The Daily News has a rich history of reporting by responsible and dedicated student journalists. Searching through the archives of the past 100 years, Daily News staff found no shortage of unique campus news and world events staff members before us worked hard to curate and report. Faced with the difficult task of finding the top 10 stories from a century of work, the current staff decided to limit this list to our lifetime. While we’re sure each Daily News staffer has their personal list of top stories, this was our best effort to reflect on the events and investigations our campus has seen in the 21st century. However, we encourage you to explore more of the historical work of The Daily News’ past in our archives, available at the Ball State Digital Media Repository.

2000s

• April 13, 2008: Barack Obama visits campus

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/75335/rec/1 

• Then-presidential hopeful Barack Obama joined a long line of politicians before him who visited Muncie on their campaign trails. He spoke in what is now the Jo Ann Gora Student Recreation and Wellness Center on issues like economic policy and the war in Iraq. Obama’s visit received top billing on The Daily News’ front page, and the rest of the paper included opinion columns and a feature story on undecided voters. The paper also teased to an online photo gallery of Obama’s visit.

2010s

• Nov. 26, 2012: Oprah and Letterman

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/72072/rec/1 

• Alumnus David Letterman interviewed media personality Oprah Winfrey Nov. 26, 2012, in Emens Auditorium. Distribution of the tickets was delayed by three days because of the event’s anticipated high demand. With a student ID, students received free tickets, which more than 1,000 people lined up days in advance to receive. The Daily News published multiple online stories in the weeks leading up to the event and dedicated almost one-third of its print paper the next day to coverage.

• Sept. 4, 2013: SGA president resigns after racist tweets

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/70727/rec/1

• Former Student Government Association (SGA) President Malachi Randolph resigned Sept. 4, 2013, following a series of tweets containing racially insensitive language toward Chinese people. Then-SGA Vice President Chloe Anagnos became president following the resignation. In an editorial published in the following day’s paper, The Daily News called Randolph’s resignation “necessary” and called for SGA to “regain the trust and appreciation of the students.”

• Jan. 25, 2016: Ball State President Paul Ferguson resigns

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/96999/rec/1

• Ball State’s 15th president, Paul Ferguson, resigned suddenly Jan. 25 after serving as university president for fewer than two years. The Daily News provided extensive coverage, later publishing online Ferguson said he accepted a job at Biola University, a private Christian school in California. The Daily News dedicated its entire Jan. 26, 2016, print paper to Ferguson’s resignation, including timelines of when the Board of Trustees accepted his resignation, details of Ferguson’s contract and his professional higher education experience before he came to Ball State, as well as student reactions to the resignation.

• Dec. 7, 2017: Faculty with felonies investigation

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/113838/rec/1

• On Dec. 7, 2017, The Daily News published an investigation detailing the criminal background of Jason Buie, a part-time contract faculty member in Ball State’s computer science department who was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and arson. Buie himself committed no violent acts during the crime that resulted in the death of Etta Alexander, a woman from Winchester, Indiana. The Daily News’ enterprise investigation details the Ball State hiring process, Buie’s coworkers comments on his job performance and Buie’s reflection on his educational pursuits after serving almost 15 years in prison.

• Oct. 3, 2018: Theta Chi shuts down

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/114177/rec/1

• Citing confirmed violations of the national chapter guidelines, Ball State’s Delta Kappa chapter of Theta Chi was disbanded in October 2018. Ball State took action to withdraw its recognition of the chapter and remove its name from the fraternity organizations listed on the university website. Daily News staff published a front-cover print story the next day and continued coverage of members having to move out and sublease their house. In November 2021, The Daily News published a story detailing plans for the chapter to return to campus after a negotiation between national board members and university officials.

