A week ago, our university held its second One Ball State Day. The 24-hour fundraising event was a huge success in 2019—its inaugural year. Back then, events were organized across campus, and online fundraising efforts led to over 4,100 gifts totaling more than $425,000. This year, the event took place in a very different context dictated by the COVID-19 threat. To address that, all participating units across the university focused their effort on raising money to help our students at a time of great need. We asked our CCIM community to support our students by making a donation, or by “donating” their CCIM stories. They did not disappoint.

CCIM Donor Wall

All donations made across CCIM units were displayed on the CCIM Donor Wall. We saw a number of gifts made in honor of the Class of 2020 who had their senior year cut short. The accompanying messages were a tribute to their strength and resilience. It was also extremely heartwarming to see all the individuals recognized on the CCIM wall—students, alumni, faculty, staff/colleagues, and family members.

OBSD CCIM Donor Wall

The CCIM Donor Wall also enabled us to witness the impact of the efforts led by our units to win challenges. For example, we received an extraordinary wave of gifts directed at the Journalism Department in the last hour of the day. Supporters rallied behind the Department, including an anonymous donor who stayed past their bedtime to help. Anonymous donor, whoever you are, thank you!

CCIM Donor Wall_JOUR

CCIM Alumni Stories

As the day started, what immediately struck us was the number of CCIM alumni who helped relay One Ball State Day on their social media channels. This includes Communication Studies alumna Sara McInerney. Her wedding was scheduled to happen next month but was postponed due to the COVID-19 threat. Sara encouraged her friends to donate to Ball State in lieu of the money they would have spent on travel expenses to attend the wedding.

Sara McInerney IG post for OBSD

Telecommunications grad Joseph Huber shared about the supportive TCOM environment that enabled him to turn his passion for production into a viable career.

Journalism alumnus Jonathan Scott gave us a great shout out, and used his adorable pug as a prop.

Communication Studies alumnus Micah Maxwell paid tribute to the faculty members that mentored him during his time at Ball State.

OBSD Tweet 2

Journalism alumnus Drew Bogs honored his Ball State professors and chose to give back to our Student Media group.

Telecommunications grad Julia Ricci shared her Cardinal pride on social media. She invited her network to support our students and kept the momentum going by relaying One Ball State Day challenges throughout the day.

Journalism alumnus Greg Fallon shared why he is giving back to Ball State.

Communications Studies alumnus Paul Porter chose to support the award-winning Ball State Speech team he was once a member of.

Journalism alumna Taylor Imus offered throw-back pictures of her time at Ball State.

Photojournalism alumna Grace Hollars wrote a long tribute to Ball State. She reflected on her four years within our college, and honored the faculty and staff members who had a positive impact on her learning journey.

CCIM Student Stories

Numerous CCIM students also shared their defining CCIM experiences with us. Here, Journalism graduate student Jolee Edge and Telecommunications Junior Caitlyn Demlein showcased the opportunities they are most thankful for.

OBSD_CCIM_facebook

Communications Studies graduate student Olivia DeSalvo shared key highlights of her time at Ball State.

Journalism Senior Brooke Kemp reflected on the impact that her time at Ball State had on her life, and stressed the importance of student media organizations.

Journalism Senior Caitlen Ramey highlighted the key projects she led, the skills she acquired along the way, and the unshakeable feeling that she is ready to step into the real world. Communication Studies first year student Erica Brinkley is just starting her educational journey at Ball State, but she stressed the feeling of belonging she found within her department.

OBSD Tweet

Friendly competitions

Cash prizes were promised to top performers in a variety of university challenges. Keeping our student needs in mind, we were even more determined to make it to the top of the leaderboards… or perhaps was it the lack of access to live sports in recent weeks that made us crave for a good friendly competition? Either way, as the day unfolded, the competitive spirit within Ball State slowly awakened. This led to a glorious end of the day.

