From 2004 to 2014, Dr. Jo Ann Gora served as the 14th President of Ball State University. During her tenure, she championed immersive learning, created a new brand—“Education Redefined”—for the institution, and successfully engaged with some of our most prominent graduates, including David Letterman.
Dr. Gora shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s, what drew her to academia, and why she wanted to become president of Ball State. She also speaks candidly about the research she conducted before interviewing for the job, including crashing a Ball State alumni event with her husband, Roy.
In this episode, Dr. Gora also looks back on some defining moments of her presidency, and she reveals the innovative Commencement speaker whose message to Ball State graduates made a lasting impression on her.
If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show.
From 2004 to 2014, Dr. Jo Ann Gora served as the 14th President of Ball State University. During her tenure, she championed immersive learning, created a new brand—“Education Redefined”—for the institution, and successfully engaged with some of our most prominent graduates, including David Letterman.
Dr. Gora shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s, what drew her to academia, and why she wanted to become president of Ball State. She also speaks candidly about the research she conducted before interviewing for the job, including crashing a Ball State alumni event with her husband, Roy.
In this episode, Dr. Gora also looks back on some defining moments of her presidency, and she reveals the innovative Commencement speaker whose message to Ball State graduates made a lasting impression on her.
If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Today, it is my privilege to introduce another special guest for the latest episode of Our Call to Beneficence. With me this afternoon is Doctor Jo Ann Gora, who served as the President of Ball State University from 2004 to 2014. During her tenure, President Gora had a lasting and significant impact on our university. She elevated immersive learning. She promoted the Education Redefined brand, and she raised millions of dollars to benefit our students, our faculty and staff, and our academic programs. President Gora also oversaw the continued physical transformation of our campus, with more than $500 million invested in the construction of new buildings and renovation projects during her tenure as president. So today I'm going to ask her about these career accomplishments, along with some questions about her own undergraduate experience and what she found rewarding about her time as a professor before becoming a college administrator. So Jo Ann, welcome. And thank you for joining us today from your home in Virginia.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Well, it's wonderful to be with you, Geoff.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Thank you. And we look forward to being together again sometime soon in the near future. So, I'm going to look forward to hearing about your tenure as President of Ball State, but I want to talk first about your, your education and your preparation for that job. Where did you grow up?
[JO ANN GORA]:
So, I grew up in New York City. I think everybody loves the place that they grew up. And I loved growing up in New York City. There were definite advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages, I never had a pet. I never learned how to ride a two-wheeler, until I went to college. And I grew up in a very competitive environment, which I think was great preparation for a very a competitive career. My father had a high school education. My mother had a master's degree. My father was a first generation, Italian American and his parents were immigrants to this country. I've seen our family name in Ellis Island roll books. My parents were very determined that their two daughters would get a college education. Education was very important. And New York City was a great place to grow up.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
And so, coming from that competitive environment, you attended Vassar College, which was a competitive private institution in the northeast. Tell us about why you chose Vassar. And tell us a little bit about your college experience.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Well, I graduated in 1966. And The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963. That's when Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique. So I grew up, I went to college at a time when women's roles were really being evaluated and talked about and discussed. My mother was a teacher. And in truth, I grew up in a cultural environment in which women were expected to be nurses, secretaries, or teachers. But I always knew that I wanted a career. And I always knew that there were not those limitations on it. So, I went to Vassar College because it was all women when I went. And I went there because I wanted to really compete academically. I graduated high school when I was 16, having skipped the 5th grade. And I graduated college when I was 20. And I wanted to be in an academically competitive environment, in which it was okay to compete. And you didn't have to worry about whether you were going to have a date for Saturday night, if you did better on a lab project than the guy sitting next to you. And that, that's really the era in which I grew up and went to school. So, Vassar was a small private liberal arts college. I had a good experience there. I don't know that I had as good an experience as a lot of our students did at Ball State, in all honesty. I was very focused academically. I had faculty members who cared about me, and who mentored me. I made lifelong friends. Women that I still talk to on a regular basis. And I think those are two of the most important elements of a college career. But we didn't have Division 1 athletics. We didn't have the kinds of facilities that students have now available to them. Of course, we also didn't have social media. So that's, that's a real benefit.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
There are some advantages.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Yes, absolutely.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Yeah. So, after you earned your undergraduate degree at Vassar, you continued in higher education. You earned a master's degree and a doctorate at Rutgers University. What prompted you to continue pursuing additional education?
