When most students graduate from a university they expect to receive a diploma, but after summer commencement, one alumna received a ring.
A couple minutes after she crossed the stage in Worthen Arena, Kari Scherer found herself being proposed to underneath Shafer Tower by then-boyfriend Zeke Schultz.
“I always told Zeke that I wanted to wait to get engaged until I had graduated from college,” Scherer said. “I didn’t expect him to wait ten minutes to propose.”
Both Scherer and Schultz grew up in Decatur, Indiana, though they lived on opposite sides of the county. Shultz, who is two years older than Scherer, opted to go to Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne to study construction engineering.
The couple met during Scherer’s freshman year when Schultz decided to visit his cousins at Ball State, who Scherer happened to be friends with.
“One night we met and we just kind of talked for a long time and it just kind of went from there,” Scherer said. “It was so crazy that we lived so close together, but yet, Ball State is the reason we’re together. Without Ball State I don’t think we’d be where we are.”
After the couple began dating, Schultz made weekend trips to Ball State nearly every weekend for the three and a half years they were dating. So, when the time came to propose, Schultz said the natural choice was at the place where it all began.
“I wanted to do it at Ball State at the commencement, but inside Worthen just didn’t feel right,” Schultz said. “So once we left there, we hopped in my truck and I was like, ‘Well let’s just take one more picture underneath the bell tower.’”
The couple, with Scherer’s dad playing the role of photographer, made their way to Shafer Tower. After taking a photo, Schultz got down on one knee.
“I had a little speech prepared, but she didn’t want to hear it,” Schultz said. “She just wanted me to get to the point.”
After spending the morning getting ready for graduation, Scherer said she was “absolutely shocked.”
“I had absolutely no idea,” Scherer said. “I was a little curious as to why we were taking a picture when he hates to take pictures and it was raining, but after it was over I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this makes sense.’”
But Scherer wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Schultz didn’t tell anyone before popping the question, so when Scherer’s dad, who was playing the role of photographer, realized what was happening, he froze and began crying.
“I had asked for permission a couple months prior to that, but he didn’t even know that I had went and purchased the ring yet,” Schultz said. “I had a lot of people asking me in the weeks leading up to it, ‘Are you going to propose to her? When are you going to propose?’ I was lying through my teeth. I didn’t tell a soul.”
So, when Scherer showed off the ring, which Schultz picked out completely by himself, to their family members, they all screamed.
Now, Scherer will begin her job as an oncology inpatient nurse at Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne as the couple prepares for their spring wedding. And while their time at Ball State may have ended, the couple said the university would always hold a special place in their hearts.
“This kind of closed the chapter at Ball State, but opened up a whole new one for us at the same time,” Scherer said. “It was good, it was the perfect way to end.”
Contact Brynn Mechem with comments at bamechem@bsu.edu or on Twitter @BrynnMechem.
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