• April 18, 2019: Partnership Project

• https://issuu.com/bsuunifiedmedia/docs/bsu_04-18-19

• Beginning in July 2018, Ball State became the first university in Indiana to oversee a public school district. University-run school districts are relatively rare: one example was when Boston University ran the Chelsea, Massachusetts, school district for about 20 years, ending in 2008. The partnership between Ball State and Muncie Community Schools (MCS) has seen a stabilization in MCS enrollment, higher teacher salaries and a large volunteer effort from university students. Nine months later, The Daily News published its first Partnership Project paper, which covered stories related to MCS.

2020s

• Jan. 21, 2020: Ball State professor calls university police on student

• https://issuu.com/bsuunifiedmedia/docs/bsu_01-30-20 

• https://www.ballstatedailynews.com/article/2020/01/news-ball-state-student-university-discuss-incident-caught-on-video 

• Shaheen Borna, professor of marketing, called the University Police Department (UPD) officials on Sultan Benson, a student in his class, after Benson said he refused to move seats. Benson said, as a Black man, he felt particularly afraid during the incident and took extra precaution to not escalate the situation as UPD officers arrived. Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns sent a campus-wide email following the incident saying he wished to meet with Benson. On March 16, 2022, Benson filed civil action against Ball State and Borna.

• March 11, 2020: Ball State cancels in-person classes

• https://issuu.com/bsuunifiedmedia/docs/bsu_03-12-20 

• https://www.ballstatedailynews.com/article/2020/03/news-ball-state-moves-classes-online-due-to-covid-19-virus-concerns 

• On March 16, 2020, five days after the spread of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), all in-person classroom instruction at Ball State was canceled for the duration of the spring 2020 semester. Study abroad programs were canceled for the summer and fall 2020 semesters as well. Ball State’s plan followed the temporary cancelation of classes at other universities including Purdue University, Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame. 

• Oct. 22, 2020: Mike Pence visits Fort Wayne before election

• https://issuu.com/bsuunifiedmedia/docs/paper_10_29_20 

• https://www.ballstatedailynews.com/article/2020/10/news-mike-pence-visits-fort-wayne-12-days-before-election 

• Former Vice President Mike Pence visited his home state of Indiana Oct. 22, 2020, as part of former President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. Pence spoke at the Fort Wayne Aero Center to around 400-500 supporters, touching on points such as the economy, the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ball State Daily News covered the event and later asked political groups on campus about their feelings regarding Pence’s campaign strategies for a print story the next week.

DMR link

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/search

Big stories we’ve worked on

1920s

• March 30, 1922: First issue of The Easterner

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/4/rec/1

• The first issue of The Easterner in 1922 was only four pages long. The biggest news on the front page was, “Geology class will take trip to the Pacific” and “Big enrollment for beginning of spring term.” The center of the front page was dedicated to the mission of the paper and how it came to be. 

1970s

• March 30, 1972: 50th anniversary edition

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/22368/rec/3

• The Daily News celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1972 with a 16-page special edition that featured stories relating to both the paper’s past and present. Some of the stories featured were written by past Daily News editors like 1941 editor Ben Ervin and 1944-45 editor Marie Fraser. The pieces concerned The Daily News’ World War II reporting and the value of nickels and dimes in the 1940s.

• Jan. 30, 1978: Blizzard of ‘78 interrupts press

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/34756/rec/1

• The Blizzard of ‘78 canceled three days of classes at Ball State and halted production of The Daily News, which was then printed in Marion, Indiana. The Daily News published a “special snow edition” Jan. 30, 1978, as the first issue of the paper published since the blizzard. Along with the blizzard was a gas explosion at United Methodist Church, which was damaged in the blast. 

1980s

• Dec. 4, 1986: Biden visits campus

• https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/60458/rec/1 

• Then Senator Joseph Biden, D-Del., visited Ball State’s campus Dec. 4, 1986, to discuss the Iranian arms sales conducted by then-President Ronald Reagan’s administration. Biden gave his speech at Emens Auditorium as part of the Ball State Distinguished Lecturer series. During the speech, Biden kept hinting at a possible presidential campaign, which he would later launch in 1988.

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