A coaching opportunity to help motivate Ball State students continues to expand.14
Legislation
A bill must follow a series of steps to become a law.04
DNSports
Jermahri Hill
Jermahri Hill’s journey to Ball State men’s basketball. 06
Moral dilemma
My experience covering news has led to many new discoveries. 13
The Collectors perform with their lead singer Bella Pike Jan. 25 at Muncie Eagles Aerie 231. Her love of music, along with people pushing her to succeed and giving her opportunities, like her high school band director, led her to learn how to play 11 instruments. KYLE INGERMANN, DN; JESSICA BERGFORS, DN ILLUSTRATION
Female musicians in and from Delaware County speak on their music journey.
ANDREW BERGER, DN
ANDREW BERGER, DN
BallStateDailyNews.com
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EDITORIAL BOARD
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CORRECTION
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WEATHER FORECAST
Trump’s federal fund freeze rescinded
Jan. 29: President Donald Trump’s push to pause federal funding while was rescinded Jan. 29, according to the Associated Press (AP). Administration officials originally said the decision to halt loans and grants — a financial lifeline for local governments, schools and nonprofit organizations around the country — “was necessary to ensure spending complies with Trump’s recent blitz of executive orders,” according to AP. The funding freeze was blocked by a federal judge Jan. 28, before the White House retracted it entirely the following morning. Administration officials said that despite initial confusion, their actions still had the “intended effect,” according to AP.
Executive order restricts gender care for minors
Jan. 28: President Donald Trump signed an executive order to prohibit federal support for gender transitions for individuals under age 19, essentially undoing transgender rights policies former President Joe Biden’s administration put forth, according to AP. The order states federally-run insurance programs, including Medicaid and TRICARE for military families, exclude coverage for this care. According to AP, this move follows Trump’s directive for the Pentagon to review policies on transgender military service, and it also urges the Department of Justice to challenge related policies.
Cardinals win second Butler Invitational
Jan. 26: Ball State men’s swimming and diving matched its seasonhigh in event wins with seven total at the Butler Invitational. The Cardinals finished top 5 30 times and won the invitational with a total of 1,098 points, making this their second-straight win at the Butler Invitational. The 200 medley relay saw 3 Ball State teams compete, finishing first, third and fourth. Sophomore Tommy Bruner won the 1650 free, sophomore Aiden Biddle won the 100 breaststroke, senior Ethan Phiefer won the 50 free, junior Logan Ayres won the 200 backstroke, freshman Nathan Harper won the 200 IM and the 800 free relay saw two teams in the top three. The Cardinals are set to compete in the program’s first Missouri Valley Conference Championship Feb. 19-22.
AL DRAGO/POOL/ABACAPRESS.COM/TNS
JACOB MUSSELMAN, DN
OLIVIA GROUND, DN
Student
Linnea Sundquist Reporter
‘THEY
‘THEY ARE ARE NOT NOT ALONE’ ALONE’
success coaching aims to help students navigate their college journey.
Ball State University’s student success coaching program is a new resource designed to help students reach their full academic potential while learning other important skills to help them navigate their daily lives at college.
While the program itself has not changed, the student success coaching program has introduced more coaches which will allow more students to participate in the coming school years.
“What I attempt to do through University College is embrace a student success framework that’s grounded in care, high impact practices, identity, consciousness and sense of belonging and really centering our students,” Ball State’s Vice Provost for Student Success and Dean of University College, Jason Rivera, said. Rivera, who has worked at Ball State since
The partner that is walking alongside the student to just say, ‘Hey, you know you got this. It is going to be fine.’”
- JASON RIVERA, Vice Provost for Student Success and Dean of University College
July 2021, considered this core objective when establishing the university’s new student success coaching initiative.
“The student success coaching program is our effort to ensure that students have the resources and support that they need to navigate Ball State successfully,” he said.
Rivera described student success coaches as “student partners,” adding that coaches are a resource for students to “cheer” them on as well.
Char Hawkins, Ball State’s assistant director for student success coaching, said student success coaches do more than just support a student academically. The program’s offered support extends to extracurriculars.
“If [a student] is thinking, ‘Hey, I have this event going on, having a coach there might be beneficial,’ they can reach out to us, and we can make that happen,” Hawkins said.
See ALONE, 14
gift given to Ball Memorial
June Scheumann donated $1 million to the Indiana University (IU) Health Foundation to support the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, according to a Jan. 24 press release from IU Health Foundation. Matched by IU Health, the total amount of over $2 million will go toward the NICU.
set to strike down voting option
Indiana senators voted 6-3 Jan. 27
Indiana senators voted 6-3 Jan. 27 to move forward with proposed Senate Bill 10. The bill has multiple provisions, but the proposal to curb the use of student IDs as valid voter identification attracted the most testimony. Some worry this would deter college-aged kids from voting, according to Indiana Capital Chronicle.