[JO ANN GORA]:
Once again, I was a child of the ‘60s. When I graduated from college, 10 days after I graduated from college, I got married. My husband was pursuing a doctorate in theoretical solid-state physics at the University of Delaware. As was customary in those days, I supported him while he finished his doctorate. And because of the times, and because I had the time, I would go and sit on the floor in the local bookstore and read books about essentially, social movement. This was a very interesting turbulent time. You know, there are courses, there are college courses now about the ‘60s. There's a wonderful Ken Burns series about the ‘60s. Well, I was living all of that. And I really believed that if a woman, if a woman wanted to have a solid career she needed advanced education. She needed at least a masters. My husband had a PhD. When I had graduated from college, the assumption was I was going to law school. And I hate to say this to a lawyer, but I spent a couple of years volunteering for Legal Aid and decided that lawyers weren't interested in the truth, and I was. And so, I decided to get a doctorate in criminology. Because I was very disillusioned with what legal work really was all about. And it was advocacy. And I, I was much more idealistic than that. So I decided to pursue a PhD in sociology with a specialization in criminology and organizational behavior.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Yeah. We'll talk a little bit later about your advocacy. You didn't have to go to law school, but you turned into a pretty good advocate. So, we'll talk about that a little later. You began your career then, in higher education, as a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson, which is also in New Jersey. Did you find teaching, that personal interaction with students, did you find teaching to be rewarding?
[JO ANN GORA]:
I loved teaching. And one of my good friends today, nowadays, was actually a student of mine back at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. In those days, I wasn't too much, too many years older than my students, in all honesty. And I started teaching before I finished my doctorate. So, I was writing my dissertation while teaching. And Carol became my research assistant, helping me code data. And we have been friends ever since. She went on to become the first woman police chief in Morristown, New Jersey. And we have stayed in contact over the years. So, I loved teaching because I loved the interaction with the students. I loved feeling as though I was opening new worlds to them. And of course, they were opening new worlds to me. So, it was an exciting, an exciting time in my life, in all honesty. And I really enjoyed it.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
So then you went on to, before you came to Ball State, you had several administrative positions at other institutions. You were a dean at Fairleigh Dickinson. You were the provost at Old Dominion University, then the chancellor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. What attracted you to administration and then a second question, which is, and I'm going to invite you to be immodest here. Why do you think that you were so good at it?
[JO ANN GORA]:
What attracted me to administration was the opportunity to solve problems. I was recruited into administrative work when I was still an associate professor. In other words, I hadn't become a full professor. But the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at FDU came up to me one day in the hall and said, “How would you like to apply for a new position that I'm developing? Associate Dean of a college.” And I said, “Oh, I couldn't do that. I don't know any of the policies and procedures.” And he said, “Don't worry you'll be creating them.” And I said, “Really?” He said, “Yes. That will be one of the tasks for the new associate dean.”
So he did create the position. I did apply for it. And I did become an Associate Dean. And, and really, right from the beginning I saw administrative work as an opportunity to solve problems, to make things happen on a large scale. Not just with a group of 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 students, but with hundreds of students, maybe thousands of students. And that was, that was exciting to me. As you said, I had an unusual career in higher education, in the sense that I spent the first 20 years of my life in private higher education and the second 20 years of my life in public higher education. Because I actually made a decision while I was at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey—which was private—that public higher education was a much better value proposition for the student. And I really believed there was no future for private higher education, for small, not terribly distinguished private institutions.
