1961, Ball State became fully independent of Indiana State University through the creation of the Ball State College Board of Trustees. The official name of the school was also changed to Ball State College. The Indiana General Assembly approved the development of a state-assisted architecture program, establishing the College of Architecture and Planning, which opened on March 23, 1965. The Center for Radio and Television (now named the College of Communication, Information, and Media) opened the following year, in 1966.

Recognizing the college's expanding academic curriculum and growing enrollment (10,066 students), the General Assembly approved renaming the school to Ball State University in 1965. Most of the university's largest residence halls were completed during this period of high growth, including DeHority Complex (1960), Noyer Complex (1962), Studebaker Complex (1965), LaFollette Complex (1967), and Johnson Complex (1969). Academic and athletic buildings, including Irving Gymnasium (1962), Emens Auditorium (1964), Cooper Science Complex (1967), Scheumann Stadium (1967), Carmichael Hall (1969), Teachers College Building (1969), Pruis Hall (1972), and Bracken Library (1974), also expanded the university's capacity and educational opportunities.

David Letterman Communication and Media Building dedication ceremony.

The university experienced another building boom beginning in the 2000s, with the openings of the Art and Journalism Building (2001), Shafer Tower (2001), the Music Instruction Building (2004), the David Letterman Communication and Media Building (2007), Park Hall (2007), Kinghorn Hall (2010), Marilyn K. Glick Center for Glass (2010), and the Student Recreation and Wellness Center (2010).

Under the university's 14th president, Dr. Jo Ann Gora, over $520 million was committed to new construction and renovation projects throughout the Ball State campus. Within the last decade, Ball State University adopted Education Redefined as its motto, focusing on "immersive learning" with the goal of engaging students across all academic programs in real-world projects. To date, there have been over 1,250 immersive learning projects, impacting residents in all of Indiana's 92 counties under the mentoring of faculty from every academic department.

The university has also adopted environmental sustainability as a primary component to the university's strategic plan and vision. Starting in the mid-2000s, all building additions and renovations are designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification standards. Ball State announced in 2009 that it would begin construction on the largest geothermal energy conversion project in U.S. history.

The university was defendant in the U.S. Supreme Court case Vance v. Ball State University, which dealt with who can be regarded as a "supervisor" for the purposes of harassment lawsuits. The case was argued November 26, 2012. In a 5–4 decision, the court ruled in favor of Ball State on June 24, 2013.

Campus

The Fine Arts Building, home to the David Owsley Museum of Art.

Ball State University's campus spans 1,140 acres (4.6 km²) and includes 106 buildings at 7,180,728 square feet (667,111.5 m²) centered mostly around two main quadrangles. The original quadrangle, "Old Quad," anchors the south end of campus and includes most of the university's earliest academic buildings, Christy Woods, and the Wheeler-Thanhauser Orchid Collection and Species Bank. The focal points of the Old Quad are Beneficence and the Fine Arts Building, home to the David Owsley Museum of Art since 1935. The museum contains some 11,000 works valued at more than $40 million. The museum is currently under renovation that will expand the total exhibition space from 17,179-to-27,000-square-foot (1,596.0 to 2,508.4 m²). The Fine Arts Terrace, overlooking the Old Quad, hosts the annual spring commencement ceremonies.

The newer quadrangle is located to the north and consists of a variety of modern buildings (1960–present), with such landmarks as Bracken Library, Emens Auditorium, and the Frog Baby Fountain, located on University Green. Shafer Tower is the focal point of the new quadrangle. Located in the median of McKinley Avenue, Shafer Tower is a 150-foot-tall (46 m) free-standing bell tower with a 48-bell carillon. McKinley Avenue, which runs north-south through campus, acts as a spine or axis of activity connecting the two main quadrangles. The Scramble Light at the intersection of Riverside and McKinley is a pedestrian scramble that halts vehicular traffic in 30-second sequences, allowing pedestrians to cross the intersection in every direction, including diagonally.

File:Scheumann Stadium.jpg

A Ball State Cardinals football game at Scheumann Stadium in 2008.

Most of Ball State University's athletic facilities and intramural fields are located on the northernmost portion of campus near the intersection of McGalliard Road and Tillotson Avenue. These include Ball Diamond and Softball Field, Briner Sports Complex, Fisher Football Training Complex, and the 22,500-seat Scheumann Stadium, home to Ball State Cardinals football. The 11,500-seat John E. Worthen Arena anchors the central campus athletic facilities, including the Field Sports Building, the Health and Physical Activity Building, Lewellen Aquatic Center, and the Jo Ann Gora Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Other facilities include the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center and Lucina Tennis Courts.