U.S. 2024 Report Card released
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released the biannual nation’s report card Jan. 28. The report indicated the nation’s fourth and eighth graders are not making the level of progress needed to regain ground lost during the pandemic, although there are some signs of progress, according to an NAEP press release.
A view of the outside of the Center for Student Success is photographed Jan. 28 in the North Quad Building. Ball State University’s student success coaching program is a new resource designed to help students reach their full academic potential. ANDREW BERGER, DN
The Road from BILL LAW TO
Shelby Anderson Reporter
With the new session starting in Indiana’s Statehouse, senators and representatives are drafting bills that will potentially become laws.
However, the process may take months to vote on bills. According to the Indiana Statehouse Tour Office and Education Center, there are a few steps a bill must take before it becomes a law.
Contact Shelby Anderson via email at sanderson9@bsu.edu.
With
a new
session starting
in the Indiana Statehouse, a bill must travel through both houses to become a law.
Steps for a bill to become a law:
Step 1
A senator or a representative has to write and propose the bill to the House.
After reading the bill, it will be placed in a committee. According to the U.S. Senate website, “Committees monitor on-going governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to the Senate.” The committee will review the bill to see what improvements can be made or how to better align the bill with their party.
The committee then has one rule: They can’t kill the bill. During this time, the committee holds debates to determine if the bill should be passed and sent to the House. If the bill does not pass the Senate, it “dies.” The Library of Congress defines a bill dying as “a bill from any Congress [that] does not become law during the Congress in which it is introduced.”
The committee then presents the bill to the House or the Senate where three readings take place. The first reading presents the bill, and the second reading allows the opposite side of the House and senators to suggest amendments if they want to change the bill. The final reading is where both houses debate the bill. If there are amendments, the original house can fix the bill and revote it.
Once the bill is approved, it gets sent to the state governor. The governor can approve, veto or take no action. If the governor vetoes it, the bill dies. If he approves of it, he can sign it into law. If no action is taken, the bill still becomes law but without a signature.
Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
The bill is no longer a bill but rather a law.
DNSports
‘DESTINED FOR GREATNESS’ ‘DESTINED FOR GREATNESS’
Jermahri ‘Fatt’ Hill went from Junior College to becoming a leading scorer in the Mid-American Conference. 406
Women’s Basketball Becki wins MAC Player of the Week
Senior Ally Becki won her second Mid-American Conference (MAC) Player of the Week award this season. She has won the award nine times in her career. Becki has led the way for the 16-4 (8-0) Cardinals, averaging 23 points per game this week. She scored 26 against Toledo and scored 20 against Northern Illinois.
Gymnastics
Szymanski wins MAC Specialist of the Week
Sophomore Ashley Szymanski was chosen for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Specialist of the Week award. This comes after she had the highest individual score of 9.875 on bars during Ball State’s Jan. 26 win over Western Michigan and Wilberforce. She also came in third place on the beam with a score of 9.775.
Athletics Administration
Rhodes hired by Ball State Athletics
Lauren Rhodes was named the senior associate athletic director for administration/CEO of Ball State Athletics Jan. 29. Rhodes comes from Penn State University where she was the deputy athletics director of student-athlete welfare and development. She was also the senior woman administrator for the Nittany Lions. She held the same titles at Jacksonville University.
Junior guard Jermahri Hill puts the ball up for two against Dayton University Nov. 13, 2024, at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Oh. Hill had four personal fouls in the game. ANDREW BERGER, DN
After playing two years of basketball at the JUCO level, Jermahri Hill is now one of the MAC’s leading scorers.
n front of a loud, raucous crowd at Dayton University, Jermahri “Fatt” Hill splits the middle of the defense and drives down the lane as the first half comes to a close.
The clock ticks eight … seven … six
He gathers his dribble.
One, two … Boom.
Hill rises up and over the defense for a SportsCenter Top 10 flush.
“When I take off, I’m trying to dunk everything
Hill has always been considered a pure athlete, stemming from when he was just four years old.
“We had a little church league. His sister and his brother both were in it, and with Fatt being so tall, he wanted to play. He was tall enough, he just wasn’t old enough, but they let him play because he was big enough and good enough,” his mother Nikkesha Cunningham-Hill said. “Every sport he ever played, he always played up. Even when he started playing football, they’d ask for his birth certificate because every time they saw him, they thought he was older than what he was.”
His big frame at a young age generated a nickname that’d stick with him for life: “Fatt.”
“He would never get full off the bottle. So, [his grandma] started putting a little bit of rice and oatmeal in his bottle. You [would’ve] thought I was a bodybuilder [from carrying him] because that boy was so big,” Cunningham-Hill said.
