Jud Fisher’s Remarks on President Mearns’ Installation

Good afternoon.

Since approximately 1899, Ball family members have supported higher education in East Central Indiana. In 1917, family members were the successful bidders for a defunct teachers’ college. In 1918, the Ball family deeded land, buildings, and around $1.4 million to the state of Indiana that eventually became what we now know as Ball State University. The Ball family has remained by the university’s side ever since. From a governance standpoint, Frank C. Ball was on the first board of trustees for the newly reconstituted institution, and today, Tom Bracken sits on the board as the latest in a long line of Ball family members to directly serve the university.

Ball family individuals and private family philanthropic organizations—specifically Ball Brothers Foundation, the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation, and the George and Frances Ball Foundation—continue to support Ball State. My uncles, aunts, my father, my cousins and other relatives—the majority from other states—have stepped forward to further the education mission of the school. A great relatively recent example is David Owsley, who has given art and donations to the school’s museum that bears his name.

In 1927, the Muncie Chamber of Commerce formed a committee to find a way to thank the Ball family for its contributions to the greater community. The committee chose a famous sculptor to represent the family’s hard work and philanthropic ethos. The resulting gift to the Ball family—Beneficence—has become the iconic symbol of Ball State. The further significance of the relationship between the family and the university is embodied in Beneficence—that grand gesture by the community that has since become a major part of Ball State’s brand and carries the banner for a culture of excellence and curiosity to take on challenges and opportunities as they are presented.

There is a solid 100 years of the Ball family connection to Ball State University. If I’m not mistaken, this is the longest continuous relationship between a public higher-ed institution and its original benefactors in the history of our country.

I hope the Ball family’s efforts have shown how anyone can have a strategic impact and positive lasting effect on this university. 

My early impression of President Mearns is that he is intelligent, warm, straightforward, tough, inquisitive, and a purveyor of big ideas—as well as practical ideas. He and his wife Jennifer have jumped into the local community so quickly that I am amazed. Because of the transition committee that was formed for a purposeful indoctrination to the community, as well as their fearlessness, it is my belief that the Mearnses, as a couple, have learned more in a few months than most new BSU leaders and their spouses do in a year or more.

President Mearns’ effort to dive more deeply and meaningfully into the community is extremely exciting. BSU’s No. 1 priority is providing high-quality education. This is a given, but the university cannot stay on the sideline of everyday life. As Geoff well knows, BSU is deeply entrenched in Muncie, Delaware County and East Central Indiana with regard to research and outreach projects. As our community strives for positive growth and a modern identity, it is heartening to see a higher-ed leader put such a fine point on his philosophy of integration with his Better Together effort.

As a foundation leader and community leader, I have a unique view of the university and its interactions with Muncie and Delaware County. Geoff Mearns has some practical, as well as cutting edge, ideas that need to be explored and supported. President Mearns has already challenged many leaders to communicate and partner with him so we can be Better Together.

To Geoff and Jennifer Mearns, as a partner with Ball State, and as a Ball family member, it is an honor to be in a position to welcome you to Muncie.  On behalf of my family, I wish you good luck, happiness, and fulfillment in your life and work here.

Thank you.