York Prairie Creek, also known as Cardinal Creek, begins at the pond outside Park Hall on campus, winding northwest connecting to the Duck Pond before heading west toward the White River. The university's campus includes nearly 8,000 trees of about 625 species.

The university provides a free shuttle service during the fall and spring semesters. Shuttles run on red, green, and blue loops every five to ten minutes, Monday through Thursday, from 7:15 am to 11:00 pm (7:15 am to 8:00 pm on Fridays), and every ten to 15 minutes on Sundays from 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Muncie Indiana Transit System (MITS) also provides free bus service to students on local routes, particularly on Routes 1, 14, and 16 which run through campus.

Architecture

The Music Instruction Building at night, with Stephen Knapp's First Symphony in view.

Most campus facilities feature red or brown brick façades with the exceptions of Elliott and Pruis Halls, each made of Indiana limestone. Completed in 1899 as the university's first building, the Frank A. Bracken Administration Building was built in Neoclassical style with a yellow brick façade. Most campus facilities built prior to 1960 feature Collegiate Gothic architecture, including the Applied Technology Building, Ball Gymnasium, Burris Laboratory School, Fine Arts Building, and L. A. Pittenger Student Center. Other examples include Burkhardt Building, North Quad Building, and Lucina Hall.

Several modern campus buildings (early-1960s to early-1980s) have been built in Brutalist architecture, embracing blank walls and exposed concrete. Examples of this style include the Architecture Building, Bracken Library, and Whitinger Business Building. The Teachers College Building, built in 1968, is the tallest building on campus, at 10 floors and 138 feet (42 m).

Recent building additions and expansions (early-1990s to present) have shied away from Brutalist designs, and instead, have been built to respect the scale and style of the university's older Collegiate Gothic buildings. While red and brown brick accented by limestone have remained the favored façade materials, large windows have become more commonplace in buildings constructed since the late-1990s to emphasize natural lighting. Examples of this architecture include the Alumni Center, Art and Journalism Building, Music Instruction Building, and the David Letterman Communication and Media Building.

Sustainability

Park Hall (shown under construction in 2007) was one of the first LEED certified buildings on campus.

Ball State has adopted environmental sustainability as a primary component to the university's strategic plan and vision. Starting in the mid-2000s, all building additions and renovations are designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification standards. Standards include environmentally-friendly site selection, energy and water efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality, among others. The university diverts 20 percent of its waste from landfills through recycling efforts and also invests in hybrid vehicles, hybrid-electric shuttle buses, and vehicles that use E85.

At Spring 2009 Commencement, former president Jo Ann Gora announced Ball State's plan for the largest geothermal energy project in the United States. Ball State has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 80,000 tons annually through the installation of a $65 million geothermal heating and cooling system and the closing of all four coal-fired boilers on campus. The move is expected to save the university $2 million in fuel costs annually. The geothermal system will consist of 4,000 boreholes and two energy stations on campus. The system will consist of two underground loops to circulate water for heating and cooling throughout campus.

Since 2007, the David Letterman Communication and Media Building, Marilyn K. Glick Center for Glass, Park Hall, and DeHority Hall have earned LEED Silver certification; Kinghorn Hall, Studebaker East Complex, the Jo Ann Gora Student Recreation and Wellness Center, and District Energy Station North have all earned LEED Gold certification. The university's first green roof was installed on the North District Energy Station in 2011, while a second smaller green roof was installed on the second floor of the Architecture Building in 2013.

Former president Jo Ann Gora was a founding member of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, an initiative taken by several institutions to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on their campuses. In 2011, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave the university a College Sustainability Report Card grade of "C+."

Satellite facilities

Ball State operates two satellite facilities in the state of Indiana: Ball State University Fishers Center and Ball State University Indianapolis Center. Ball State–Fishers is located in Fishers, Indiana, approximately 37 miles (60 km) southwest of the main campus. Opened in 2001 in Downtown Indianapolis, Ball State–Indianapolis serves as an urban laboratory for the College of Architecture and Planning's Master of Urban Design (MUD) and Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development programs. In 2013, the university announced plans to open an office in Fort Wayne, Indiana, approximately 70 miles (110 km) to the north, to serve with technical assistance, research, and student immersive learning projects.