His grandmother is the primary reason he and his siblings played sports.
“[All of my kids] played year round. I kept them in some type of sport. My mama always tells us ‘idle time is the devil’s workshop,’” CunninghamHill said. “I believe his grandma [instilled] that into his life when he was a baby … She said he was destined for greatness.”
Basketball, however, wasn’t his first love. Up until his junior year of high school, the Bessemer, Alabama native played football both as a quarterback and wide receiver.
He said the switch between the two sports was easy, and it came down to one simple thing.
“It seemed like I had a chance to be kind of good at it,” Hill said. “I just stayed hungry. It was either play basketball or … I didn’t really know what else I was gonna do, so I just had to stay hungry.”
That hunger drove him to the realization that college basketball was a realistic possibility in his
He was athletic and skilled enough to receive offers from Division I schools in the Power Five conferences, such as the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia and Virginia Tech.
Unfortunately, he faced an obstacle that was too late to overcome.
Junior guard Jermarhi Hill dunks the ball while warming up to face Dayton University Nov. 13, 2024, at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Oh. Up until his junior year of high school, the Bessemer, Alabama native played football both as a quarterback and wide receiver. ANDREW BERGER, DN
I just stayed hungry. It was either play basketball or … I didn’t really know what else I was gonna do, so I just had to stay hungry.”
- JERMAHRI HILL, Ball State men’s basketball junior guard
“My GPA was just too low,” Hill said. “That’s why I push [myself] in the classroom extra hard [now], so I don’t have to worry about any problems anymore.”
This did not deter his desire to play at the next level, so he went the next best route: Junior College (JUCO). He ended up at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi.
It was his first and only season with the Wildcats that the belief in his ability to play basketball at a high level was solidified.
“I faced a lot of adversity my freshman year in JUCO, and being able to overcome it going into my next year made me even more hungry,” Hill said.
At Pearl River, Hill averaged 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 25.1 minutes per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from the perimeter, helping lead the Wildcats to an 18-8 record in the 2022-23 season.
His success at Pearl River led to a few Division I offers, but he still needed to play one more year at the JUCO level.
Pursuing a better opportunity, Hill enrolled at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, for his sophomore season.
There, he’d start all but two games and averaged 14.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, leading the Texans to a 32-3 record in the 202324 season. South Plains also found success in the postseason, advancing to the Elite Eight of the NJCAA Division I Tournament.
He credits this stop as a great learning experience, one he has brought with him to Muncie.
“It was a winning environment. I try to bring anything I can from over there, try to place it over here …” Hill said. “It’s a mentality that I carry on.”
Ball State men’s basketball head coach Michael Lewis first witnessed Hill in action at a JUCO showcase during the summer of 2023, but he wasn’t eligible for recruitment yet.
It was the following season that Lewis knew he wanted Hill to be a part of his program.
“I was able to go down and see him in person at South Plains, and I saw some very raw athleticism [and a] guy that was able to make plays,” Lewis said. “I thought he had a good energy to him, and I thought he fit the athletic profile that we were looking for here.”
Redshirt senior Mickey Pearson Jr. knew he and Hill would get along from the get-go. The Lincoln, Alabama native said the two can relate on many things, particularly being from the South and dealing with the drastic weather changes of Indiana.
All the things get thrown at you and you’ve got to continue to grow and he’s up and down, like most guys, but he’s obviously getting better and I think he’s got a lot of potential if he’ll commit himself to doing all the things it takes to be good.”
- MICHAEL LEWIS, Ball State men’s basketball head coach
As far as their chemistry on the court, Pearson Jr. expresses his gratitude for the kind of player Hill is and what he gives to the team.
“He brings us energy. He gets a steal and a dunk or something … that just turns us all up man,” Pearson said. “He makes the game easier for people like me. People [who] like to space the floor and shoot the ball. He breaks down the defense so well, gets his wide-open shots.”
Currently, in his first year as a Cardinal, Hill is averaging 16.2 points per game — ranking third in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) — on 44 percent shooting from the field to go with 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
Through all his stops, one thing remained constant: his family’s — his mother’s in particular — love and support.
“Words cannot express how I feel about
watching my son. If I’m not there, I’m gonna be at work watching his game on my phone. When I was working at the [Pelham Civic Complex], the customers would come up there, they’d hear me hollerin’ and now they’re rooting for my son too and never laid eyes on him,” Cunningham-Hill said. “… I’m always proud of him. I tell him right now, even to this day, ‘win, lose or draw, I’m proud of you because you don’t give up.’”
Cunningham-Hill said she and her son talk to each other before and after every game, no matter the time or place.
“I text him and we pray together. I always tell him to let God know what’s going on and what you need from him each and every day of your life, not just on game day,” Cunningham-Hill said.
