A university's history is viewed in different ways.
Students view Ball State in years. Upperclassmen remember a time when no ground had been broken on the Art and Journalism building, when McKinley Avenue did not have a half-constructed bell tower bisecting it and when the Academy House was still called the McKinley House and contained University Relations.
Longstanding faculty and administration count the university's history in decades. They can remember when the Robert Bell and the Edmund F. Ball buildings, among others, were still just a dream, or not even that, when the university's reputation was nowhere near what it is now, and when the Academy House was still called the McKinley house, and contained the Alumni Association.
Historians count the university's history in eras. They look back on when Ball State was still a teacher's college, and a normal school, when the Quad was the campus, when the Daily News was the Easterner, and when the Academy house was called Elliot Apartments, and contained faculty residences.
These eras shaped Ball State and helped make it what it is today. Faculty members Bruce Geelhoed and Anthony Edmonds have spent the last decade researching and writing "Ball State: An Interpretive History," which traces the eras, and their impact on the university.
"An Interpretive History" is available in local bookstores and will no doubt soon be available in Bracken Library.
We are all stars in the Ball State constellation. To truly understand what that means, you must understand where this institution has been. Buy the book it or check it out. Read it. And find out where you're coming from.
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