I used to say that you know, there was a book about higher education titled Four Thousand Futures, because there's 4,000 institutions of higher education. And I used to say that the next edition was going to be entitled Three Thousand Futures, because we were going to lose at least a quarter of the small private institutions. FDU was actually fairly large. It had three different campuses. But anyway, I made the switch when I went to Old Dominion University in Virginia in the 90s, to public higher education. And I never looked back. I really felt as though that was where the future was. That this was a true value proposition for students.
And why I was good at it? I think, you know, one of the most interesting things that happened to me was that I had jobs in 6 different states in 4 different parts of the country. Which means that I got to move around and experience several different cultures. And if you move 200 miles in this country, you're in a different culture. People think differently, they act differently, sometimes they even talk differently. And I learned in that process, by of course making mistakes, I learned to listen, really, really listen. And I think that's one of the elements of a good administrator. Someone who really listens. Who pays attention to what people are saying … isn't just waiting for them to pause, so that they can speak, but really listens. I learned to ask good questions. I've always been interested in people. I've always wanted to learn more about … about you, about any individual I was interacting with. But as my career progressed, I learned how important it was to really ask the right questions, really listen to what people said. And to really develop communication skills.
I think, in addition to being a problem-solver, which I think is another element of an administrator, you have to have good communication skills. You need to be able to really listen. You really need to be able to clearly communicate what you are thinking, and sometimes help people clarify what they are thinking. So, I think those were elements that made me a good administrator. Another element is, I see the big picture. Sometimes that's a disadvantage. Sometimes it means you don't see the details. But I am a big picture person. I always, I see the big picture. I focus on the big picture. I think that's just the way my mind works. And I think that's another element of being a good administrator, in all honesty.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Yeah. And I, I think one of the challenges for our jobs, and one of the opportunities, is to help as you say, listen carefully to those who are in the front lines, in the classroom. But help them see that the future can be better and brighter if we focus on a longer-term strategic plan. Help them see the wisdom of a different vision.
So, let's talk about some of your time here at Ball State. 2004 you became the president. What prompted you? What persuaded you? Why did you decide to pursue your career here at Ball State?
[JO ANN GORA]:
At the time, I was head of the campus—I was Chancellor at UMass Boston. And Roy and I loved living in Boston, in all honesty. We lived on Beacon Hill. We sold my car because car insurance was too expensive. And I had a car and driver. We walked or biked everywhere. Life was good, and work at the university was good. But then the man who hired me, who was somewhat infamous, by the name of Billy Bulger, was fired by the then governor, Mitt Romney. And I remember thinking, “This job may not be so much fun in the future, now that the person who hired me and who wanted me to really be, to be proactive shall we say, was no longer there.” And in Boston, you always needed somebody at your back. What can I say? The first article that was written about me in Boston was entitled “Moxie.” At the time I thought it was a compliment. As time went on, I wasn't so sure it was a compliment.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Yeah. I'm not sure “moxie” on Beacon Hill is necessarily what you aspire to.
[JO ANN GORA]:
That's right. So, the search firm that was doing a search, the presidential search for Ball State, reached out to me. And said, called me up out of the blue and said, “Have you ever thought about working in the Midwest or living in the Midwest?” And I said, “No, but my mother lived in the Midwest and liked it very much. And always spoke very highly of it.” I was recruited by a search committee that consisted only of trustees. There were no other people on the search committee. Because the Board had fired my predecessor and had sort of lost faith in the traditional recruitment process, so they hired a search firm. And the search committee was just trustees. So, they reached out to me. I came, we met in Chicago. Roy and I, after the second or third meeting, I met 7 times with this, with the Board of Trustees. I think that's a record.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
I think that's exhaustive and exhausting.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Yeah. It was exhaustive and exhausting. But they had … I became the first woman president in the state of Indiana. And the Board was nervous about that appointment. I was also not a Midwesterner. They were nervous about that. But Roy and I had done our research. We anonymously came to campus. We ate at Scotty's. Our server was a student at Ball State. We asked her all about Ball State. We went over to the Alumni Center and there was an event going on. And brazen folks that we were, we went in.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
You crashed a Ball State alumni event?