Although Hill has seemingly adjusted to the new level of basketball being played in the MAC, the
transition has not been 100 percent smooth.
“He’s been up and down like most guys making that transition. You have some success, and then you get guarded differently,” Lewis said.“You’ve got to adjust to those things. You’ve got to adjust game to game, learning what it takes to show up every day, how important the practice floor is, how important every rep is, how important attention to detail and doing all the things it takes to be a good player.”
Lewis took it even further, saying the transition goes beyond basketball.
“Coming from junior college, we have more resources, so [it’s also learning] how to take care of your body, how to eat from a nutrition standpoint, the right way, how to get the right sleep, how to lift the right way,” Lewis said. “… All the things get thrown at you, and you’ve got to continue to grow, and [Hill]’s up and down, like most guys, but he’s obviously getting better, and I think he’s got a lot of potential if he’ll commit himself to doing all the things it takes to be good.”
Hill said he has embraced the change and all the consequences that come with it, good and bad.
“It’s definitely been up and down; I’m really just learning,” he said. “As I learn, I get better, so this is gonna be a long ride.”
Contact Derran Cobb via email at derrancobb@ gmail.com or via X @Derran_cobb.
Ball State junior guard Jermarhi Hill jumps for a layup against Miami Jan. 7 at Worthen Arena. Ball State men’s basketball head coach Michael Lewis first witnessed Hill in action at a JUCO showcase during the summer of 2023. ANDREW BERGER, DN
TO
CHALLENGE SOLUTION
CHALLENGE SOLUTION
Field hockey teammates established new resources for student-athletes.
Meghan Sawitzke Reporter
When Ball State University students commit to playing a sport, they typically trade in the stereotypical college experience for a life of order, discipline and mental strain.
Graduate student Emma Hilton and senior Maya Guinn, who both play for Ball State University’s field hockey team, expected to face new demands when they signed up for the team. They didn’t fully understand the scope of the challenges that awaited them off the field.
After struggling with their own mental health issues, Hilton and Guinn teamed up to help other student-athletes grappling with problems related to work-life balance and psychological well-being. They worked with Ball State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) — an organization that supports the university’s players — to form resource groups called Morgan’s Message and The Next Play.
Morgan’s Message is a nonprofit named after Morgan Rodgers, a lacrosse player for Duke University who experienced severe mental health issues after suffering a devastating knee injury in 2017. Two years later, Rodgers died by suicide at the age of 22. The nonprofit — known by its telltale blue butterfly — aims to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness in the studentathlete community.
In the fall of 2024, Hilton and Guinn brought Morgan’s Message to SAAC.
“Student-athletes can put a lot of their worth and identity into [athletics], and it’s just a big part of our lives in college,” Guinn said.
Guinn, a midfielder for the field hockey team majoring in biology, speaks from firsthand experience.
Before she co-founded Ball State’s chapter of Morgan’s Message, Guinn tried to improve her mental wellness on her own. She took up new habits, such as journaling, keeping a consistent routine and talking to her family daily. But Guinn said that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for psychological health. One big upside to supportive nonprofit communities like Morgan’s Message is that they allow student-athletes to help one another by sharing what worked for them.
Last semester, Guinn and Hilton brought Kalyn Melham, 2024 Miss Indiana and Ball State alum, to
lead a yoga session in an attempt to raise awareness during Mental Health Week. They also hosted a hot chocolate bar and participated in mindfulness activities led by Ally Meehan, a graduate assistant at Ball State, who has also played a big part in this new program.
Junior midfielder and field hockey teammate, Emma van Hal found herself struggling with similar issues revolving around self-worth and identity as a student-athlete. As she began to seek help, she crossed paths with newly implemented committees and groups within SAAC, which encouraged discussion and support surrounding mental health.
“They create a platform to talk about these struggles with fellow athletes, while also providing resources to help with this journey since there is going to be a time where life is not all about your sport anymore,” van Hal said.
her negative energy through simple physical activity. Through the stress of in-season commitments, her anxiety began to take over with no way to escape or reset. Without any organization to help out, Hilton turned to therapy, coloring and yoga to ground herself. The appeal to these activities was the ability to disconnect from reality and breathe.
Student-athletes can put a lot of their worth and identity into [athletics], and it’s just a big part of our lives in college.”
- MAYA GUINN, Ball State senior field hockey midfielder and biology major
Hilton, who is majoring in exercise science, cofounded a branching organization designed to help student-athletes navigate the turbulent rapids of college life. The Next Play, also a support group under SAAC, helps graduates figure out their lives once they no longer have the structure that comes from playing a collegiate sport: classes, practices, games, travel, diet and recovery.
“The goal of The Next Play is more so for providing resources and outlets to help make this transition,” Hilton said.