Academics

Student body

Demographics

	Student body	U.S. Census
White (non-Hispanic)	84.4%	72.4%
African American	6.0%	12.6%
Asian American	0.9%	4.8%
Native American	0.2%	0.9%
Hispanic American (of any race)	2.9%	16.4%
Two or more races	2.1%	2.9%
International students	1.9%	(N/A)

Ball State University enrolls approximately 21,000 students hailing from 48 states, two U.S. territories, about 43 countries, and every one of Indiana's 92 counties. Out-of-state students make up about 13 percent of on-campus enrollment, and ethnic minorities comprise about 12 percent. The university enrolls more than 675 international students.

As of the 2012–2013 school year, Ball State University's student population primarily consisted of Indiana residents (85.5 percent) with 14.5 percent being nonresidents. 59.3 percent of the student body is female. The university is selective, only admitting 67.5 percent of applicants.

Tuition

For the 2014–2015 academic year, annual undergraduate tuition is $8,682 for in-state students and $23,948 for out-of-state students. Including technology, recreation, Health Center, and room and board fees, annual undergraduate expenses total about $17,804 for in-state students and $33,070 for out-of-state students. For the 2014–2015 academic year, annual graduate tuition is $8,098 for in-state students, and $20,013 for out-of-state students. Including other fees, in-state graduate student expenses total $17,220 and $29,136 for out-of-state graduate students.

Colleges and schools

North Quad Building houses offices for Academic Advising and the College of Sciences and Humanities, among others.

Ball State University offers seven associate degrees, 178 bachelor's, 99 master's, two specialist degrees, and 17 doctoral degrees through seven academic colleges. In 2012–2013, the average campus class size was 32 students, with a student-to-teacher ratio of 16 to 1.

Ball State University has been accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools continuously since 1925.

• College of Applied Sciences and Technology
• College of Architecture and Planning
• College of Communication, Information, and Media
• College of Fine Arts
• College of Sciences and Humanities
• Graduate School
• Honors College
• Miller College of Business
• Teachers College

Library system

Bracken Library is the university's main library. Completed in 1975, Bracken houses five floors of classrooms, computer labs, private study suites, and video viewing suites. The library provides access to about 2.3 million books, periodicals, microforms, audiovisual materials, software, government publication maps, musical scores, archival records, and other information sources. Bracken Library hosts the Ball State University Digital Media Repository, an open access resource containing over 130,000 digital objects in 64 collections, as well as the Center for Middletown Studies. System branches include the Architecture Library and the Science–Health Science Library. Over 1.1 million visits were made throughout the University Libraries system between 2011 and 2012.

Rankings

Academic rankings
National
Forbes	558
U.S. News & World Report	181
Washington Monthly	233

Intel Corporation ranked Ball State as the "most unwired" campus in the nation in 2005. The university's academic and administrative buildings, residence halls, and green spaces have wireless access fed by 625 Wi-Fi access points. The university was ranked eighth by U.S. News & World Report's "up-and-coming" colleges and universities in 2011.

Architect magazine ranked the university's Department of Architecture in the top three nationally for digital design and fabrication and one of six schools committed to social justice in the United States in 2010. In 2007, Planetizen ranked the urban planning and historic preservation programs 17th and seventh in the nation, respectively.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked the Miller College of Business' entrepreneurial management program in the top 15 in the nation since 1999. Ball State University students and faculty have earned 43 Emmys and 126 Regional Emmy nominations. The Teachers College graduate program was ranked 81st in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in 2013. The Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities and Burris Laboratory School have been included in Newsweek 's "Best High Schools" as recently as 2013.

Student life

Housing

Completed in 2010, Kinghorn Hall is the newest student housing addition to campus.

Ball State University operates 34 residence halls, 30 of which are located within seven complexes, housing 7,550 students. Anthony and Schiedler Apartments on-campus accommodate upper-level single students, students with families, and university faculty and staff. Prices vary for on-campus living with meal plan access to dining facilities. LaFollette Complex contains about 1,900 students, the highest capacity residence hall on campus. All residence halls are coed, with the exception of female-only Woodworth Complex.