[JO ANN GORA]:
That's right. We put on nametags and started walking around talking to people. And people talked to us. And you know, we looked around. We got a real feel for the campus. And we liked everything we saw. And what was exciting to me, was that Ball State University was an independent institution with its own Board of Trustees. It was not part of a system. The disadvantage of being in a system, is that there's always a pecking order of institutions in a system. And I was in the UMass system, where Amherst was at the top and everybody else was below Amherst. And when Bill Bulger hired me to, to transform the Boston campus, we were going to upset that apple cart. But when Bill Bulger got fired, I thought “Mm, we're not upsetting any apple carts here.”
And it was exciting to me that Ball State was not part of a system. It was an independent institution with its own Board of Trustees. And so, you could be aggressive. You could be creative. You could have good ideas. And if people embrace them, you could … the sky was the limit. So, the opportunity is what excited me. You know how when people are looking at houses, if they see a house that doesn't look all that pretty but it's well-constructed. They say it's got good bones. That's what I felt about Ball State. I felt like it had good bones. That it wasn't a very pretty campus, back in 2004, 2003. But it had good bones. It was solid financially. The faculty obviously cared about the students, based on what the students said to us about their experience. And … it just felt right. And you know, I've always said to parents, when they were taking their children to look at universities, to see whether that was the school they wanted to go to. I've always said to them, “You know, the student has to make that decision.” And the student is going to make the decision based on how they feel on that campus. If it feels right, that's where they want to go. And if it feels wrong, then really, they shouldn't go there. And that was kind of the way it was for me. It just felt right. I just could feel the potential.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
So, you mentioned a moment ago, at that time the campus was not what it looks like today.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
So, when you were the president here, the campus under your leadership, continued a physical transformation. Why did you think it was important to invest those resources in our campus facilities?
[JO ANN GORA]:
Well, as you know, the physical plant really provides the educational structure for the learning process. And if you don't have good technology, if you don't have good equipment, if you don't have good labs, then it's hard for everybody to excel. When I came in 2004, the University, I got a chance to cut a ribbon on a building I had nothing to do with raising the funds for, and that was the Sursa Performance Hall. And that was a tunable performance hall. And that was revolutionary at the time. And it was exciting to see how the faculty, the music faculty, were so excited about being in that building, as were the students, as were, as was every performing artist that we brought there. So, technology makes a difference. Plus, you know, when students and families come to a campus to decide whether they, that's where they want to go to college, they can't look at a faculty member and figure out whether that faculty member is going to inspire their student. But they can look at the physical plant and say, oh this looks good or this doesn't look so good. And Ball State in 2003/4 didn't look so good.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Yeah. And it communicates a message about the quality of the program inside those buildings
[JO ANN GORA]:
It does. It does. It really does. And it was exciting to us. You know, we invested, I think it was $521 million in renovating or building new, 29 buildings in 10 years. And it all started with the renovation of McKinley Avenue. And if you talk to anybody in Muncie who was here at that time, they will tell you that the renovation of McKinley Avenue, as simple as that sounds, was really transformative. It really changed the way the campus looked. It was amazing that a road could do that.
But you know, as the Vice President for finance liked to say at the time, I was amazed since no project in Boston ever came in on time or on budget. How this project, it was a 3-phase project, and the first summer was on time, on budget. And I was complimenting the Vice President for finance when I said to him, “Amazing what you've accomplished in 3 months.” And he said, “Yes, 3 months and 30 years.” I mean, it may not have been 30 years, but it was something like 10 or 20 years, that they had been planning and trying to get the money, because it was federal money that was used for that initial project, to renovate McKinley Avenue. And it's that kind of long vision about what the campus should look like, what the facilities should look like. Where we're going to grow academically. How we need the facilities to really support that academic growth. That was the kind of planning that we started doing, and I know you're continuing to do. And it's so important.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Yeah. So, let me talk then about something else that I know you're proud of. You know, during your tenure here, you elevated, as I said in my introduction, you elevated immersive learning. Why was this, why was that distinctive educational experience so important to you? Why was that such an important element of a Ball State education?
