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Introduction Imagine this Ball State University:
More "nos" could be included, but the point is clear. As crucial as state funds have been to Ball State University, the role played by private support in building a vibrant, comprehensive, and ever improving university cannot be overemphasized. Over the years, private giving has grown to be a major element in Ball State’s financial picture. And much of this private giving occurred during John E. Worthen’s tenure as president. In his sixteen years in office, President Worthen initiated two major comprehensive campaigns, one currently in progress, and a campaign to build the Alumni Center. The resources that have become available to the university because of these campaigns have had deep and far-reaching effects. Often, students are aware of the immediate benefits that come to them because of private gifts. Scholarships are an obvious example. But in some cases, they may be less aware of the real effects of gifts to the university either because they take the benefits for granted or because direct links to the funds are less obvious than with scholarships or facilities named for donors.
Although there has been a significant increase in private support in the last twenty years, the history of private support for the institution stretches back to the very beginning of the university. In 1918, two brothers and their wives, Frank C. and Elizabeth B. Ball and Edmund B. and Bertha C. Ball, gave to the state of Indiana the land and buildings that were the beginnings of Ball State University. Later, the five Ball brothers contributed funds to build Ball Gymnasium, Lucina Hall, and Elliott Hall and supplied part of the cost for construction of the Fine Arts Building. In the early years, private financial assistance to what was then Ball State Teachers College was modest, with the exception of generous donations from the Ball family. Most of the college’s graduates went into teaching. With teachers’ salaries quite low, little could be expected in the way of financial contributions from alumni. For example, in 1953-54 the average annual gift to Ball State was $1.88 through a dues-paying alumni program. However, in order to become an "emerging university," a term used to describe Ball State and similar schools at the time, the need for additional private funding became apparent. The first major financial challenge occurred in 1960 when the John R. Emens College-Community Auditorium was proposed. This project captured the imagination of alumni and friends. By today’s standards, the total contributions that year were relatively small – $75,022. Nevertheless, that figure represented an increase of nearly 600 percent over any past year. It was not until sixteen years later, in 1976, that annual giving to the university exceeded one million dollars. In 1989, President Worthen initiated the university’s first comprehensive campaign, Wings for the Future. The hope was that a concerted fund-raising effort would generate a greater degree of participation and support. The campaign was a tremendous success. It moved annual giving past the $10 million mark in 1990-91 and exceeded the overall goal of $40 million, reaching $44.7 million. Contributions have continued at a similar pace until today’s Above and Beyond Campaign with its goal of $90 million. From the outset, the Above and Beyond Campaign was intended to address three important areas, with $31.5 million for student scholarships, $28.5 million for academic programs, and $30 million to support campus innovations.
The demands placed upon universities today are immense. The education college students receive must prepare them to move directly and effectively into the workplace. The educational tools they acquire should enable them to reeducate themselves decade by decade, perhaps even year by year, as knowledge compounds at an unbelievable rate. Universities must exemplify a quality of life that combines the best of tradition with the latest innovations. In addition, a state university has the responsibility to contribute to building a state economy and infrastructure that will serve students and citizens well by staying in step with an ever more global and technology-based society. These goals are at the heart of the mission of higher education today and are in evidence in Ball State teaching, research, and service. Although tax dollars help universities respond to these challenges, those people who have supported Ball State from the beginning have understood that their financial commitment not only could make a difference but was a necessity that would make an outstanding university even better. In one of his last messages before his retirement in June 2000, President Worthen echoed that thought: "It is a message as old as the statue that personifies the institution. In her left hand, Beneficence holds a treasure chest overflowing with riches – riches that represent the Ball family’s gift to the state of Indiana eighty years ago but now have come to signify the powerful resources the university offers to those who study and teach here. And with her right hand she reaches out in a personal gesture inviting everyone to share in the magical experience of teaching and learning." Every line of the list at the beginning of this essay is in place because alumni and friends have contributed to the university and to the future of Ball State students in order to create a strong, vigorous, dynamic institution. Stewardship of these resources demands vision and creativity, and over the years the university has risen to the occasion with ideas and projects that have challenged students to excel and enabled faculty members to pursue enthusiastically their teaching, research, and creative interests. At the beginning of the new millennium, students and faculty have joined together to meet the challenges that confront them, Indiana, and the world. Much about the future may seem strange and much is unknown. However, with resolution, a sense of purpose, and confidence in the future, Ball State is moving ahead into the university’s second century of service. Our current progress on that journey is recorded in this report in the stories of just a few of the many students whose educations have been enhanced by the generosity of Ball State’s benefactors. Continue: International Study |
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Unveiling of statue of Beneficence, 1937
