CORRECTION: The IRS Form 990 was for July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, not the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
MUNCIE, Ind. (The CI) - Today’s Ball State University Board of Trustees Meeting at Cardinal Hall A lasted under 30 minutes, the majority of the time spent on a presentation from the Ball State University Dance Marathon (BSUDM).
Security was present and public seating was filling up as Ball State students and Muncie community members participated in a sit-in during the meeting. The 1pm sit-in, as well as a noon protest at the Scramble Light before the meeting, was organized by Muncie Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), formerly Ball State SJP.
At the protest, The CI received a copy of this brochure, referring the Board as “Public Enemy No. 1” and “butchers.”
Specifically, the brochure detailed the Board’s role in University decision-making, addressed free speech concerns, noted investments from the Ball State Foundation in Mercer Ventures and Commonfund are supporting Israel, and listed “crimes” from trustees Dollyne Sherman, Brian Gallagher, and Mike Hardwick.
The CI has verified that, according to an IRS Form 990 (page 61) from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, the Ball State University Foundation has invested in Mercer Ventures and Commonfund.
The meeting went as follows…
APPROVED - A motion to approve a consent agenda was approved unanimously. The Finance, Facilities, and Planning Committee, Employee Development and Well-being Committee, the Audit and Compliance Committee and the Academic Student Affairs Committee “considered many items before this Board.”
Item C1 incorporated the reports and materials from those committees “will be incorporated into the official Board record for today’s proceedings.”
Item C2 approved the consent agenda, which had “several items for approval that were reviewed, discussed and approved earlier today by a standing committee of the Board,” which came to the full Board for approval.
PRESENTED - Item C3 was a presentation from the BSUDM. Vice President for Student Affairs Ro-Anne Royer Engle introduced Megan and Macy to present. BSUDM has raised $281,736.26 for Riley Children’s Hospital in 2025.
When Board members were asked if they had any questions or comments…
Sherman thanked BSUDM for raising money for Riley Hospital, shared how her family has two Riley kids, and that her son, who was the parent of a former IU Dance Marathon member, came out of the program “not only with a heart of service—a lifelong heart of service and commitment to philanthropy—but he came out with more leadership and management experience that many people take several years out of college to gain.”
Local organizer Cooper Archer stated, “Can I make a comment? Every hospital in Gaza has been bombed.” Archer was told to “Please stop disrupting the meeting. It’s against the posted rules and the state law of Indiana.”
Gallagher asked if BSUDM members visited Riley Hospital and met with families and patients. BSUDM noted yes, that they’ve visited Riley staff and established “several personal connections with Riley families.”
ADJOURNED - The meeting was then adjourned by unanimous vote.
The next Board of Trustees meeting is currently scheduled for May 1, 2026.
The CI’s recording of the meeting is available on the TGN Network’s YouTube channel.
TGN (Town, Gown, Now) is a video wing launched under The CI, connecting our community and narrowing the “town-gown” divide through local media production. Learn more about TGN.
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