The Student Organization Challenge

The first tight competition we witnessed was on the Student Organization front. The battle for first place was fierce as it was the only spot that offered a cash prize. At 9:50 p.m., with only ten minutes left on the clock, our very own Student Media group ranked #2 on the leaderboard, just behind the Dance Marathon Group.

In an epic final push, Student Media ended up placing first in that challenge with 129 gifts.

JOUR vs. COMM

Two of our CCIM units, the Departments of Communication Studies and Journalism had been neck and neck most of the day on the Academic Department leaderboard. As the evening started, they kept overtaking each other as #3 and #4. In the comments of the post below, you’ll notice Communication Studies’ attempt at making the CCIM Dean’s Office take sides!

In the final hours of One Ball State Day, the Department of Journalism benefitted from an outstanding surge of gifts which bumped them up to the second place on that leaderboard!

The Jim and Jill Davis Challenge

One of the climax of One Ball State Day came at dusk. Earlier that afternoon, we had been notified that Garfield creators and Ball State alumni Jim and Jill Davis had put forward a new challenge for Ball State Cardinals. Surpassing the 2019 gift total of 4,138, meant Jim and Jill Davis would direct $50,000 to The Jack Beyerl Student Emergency Aid fund and $50,000 to the Take Flight Fund.

Social media posts from Ball State community helped build momentum around this challenge. As we got closer to our shared goal, the excitement was palpable. And we did it! We went above the 2019 gift total just a couple of hours before the end of One Ball State Day.

Unlocking $100,000 for our students felt like something we all accomplished together, as Cardinals. This collective accomplishment was the epitome of One Ball State Day—Cardinals united and showing up for each other, even in the most uncertain times. We captured the magic moment where the number of gifts surpassed our 2019 total.

 

One For the Books

Overall, it was a very successful One Ball State Day for the University and CCIM. Ball State registered record-breaking donations, ending the day with $511,226 raised from 5,383 gifts. As a College, we received 840 donations this year totaling $33,431—a significant increase compared to the 390 gifts and $25,742 we raised last year. In the words of our Dean, Paaige Turner:

There is so very little we as individuals can do to address the immediate challenges we all face.  Yet, for 24 hours I was inspired by the joy people felt as they realized they are still part of a community…. that they could take action… that they could help rewrite someone else’s story… and rewrite they will!

CCIM units and faculty also won a number of challenges throughout the day, unlocking numerous cash prizes that will ultimately benefit our students.
Student Media – First Five Donations of the Day Challenge ($250)
Student Media –  1st Student Organization Challenge ($2500)
Student Media – 2nd Evening Leaderboard ($1000)
Student Media – Help Student Org! Challenge ($250)
Journalism – 2nd Academic Department Leader Board ($4000)
Journalism – 4th  Evening Leaderboard ($1000)
Communication Studies – 6th Evening Leaderboard ($1000)
CCIM – 2nd College Leaderboard ($1000)
Kate Elliott – One Ball State Day Selfie Challenge ($500 to the Emergency Fund)

Ball State Tshirt

Thank you

As we reflect on the factors that led to such a successful day, we want to thank:

  • Everyone in the CCIM community who helped promote the event, made donations, and shared their CCIM story with us.
  • Alumni and friends of CCIM working in media who wrote about One Ball State Day, and relayed the information on air. The fact that they chose to support us, and focus on the positive despite everything else going on, meant the world to us.
  • Ball State’s leadership team and Foundation who successfully assessed the situation, adjusted the university’s approach as needed, and kept us in the loop throughout the process.
  • Last but not least, the amazing CCIM One Ball State Day task force made up of creative and talented individuals who had to pivot hard and fast repeatedly to adapt to the situation.

Thank you

 

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Read CCIM alumni stories in our What Happens After CCIM? interview series. New interviews are released every Wednesday.

Want to put yourself in the shoes of a first-year CCIM student? Watch The CCIM Experience featuring Journalism Freshman Christian Dixie.