Hello everyone and welcome to our monthly Good News outlet. April is quite a busy month, with students wrapping up the spring semester and eagerly approaching the summer. It’s a period of recognition as we award students for their hard work over the past four months. From BEA and IASB awards to One Ball State Day, there has been much to celebrate!

Alumni

  • Department of Media alumnus, Ethan Dahlen ’21, made his debut on WANE-15 Fort Wayne News as an on-air reporter. Congrats, Ethan!
  • Eric Pascarelli ’11, and his all Ball State crew, just won Best Actor at the Hoosier Film Festival in Bloomington (Ball State Media was a sponsor).

Students

  • Graduate Students Jaylyn Graham, Raylin Taylor, and Zakara Durgans received the Words Of Wisdom Black Graduate Student Association Award.
  • CCIM Seniors Natalie Marner, Kwesi Rogers, Jordyn Blythe, Eli Lucas, Madeleine Mills-Craig, Duncan McLarty, and Erica Brinkley were recognized as the Top 25 students of Ball State University.
  • Several of our CCIM students were recognized and awarded for their achievements in the BEA and IASB awards.
  • Corey Dillion ’25 cracked the top 100 player ranking list in North America for Valorant. For context – he’s ranked 92nd out of over 1.5 million players in North America. He’s ranked higher than a decent amount of professional players and nearly every collegiate player.
  • Erika Brinkley ’22, a Communication Studies major, was one of the 27 out of 125 students who won the best presentation for the Student Symposium. She discussed the “Complicated Portrayal of Gender”.
  • Seniors Eli Lucas, Bridget Junker, Megan Neal, and Sami Hensley won the international Digital Marketing Competition with their senior capstone project! The project focused on raising money for Planned Parenthood in an effort to support their services beyond abortion, such as STI/STD testing, cancer screenings, inclusive sex education, and hormone replacement therapy. They received $1,000 for their first-place win which will be donated directly to the organization.

Faculty and Staff

CCIM Units

  • Byte Magazine became the 2022 CSPA Crown recipient for College Digital General Magazine.
  • Ball State University ranked four times in The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) awards for Student Creative Achievements. Among those include #7 Overall (out of 101 ranked national programs), #7 Top Documentary (out of 25), #27 Top Film and Video (out of 36), and #2 for Top Sports (out of 30). 
  • On One Ball State Day, The Center for Information & Communication Sciences (CICS) raised $9,026, The Department of Media raised $9,660, The School of Journalism & Strategic Communication (SJSC) raised $11,270, The Department of Communication raised $17,757 and Ball State Student Media raised $9,236, with a total of $67,728 going towards CCIM! Thank you!
  • Looking Back At a Decade of ‘The Scene’ by Emma Fullen a PBS intern and current Magazine Media Major at Ball State.
  • Indiana Public Radio‘s Stephanie Wiechmann received two awards from the Society of Professional Journalists “Best in Indiana” awards. She also received two second-place awards – one in the “Radio Newscast” category and one in “Radio Breaking News”.

Volunteer

  • The Muncie Common Market is looking for set-up help before their big event on Saturday, May 7th. They are trying to raise funds to pay the first employee there! They also have an opportunity every Monday night called “Motivation Mondays” at 6 p.m. where they find opportunities to serve the neighborhood.
    • The Common Market is located at 900 W Eighth St, Muncie IN.
    • Contact Kory Gipson (gipsonkory1@gmail.com) for more information.
  • Muncie Habitat has open volunteer opportunities at their ReStore. Restore proceeds help to fund Muncie Habitat’s work throughout the community, while also offering affordable home supplies for low-income families and keeping things out of landfills, allowing students the opportunity to have a direct impact on our community without lifting a hammer.
    • Students can volunteer at ReStore on a walk-in basis Tuesdays-Saturdays 9a.m.-4p.m.
  • Contact Kate Elliott for more details about volunteering with Muncie Community Schools or the 8Twelve Coalition.
  • Currently, West View Elementary is looking for student, faculty, and staff volunteers to help in various ways:
  • If you are interested in volunteering with Muncie Community Schools, you must be vaccinated, masked, and approved by Safe Hiring Solutions.
  • Muncie Missions the faith-based agency that has brought hope and healing to the homeless and needy of Delaware County for over 80 years is currently seeking volunteers in various areas like:
    • Serving community lunch
    • Sorting clothing donations
    • Construction – painting, installing fencing, etc.
    • Janitorial work
    • Detailing vehicles
    • Landscaping/Mulching
      • For more information contact Muncie Missions at (765) 288-9122 or on their website.
  • Be a part of Ball State’s Day of Beneficence on Saturday, June 11. Alumni and friends are encouraged to perform a service project in their communities.

Upcoming Events

  • The Senior Celebration: Leaving the Nest, hosted by The Ball State Alumni Association and Young Alumni Council will welcome the graduates to the alumni family on Wednesday, May 4th, at 4 p.m. 
  • Ball State University will host in-person Commencement ceremonies for all of our Spring 2022 graduates on Saturday, May 7.

What to Watch

  • Faith Denig ’22 brought home 1st Place for Best of Festival from the BEA Awards with this Sports Link 2021 Men’s Basketball Intro. Congrats Faith!

Did you know?

  • Did you know Ball State University will host in-person Commencement ceremonies for all of our Spring 2022 graduates on Saturday, May 7? Tickets will not be required for either the main or individual college ceremonies, so graduates are welcome to invite as many guests as they would like. All ceremonies will be live streamed. A window to watch the ceremonies will appear on this page on the day of Spring Commencement. For more information, click here.

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