In the years since most of us have been on campus, Ball State University has not been known for its stellar choices in guest speakers and concert performances.
This week, though, the university brought two speakers who drew crowds way above average.
When Arun Gandhi, Mohandas Gandhi's grandson, spoke at Pruis Hall on Monday evening, hundreds of students had to be turned away because the house was full to capacity.
On Tuesday, author and humorist David Sedaris packed the seats of John R. Emens Auditorium.
These speaker choices, unlike many the university has made in the past, proved highly popular. Robert Kennedy Jr., who visited Ball State in February, also drew a large audience to Emens.
Ball State seems to be on the right track by bringing these kinds of acts to campus; relatively well-known folks who offer funny or intellectual insight into our world have done well this year.
Programming continues to fall short when it comes to major music acts, though. The university hasn't seen a big-name band take a successful run at a Ball State stage in years.
Student-oriented acts like O.A.R., Ben Folds and The Strokes lost the university tens of thousands of dollars in recent years due to poor ticket sales and the high cost of convincing such big names to make the trip to Muncie.
Students cited high ticket prices as reasons for not attending such shows, but they said they still want high-profile performers to come to campus.
The successful choices in guest speakers may offer some solution.
If the university can continue to choose interesting and popular speakers who draw a large crowd of both students and community members (whose tickets bring in more cash), it might be able to save up enough money over time to afford to bring popular music.
Ball State could possibly afford to drop ticket prices a bit, so more students could buy them.
This does mean the university would hold a slim chance of turning a profit on these big-name shows, but at least Emens wouldn't be hemorrhaging money as it has in the past on concerts.
The bigger benefit, in fact, is that students would get the opportunity to see a performance they really love. The university would even be able to publicize to potential Ball State recruits that the school can bring in popular acts.
This isn't a plan that can work overnight, but it's something the university ought to consider, especially if it continues to make such good picks in guest speakers.
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