Hilton said she faced one of the most difficult mental battles during her sophomore year at Ball State. Though she declined to detail the specifics of her struggle, she said that she was unable to work off
The appeal of The Next Play is that it focuses on an area of mental wellness that is often neglected in some university settings, said Lindsey Blom, senior associate athletic director for championship performance.
“We spend more time helping people transition into college and athletics, whether it’s student success programming or freshmen first-year programming, but we spend a lot less time helping people leave,” Blom said.
In October 2024, Ball State’s sports dietitian, Jordan Jennewine, lectured students on the proper ways to fuel bodies before, during and after exercise. Staci Mannela, a former paralympic skier, and Andrea Bugari, a former diver at the
University of Akron, came in November 2024 to discuss identity changes, transferable skills and tips for being successful as athletes transition out of their sports. Both Mannela and Bugari are PhD students in the Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, and Counseling program at Ball State. Hilton’s plans for The Next Play this semester include meetings, workshops and more guest speakers.
“The topics for this semester may include a mental health seminar focusing on the transition out of sports; transitioning into new careers; how to change workouts to fit your new needs, career planning, resume-building and goal-setting workshop,” Hilton said.
Blom has stepped in to fortify The Next Play program for the future. Blom, who has faced her own struggles with self-identity as an athlete, a mother, wife and coach, has kept her own experiences in mind as she thinks of ways to keep Hilton’s legacy alive after she leaves Ball State.
Blom said her long-term goal is to turn The Next Play into a one-credit-hour academic course for student-athletes to take, preferably in their junior year.
“It felt better to actually address it their junior year because they moved out of the freshmansophomore transition, and now, they’re starting to think about what life is going to look like later,” Blom said.
For student-athletes, the work isn’t over after the game clock expires. With so many different hurdles to surmount, students like Hilton and Guinn are working hard to make sure their fellow athletes are being provided for once the final whistle blows.
Contact Meghan Sawitzke via email at meghan. sawitzke@bsu.edu or on X @mags_sawitz
Several student-athletes pose for a picture during a “Morgan’s Message” a yoga session Oct. 21, 2024, in Muncie, Ind. With guests like 2024 Miss Indiana and Ball State University alumn Kalyn Melham, this session was used to raise awareness during Mental Health Awareness Week. EMMA HILTON, PHOTO PROVIDED
‘Spread love and joy and music and truth’
Local female musicians support each other in a male-dominated field through events like the Maybelle Music Festival.410
Campus
The Ball State University Spring Short Play Series will be Feb. 1-8 at 7:30 p.m., and there will be a 2:30 p.m. showing Feb. 2 in the Fine Arts Building Recital Hall. It includes three one-acts including: “This Property is Condemned,” “Summer at the Lake” and “The Dearest of Friends.” Tickets are available through the College of Fine Arts Box Office.
Global Cardinal Photo Contest
The Rinker Center for Global Affairs is sponsoring the Global Cardinal Photo Contest. It is open to international students and students who have studied abroad to showcase their perspective through photography. It opens Feb. 3 at 12 a.m. and photos must be submitted by Feb. 12. Nine winners will be selected and will win a gift card.
Community Spring Short Play Series
Black History Month kick-off
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Team kicks off Black History Month at Minnetrista Feb. 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Center Building. The Dream Team has activities planned and information about Black history and culture. The event is free and open to the There will be a free breakfast and refreshments, as well as a silent auction.
Fourth-year exercise science major Bella Pike performs with her band The Collectors Jan. 25 at the Muncie Eagles Aerie 231. Though she is an exercise major, Pike said music will always be a part of her life. KYLE INGERMANN, DN
Maybelle Music Festival celebrates the ‘rawness’ of women in music.
Hannah Amos Reporter
For Bella Pike, a fourth-year exercise science major at Ball State University, music has always been something she’s been attached to. Coming from a family with a strong history and pride in music, the Yorktown, Indiana native has been singing and playing instruments since she was young.
Her love of music, along with people pushing her to succeed and giving her opportunities, like her high school band director, led her to learn how to play 11 instruments.
She began singing publicly at the Yorktown American Legion when she was 15 before joining her first band, MARS.
Now a part of the band The Collectors, Pike pursues her passion for music performing live with her bandmates Flint Robbins and Hayden Arnett. The band performs live in the Delaware County area, primarily in American Legions and similar venues.
Though she is an exercise major planning to pursue her doctorate and become a physical therapist, Pike said music will always be a part of her life.
“I have never foreseen a future for myself without music in it. It’s been such a massive stone in my life, in many ways. It’s been a motivator, and it’s been my rock,” Pike said. “It’s one of those things that, at the end of the day, you can always go and sit with an instrument in your hands and just do whatever you want.”
Emily Hayes of the band Veridical Muse, solo artist Ashley Gray and Heather Collins of Lovesick Moan express a similar passion for music.