Residence halls and complexes
DeHority Complex Elliott Hall Johnson Complex Botsford Hall Swinford Hall Schmidt Hall Wilson Hall University Apartments Anthony Scheidler	LaFollette Complex Brayton Hall Clevenger Hall Edwards Hall Hurst Hall Knotts Hall Mysch Hall Shales Hall Shively Hall Woody Hall	Noyer Complex Baker Hall Howick Hall Klipple Hall Williams Hall Studebaker West Davidson Hall Painter Hall Palmer Hall Whitcraft Hall	Studebaker East Kinghorn Hall Park Hall Wagoner Complex Burkhardt Hall Jeep Hall Woodworth Complex

Student organizations and activities

The Pride of Mid-America Marching Band, one of the largest student organizations on campus.

There are 381 active student organizations and clubs on campus. These include numerous student government, departmental and professional, special interest, and service groups, all sanctioned by the Office of Student Life in L. A. Pittenger Student Center. There are 38 athletic and recreational clubs, 26 religious groups, and 14 performing arts organizations, including the 200-member Pride of Mid-America Marching Band and University Singers glee club. Multicultural organizations include the Asian American Student Association, Black Student Association, Latino Student Union, and Spectrum, for LGBTQ students, among 12 others. Ball State is often credited as one of the first universities in the nation to begin a Safe Zone training program, which began in 1992, to educate the public and empower LGBTQ allies and advocates. Other notable groups include the Residence Hall Association, Student Government Association, and Student Voluntary Services.

As of March 2014, Ball State University is home to 34 Greek letter organizations on campus. Membership has increased to 2,022, or 12.3 percent of all university undergraduate students participating in fraternities or sororities.

Fraternities		Sororities
Alpha Tau Omega Delta Tau Delta Lambda Chi Alpha Phi Delta Theta Phi Gamma Delta Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Sigma Kappa	Phi Kappa Psi Pi Kappa Phi Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Chi Sigma Nu Sigma Phi Epsilon Theta Chi	Alpha Chi Omega Alpha Gamma Delta Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Phi Chi Omega Delta Zeta	Gamma Phi Omega Gamma Rho Lambda Kappa Delta Phi Mu Pi Beta Phi Sigma Kappa

Media

The Ball State Daily News is a student newspaper with a daily circulation of 8,000 copies in the fall and spring semesters, publishing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the summer semester. Ball Bearings is a student magazine published four times throughout the school year.

WWHI, branded as WCRD, is a non-commercial radio station operated full-time by Ball State students from studios in the David Letterman Communication and Media Building. WIPB, East Central Indiana's Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member station, broadcasts from the Ball Communication Building. The university is also home to WBSU-TV, a public-access cable television station which airs NewsLink Indiana. The Emmy Award-winning NewsLink Indiana is a student-produced news broadcasting operation that airs live on weekday evenings during the school year.

Since 1976, the Department of Journalism has supported Cardinal Communications, a full-service, student-run public relations and advertising firm.

Athletics

Ball State competes in the following NCAA sports
Men's sports			Women's sports
Sport		Conference	Sport		Conference
Basketball	I	MAC	Basketball	I	MAC
Golf	I	MAC	Golf	I	MAC
Swimming	I	MAC	Swimming	I	MAC
Tennis	I	MAC	Tennis	I	MAC
Volleyball	I	MIVA	Volleyball	I	MAC
Baseball	I	MAC	Softball	I	MAC
Football	I	MAC	Soccer	I	MAC
			Field hockey	I	MAC
			Gymnastics	I	MAC
			Indoor Track & Field	I	MAC
			Outdoor Track & Field	I	MAC
			Cross country	I	MAC

File:BallStateCardinals.png

Ball State Cardinals logo

Main article: Ball State Cardinals

Ball State competes in the NCAA Division I (FBS) and is part of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in all sports except for men's volleyball, where it competes in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA).

Bill Scholl was named Director of Intercollegiate Athletics in April 2012 after 23 years in the Notre Dame University athletic department.

Ball State Cardinals football was established in the 1924 season and has a 431–384–32 record as of February 2014. Ball State has won 10 conference championships in football, most recently in 1996, and has appeared in six NCAA Division I postseason bowl games, most recently in 2014 playing Arkansas State University in the GoDaddy Bowl; the Cardinals have an 0–7 record for bowl game appearances. Ball State annually competes against conference rival Northern Illinois, playing for the Bronze Stalk Trophy; Ball State holds a 1–5 record in the contest. Pete Lembo is the current head coach, a position he has held since 2011.

