The Ball State Daily News Celebrates 100 Years

The Ball State Daily News celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2022— marking a century of being a reliable news source for the University’s campus and the surrounding Muncie community. That value is amplified by the vast number of Ball State students who honed their crafts while working on the Daily News (DN), later establishing meaningful careers in journalism and related fields to serve the greater good.

For this Washington Monthly project, Mr. Fallows “explains how the university, under the leadership of its energetic president, Geoffrey Mearns, accepted responsibility for running the city’s failing public schools.” Dr. Fallows, in her piece, “hones in on how the college’s student newspaper (The Ball State Daily News has all but taken over coverage of the schools from the hollowed-out local paper.”

The Fallows’ pieces can be found in their entirety at WashingtonMonthly.com.

The land is northwest of campus, just north of Heath Farm, and surrounded by other residential neighborhoods on the city’s north side.

In a Board meeting in December, the University announced two substantial gifts—$5 million from Marianne Glick and her husband, Mike Woods, and $2.5 million from June Scheumann—which will help fund the Performing Arts Center, the catalyst of the University’s Village Revitalization plan.

In recognition of their gifts, the Board approved the naming of the Marianne Glick and Mike Woods Lobby and the Scheumann Studio Theatre, which will both be located inside the facility. — Greg Fallon, ’04

“It’s a real privilege, truly an honor, to get to work with these students. And we’re fortunate to have the opportunity to play a small part in the paper’s amazing 100-year-and-counting history,” said Lisa RenzeRhodes, director of the Unified Media Lab and adviser of student publications at Ball State. “Not many college papers get to celebrate a century. So, we’re thankful the University, our alumni, and our community recognize the gem they have in the DN. We’re lucky, and we know it. And we work every day to do smart, responsible, ethical journalism.”

The first issue of the paper was published on March 30, 1922, under its original name, The Easterner. Today, the Daily News is one of the nation’s top collegiate student papers, and a multi award-winning publication.

The Daily News became one of only 19 newspapers in the country to earn a Pacemaker award in 2022. The Pacemaker is widely recognized as college journalism’s top honor. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Daily News has earned the award. The Daily News was also selected by the Associated Collegiate Press for the Top 100 Pacemaker list of “Best National Publications of All-Time.” — Landa Bagley

“Deb and Jim, I am grateful for the work that you do every day in this respect,” President Mearns told the Fallows during the Ball State Commencement ceremony last May. “Through your reporting and through the leadership of your foundation, you are promoting greater civic engagement, community renewal, and genuine dialogue among the citizens of our country.” — Andrew Walker, ’14