Two years ago, Hayes taught herself to play piano while volunteering at The Common Market. Always having had an interest in music, Hayes also learned to help teach her daughter and relate to their shared love of music.
“I just kind of float around and sing whatever pops in, pops out, and she’s the same way, which is really cool. It’s kind of like seeing a little miniature mirror,” she said.
Like Pike, Hayes got her start in live music because someone gave her an opportunity.
Her opportunity came from “Doc. Peterson,”
The Collectors perform with their lead singer, fourthyear exercise science major Bella Pike, Jan. 25 at Muncie Eagles Aerie 231. She began singing publicly at the Yorktown American Legion when she was 15 before joining her first band, MARS. KYLE INGERMANN, DN
“I
have never foreseen a future for myself without music in it. It’s been such a massive stone in my life, in many ways. It’s been a motivator, and it’s been my rock.”
- BELLA PIKE, Fourth-year exercise science major
Fourth-year exercise science major and singer Bella Pike performs with her band The Collectors Jan. 25 at the Muncie Eagles Aerie 231. The band performs live in the Delaware County area, primarily in American Legions and similar venues.
KYLE INGERMANN, DN
known professionally as Dr. John Peterson. The former music hall owner and Open Door Health Services doctor, who performs every Friday at The Common Market, invited Hayes to sing and play the piano.
Ever since then, Hayes never misses a “Doc Night” and will sing a couple of songs with him and the band.
After a performance with Peterson, Mike Kerrigan approached her regarding a band he and Jerry Hawk were trying to form. With Kerrigan on drums, Jerry being the guitarist and Hayes singing, they created Veridical Muse in May 2024.
“The number one rule that we have is that everyone in the band has to have no ego, and so, the music that we play is not to support our own egos,” she said. “It’s just to spread love and joy and music and truth.”
Like Hayes, Gray and Collins’ music careers have connections with Doc Peterson.
Paralleling each other, both women worked at Doc’s Music Hall while they were establishing their music careers. When Gray moved out of her old apartment, Collins moved in and started working with Doc.
Gray’s career began in Muncie in 2002 at venues like the Heorot and Doc’s Music Hall, but she eventually moved to Philadelphia in December 2011, joining the live music scene there as a solo artist.
“It’s been a very progressive journey and a fulfilling one,” Gray said. “I consider myself very fortunate to make a living at my art.” While in Philadelphia, Gray took a break from her music career raising her two boys as a single mother. What got her back in the industry was another woman, Samantha Seider.
During the summer of 2019, Seider was planning a women’s event, Women of Rock in Philadelphia, and Seider asked Gray to do a 20-minute set.
“That singular event got the fire burning again for me to want to get back out to work,” Gray said. “When I went and played that 20-minute set, [it] made me realize like, ‘Oh my God, I really missed this. I need this. I need something else in my life, other than babies.’”
This event gave Gray the idea to start a similar, female-artist-centric festival in Muncie. The outdoor concerts she organized with Mike Martin, owner of The Common Market, gave people a form of escapism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At one of these outdoor concerts, Gray watched Raye Hodgson of the Oxford Baking Company and Pike with The Collectors perform.
“It was actually watching Raye and Bella play, and then thinking about the women’s event — the Women of Rock — that got me back out into the scene. That got the wheels turning for me to think of doing … an exclusively women-fronted festival back in Muncie,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘I know there are more women in the area who play music, who could benefit from an all-female festival like the one that got me back out into the scene.’”
With the help of Collins, the two women started the Maybelle Music Festival to provide a space to support other female music artists and a platform for new musicians.
The festival received its namesake from Mother Maybelle Carter, the first well-known female instrumentalist in country music; Ma Rainey, the “Mother of the Blues;” and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the “Godmother of Rock and Roll.”
“[Maybelle is] not political. It’s not a feminist festival. It’s about celebrating women in music and the sensitivity and rawness of women in music,” Collins said.
To Hayes, Maybelle provided her a space to see other successful female musicians and learn from them, as well as providing her with a sense of community.
“You don’t understand how important it is until you are in a room of musicians, and you’re the only woman there, and I am the only woman in my band. It’s not because we don’t want other women in the band. It’s just because there’s a lot of men [who] want to be musicians,” Hayes said. “To see women who are taking on their dreams and actually taking the steps that are necessary to continuing that passion for themselves, that’s really inspiring.”
Pike echoed Hayes’ sentiment, adding that Maybelle provides local artists a moment to network and grow their craft.
“I’ve never experienced sexism due to my position in the band, but there’s still a condescending air. There will be a couple of old guys who will come up to you and ask you to name 20 songs off … It’s like, ‘I’m not here for trivia. I’m just here to have fun,’ and knowing that other women have been there and have, hopefully, been able to scare that energy away with their understanding of music is always just so comforting,” Pike said.