Ball State Cardinals men's basketball began in 1920. Although there was little success in the program from its start until the 1970s, the next two decades would be the highlight of the program's performance. Ball State became a powerhouse in the Mid-American Conference, winning a record seven MAC tournaments and with subsequent appearances in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament between 1981 and 2000. The Cardinals' most successful year was 1990, when the team reached the Sweet Sixteen but lost to eventual national champion UNLV, 69-67. The team's last NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament appearance was in 2000. James Whitford became head coach in 2013.

Charlie Cardinal is Ball State's mascot, modeled after Indiana's state bird, the Northern Cardinal.

Traditions

File:BSUFrogBaby2.JPG

File:Frog Baby Fountain, Ball State University, March 2014.JPG

Frog Baby un-decorated in 2008 (left) and dressed in anticipation of Spring Break 2014 (right).

Frog Baby

The Frog Baby statue has been the center of legend and tradition since it was presented by Frank Ball in 1937. While initially on display in the Owsley Museum of Art, students began a tradition of rubbing Frog Baby's nose for good luck before taking exams. Over the years, the nose was worn away, and in 1993, the statue was sent overseas for refurbishment. Today, Frog Baby is situated in a fountain on University Green. Since its move and restoration, students have started a new tradition of dressing the statue to reflect weather patterns (scarves and hats in the winter) or current university events (jerseys and helmets for upcoming football games). Despite 24/7 surveillance, the statue has been a repeated target of vandals.

Homecoming

Beginning in 1926, Homecoming has brought several traditions. Homecoming Parade was first held in 1939. The parade route begins at Muncie Central High School downtown, travels west down University Avenue through The Village, and ends at McKinley and Neely avenues on campus. The 75th anniversary of the parade in 2012 saw over 100 float entries. Since the inaugural event in 1980, the Homecoming Bed Race has been held the Friday before homecoming. The annual event consists of five person teams within seven divisions, racing beds down a 100-yard course on Riverside Avenue in zany costumes. In 2012, 40 teams participated in the Bed Race. Other Homecoming traditions include Air Jam and Talent Search.

Other traditions

Starting in 2004, Ball State students adopted "The Chirp" as a school chant to cheer on teams during sporting events. Traditionally, The Chirp chant begins on the opposing team's third down during Ball State Cardinals football games. Accompanying the chant, participants usually place their index finger and thumb together, extending the other three fingers straight up, and moving their arm in an up and down motion.

For at least the last decade, it has become tradition for students and visitors to stick their pieces of chewed gum to a honey locust tree located between Emens Parking Garage and Pruis Hall. The trunk of the "Gum Tree," as it has been named, is now covered in colorful wads of used gum.

Responding to a friend's bet, former student Aaron Scheibelhut began the tradition of "Happy Friday Guy" in 2004. Donning a superhero costume, Happy Friday Guy is an anonymous student who rides a scooter around campus shouting "Happy Friday!" among other positive reinforcements to passersby every Friday. Since the character's creation, three students have served as Happy Friday Guy.

Notable alumni

Main article: List of notable Ball State University alumni

Ball State University includes more than 157,500 active alumni. A few of Ball State's most distinguished graduates include David Letterman, host of the Late Show, Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry and current Apple Inc. executive, John Schnatter, founder, spokesman, and CEO of Papa John's International, Jim Davis, creator of the Garfield comic strip, actors Andy Devine and Doug Jones, actress Joyce DeWitt, Kent C. Nelson, retired president and CEO of UPS, Jeffrey D. Feltman, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Brent McMillan, Executive Director of the Green Party, and Angelin Chang, Grammy Award-winning classical pianist.

See also

• History of Ball State University
• List of colleges and universities in Indiana
• List of Ball State University alumni
• List of Ball State University Presidents

Further reading

• Ball, Edmund F., From fruit jars to satellites: The story of Ball Brothers Company, Incorporated, Newcomen Society, 1960
• Ball State University, The Elisabeth Ball Collection of paintings, drawings, and watercolors: Ball State University Art Gallery, January 15 – February 26, 1984, Indiana University Press, 1984, ISBN 0-915511-00-2
• Birmingham, Frederic A., Ball Corporation, the first century, Curtis Publishing, 1980, ISBN 0-89387-039-0
• Bullock, Kurt E., Ball State University: A sense of place, Ball State University Alumni Association, 1993, ISBN 0-937994-25-1
• Edmonds, Anthony O., & Geelhoed, E. Bruce, Ball State University: An Interpretive History, Indiana University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-253-34017-9
• Hoover, Dwight W., Middletown revisited, Ball State University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-937994-18-9

External links

• Official website
• Official Athletics website