“Maybelle Flower Power” will be held April 19 at the Room 5 Piano Bar at 7 p.m. and is a promotional event to support the fifth annual Maybelle Festival, which will be held Oct. 4 at the Elm Street Brewing Company from 2 to 10 p.m.
Contact Hannah Amos via email at hannah. amos@bsu.edu or on X @Hannah_Amos_394.
Singer Ashley Gray performs at The Stray Dog Tavern Aug. 2024, in Skippack, Pa. ASHLEY GRAY, PHOTO PROVIDED
Second-year journalism major Kate Hill holds a newspaper heart
Discovering new facets of my personality, femininity, and skill set was not without burnout and dissociation.
Katherine Hill
Co-News Editor, “Cerebral Thinking”
Katherine Hill is a second-year journalism major and writes “Cerebral Thinking” for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
Monday: “Beloved university professor dead, leaving behind a legacy within his department”
Tuesday: “National treasure celebrity — thought to live forever — dead at 89”
Wednesday: “Breaking news: Shots fired outside local gas station”
Thursday: “Correction: Shooting has upgraded to attempted murder, according to police records”
Friday: “Campus building in lockdown, university police investigating threat”
Saturday: “Fatal plane crash in adjacent county leaves five people dead and one injured”
Sunday: “Train derailment fire just outside city leaves no survivors”
News never sleeps, synonymous with New York City, the so-called “media capital of the nation,” according to City Journal of the Manhattan Institute. It’s my job to report it, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
My family is not religious. My brother and I grew up Protestant, raised to believe in the goodness of people rather than something potentially mythological, and that if we were good people with fulfilling lives, we were doing all we could to get into Heaven.
And yet, as a third grader, I would still say my own distant prayer before bed. “Good night to everything and everyone in the world,” I’d say, burrowed underneath my covers with cupped hands.
I’ve always been an empath. It’s hard not to be, having grown up in the special education system, where I was more or less dependent on the kindness of others.
I was first exposed to the magnitude of man-made cruelty during a day of expositional research in my eighth-grade English class in March 2018 when my classmates and I were tasked with poking around the Holocaust Memorial Museum website. There, I read Hitler and the Nazi regime deemed disabled and handicapped people “useless to society” and “unworthy of life.”
Feeling a lump in my throat, I went mute for the rest of the class period. I haven’t forgotten that day. I didn’t know it then, but at that moment, those words would shape me in a less-than-ideal way, imprinting into my long-term memory the longer I stared at them.
That unit has stayed with me longer than any of my academic career. I subconsciously decided I would be a writer. Tragedy strikes, but truth prevails through the immortality of the written word.
This past fall, I took an Introduction to Photographic Storytelling course in my third semester of college. As part of the curriculum, my professor taught students that empathy is a key component of journalism.
I wholeheartedly believe that.
“Telling people’s stories is a privilege and an honor,” I wrote in a bold and underlined font in my notes. However, telling people’s stories feels less like a privilege or an honor in “The Era of Fake News.”
It was hard to report the presidential election results in November of 2024. It was the reelection of a man — a convicted felon — who has openly and proudly mocked women and people with disabilities, and in the week before the election, voiced his approval for journalists to be shot at his rallies, according to the Associated Press.
But that was the news.
It was part of my job to inform my peers and Delaware County that Donald Trump would be our 47th president — the very thing I was trying to push from my memory as a 20-yearold woman with cerebral palsy studying to be a journalist.
The societal connotation that journalists do not have empathy because they ask important questions is incredibly damning to those who love and dutifully harness the craft.”
October 2024 data from the Pew Research Center revealed young adults — 37 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of Democrats under 30 — are nearly as likely to trust social media as national news outlets.
The data also concluded trust in information from news organizations varies by age and political party, with 78 percent of Democrats expressing trust in information from national news organizations and 83 percent from local ones.
These numbers are starkly different from the 40 percent of Republicans who expressed trust in national news organizations but nearly “on par” with their trust in social media outlets for news. And 66 percent of Republicans have at least “some trust” in information from local news organizations.
4See HEART, 14
Source: Pew Research Center October 2024 data 78% of Democrats expressed trust in information from national news organizations 83% 40% 66% of Democrats expressed trust in information from local news organizations of Republicans expressed trust in information from national news organizations of Republicans have at least “some trust” in information from local news organizations
HEART
Continued from Page 13
“Republicans have generally become less trusting of national and local news organizations in recent years. Democrats’ views have remained more consistent over time,” according to Pew’s report summary.
There is no good journalism or thorough storytelling without human empathy, but it’s nearly impossible for me to remain empathetic and simultaneously sane when the political climate of society is disturbingly distrusting toward journalists. The vast majority of the public elected somebody who makes my job of informing and helping others harder.
My professors told stories in class of protest coverage and brought in gear journalists wore during such to protect themselves. Sitting in the front row during those lectures, I couldn’t imagine going toward danger that I, realistically, could not outrun.
I was reminded of the world’s cruelties — only this time, it seemed to me that I was a part of them.
ALONE
Continued from Page 03
The program strives to pair students with a “partner” who can help them succeed on campus and teach them healthy habits and skills like time management to use beyond their time in college.
“The partner is walking alongside the student to just say, ‘Hey, you know you got this. It is going to be fine,’” Rivera said.
While coaches are support systems for students, Hawkins clarified that success coaches are not counselors nor advisors, including herself in that distinction.
“I always try and make that clear, because there is a need for all three of those services, and we do think we come from a different perspective in each of those settings,” Hawkins said.
Olivia Romeo is a graduate student and success coach at Ball State who emphasized the vast opportunities the coaching program has available to students.
“If you have an hour a week, or an hour every two weeks, to put additional time and effort into your self-development, that’s an amazing thing,” they said, adding that such time toward one’s selfdevelopment allows them to “grow” and find their “niche” as an individual.
The individuality among Ball State’s student body is reflected in the one-on-one style coaching of the university’s success program.
All coaches involved with the program have “different coaching practices” and “stronger aspects” than others, Romeo said.
For students who may be hesitant to reach out for guidance, Romeo assured meetings with coaches are non-committal.
“We just want to help students where they are, and so if they are nervous about [meeting] and it’s a one-time thing, that’s OK. There is no expectation,” they said.
The societal connotation that journalists do not have empathy because they ask important questions is incredibly damning to those who love and dutifully harness the craft. I would leave my classes those days and have debilitating panic attacks in my dorm room that rendered me unable to remember the basics of human functionality: dates, locations of my classes and the names of people I loved.
I had gone from experiencing panic attacks once in a blue moon to having one at least once a week for about two months; I began to view my work pessimistically and myself as a societal nuisance for taking part in a widely spat on profession.
Despite heavy emotional turmoil, I learned something invaluable: Ethical journalism creates moral dilemmas.
I cannot fix — or predict — everything as a journalist, and to hold myself to such a standard will burn me out before my passion has a chance to fully ignite. But like everyone else in this capitalistic nation, I have a job to do. Through my work, I can fix — or bring attention to — something, which could be everything to somebody.
While arguably rebuilding my professional identity from the ground up, I tapped into my
What I knew about womanhood had drastically shifted when reciprocal, romantic love was introduced.”
feminine sensibilities and became involved in my first true romantic relationship.
I was a preteen in the wake of fifth-wave feminism in 2015. My fundamental years were during Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the #MeToo movement the following year. I was indirectly raised to not limit myself to marriage, a white picket fence and a lifetime standing in the kitchen wearing a stained apron with a kid on each hip.
Even so, I was unsure what to believe when last fall, the career-centered education I had so desperately spent my later adolescent years clawing for seemed to be crumbling beneath my feet. What I knew about womanhood had drastically shifted when reciprocal, romantic love was introduced.
It’s possible that as I grew older, throwing myself into my studies and latching onto the prospect of a career was a way to distract myself from the humbling but inevitable realization that disability does not necessarily radiate sexual appeal.
Rivera underscored students are not alone in their college journey.
“It is so important to me that our students understand they matter, we see them, we care about them, they have value and they are not alone,” he said.
They have a big responsibility of serving as a student’s partner, cheerleader, coach, walking alongside them as they are experiencing their time here at Ball State.”
- JASON RIVERA, Vice Provost for Student Success and Dean of University College
Student success coaching is for all Ball State students. If any student is interested in participating in the program and would like to learn more information, they can go to the Office for Student Success, which is located in the North Quadrangle Building in room 339. Students can also email the office for additional questions or information at successcoach@bsu.edu or call the office at 765285-1178.
Students looking to schedule an appointment with a coach directly can do so through Ball State’s Navigate, a student resource app for colleges and universities, or through the app or by emailing the success coach team at successcoach@bsu.edu.
Contact Linnea Sundquist via email at linnea. sundquist@bsu.edu.
Flyers are photographed at the Center for Student Success Jan. 28 in the North Quad Building. The program strives to pair students with a “partner” who can help them succeed on campus and teach them healthy habits. ANDREW BERGER, DN
Crossword & Sudoku
I’ve been thinking ... “
O’Hare and JFK, e.g.
Pair in gin rummy?
other choices were there?” 47 Most fit
51 Clear clothes lines, in a way
Dried poblano 54 Memphis street of blues fame 56 Fish story 57 Maiden name of an 1860s
“Or __ what?”
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