[JO ANN GORA]:
I am truly passionate about this. I believe—I believed then and believe now—that the only way an institution can compete in a very competitive environment, and frankly Ball State is in a very competitive environment, it recruits most of its students from Indiana, and it is competing with IU and Purdue, and all their branch campuses. I felt the only way you can compete, just like in business frankly, is by having a distinctive product.
And what Ball State, I came to realize, literally from my first day on campus, what Ball State did better than any other campus, in Indiana or frankly, in the country at the time, was to really immerse students in an experiential learning process. This initially was funded by the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry. That was where the funding originally came for the first immersive learning projects that I became familiar with. Literally starting with my first day on campus, when I got to meet the students from NewsLink Indiana, I think was the name of the program. NewsLink Indiana. And I felt passionately that this was something that Ball State could do better than anybody else. Because we focus on the undergraduate experience … even though we have distinctive graduate programs, our main focus is on the undergraduate experience. We have a faculty that is focused on undergraduates. And that really wants to interact, really is committed to undergraduate growth. So, I felt that we could distinguish ourselves in a very competitive marketplace, with immersive learning.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Yeah. So, now I want to shift a little bit to some of the people.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
You know, I, one of the reasons I started this podcast is, as you know, in this position we have the opportunity to meet really interesting and inspiring people.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
You also have had a chance I know, to meet David Letterman. And he's perhaps, not only interesting, but he's probably Ball State's most entertaining graduate. He was recently on campus again. And we're grateful that you reengaged him. Tell us about your relationship with David Letterman.
[JO ANN GORA]:
I think Dave is a remarkable human being. He is not just a gifted and talented entertainer, comedian, he is a humble and modest and kindhearted and generous person. He is also, he's so modest, he's hard to, he's hard to get to know.
Because he's—he's almost bashful, which I know sounds ridiculous for somebody who stands up in front of millions of people and performs. But he is somewhat diffident. So, early on in my tenure, like a lot of my predecessors, I went to see the attorney that represented Dave, who happened to be … who happened to have a practice in Indianapolis. And I happened to notice that all around his office were gifts for Dave. That obviously had never gotten to Dave. They had never left this attorney's office. So, I actually had a gift with me, that I was going to give, that represented the gifts that Dave … the monetary gifts that Dave had given to the program that he graduated from. But I kept it in my little suitcase, because I thought, “I'm not leaving it here.” And I went back to campus. And I happened to be watching Dave that week, and he mentioned his mom. And that got me thinking that, “Gee whiz, Dave's mom lives in Indianapolis.” So, I don't know if we had yellow pages then, but I got her phone number and called her up and introduced myself. And I asked her if she'd like to have lunch. And Dave's mom is as sweet, and as nice, and as kindhearted as Dave is. And she said, “Sure.”
And so, Dorothy and I had lunch every couple of weeks for quite a while, until I summoned up the courage to say, “Dorothy we would like to honor Dave as one of our most distinguished graduates. And I have a letter for him, but I don't know how to get it to him.” And she said, “Give it to me.” And so, I gave her the letter, in which I invited Dave to be the Commencement speaker. And I asked if I could meet with him. And I gave it to her, and I soon got a call back from Dave's office saying that Dave would meet with me.
I went to New York for an evening meeting. It was a 7 pm meeting with Dave. And I was walking around the streets of Manhattan when I got a call telling me the meeting had been cancelled. So, I got back on a plane and went back to Indiana and thought, “I wonder if this means that he really doesn't want to meet with me.” But I thought, “I'll give this one more try.” So I gave it one more try. And Dave invited me back. And this time we did meet. And I, of course, was once again walking around the streets of Manhattan prior to the interview, realizing that I was incredibly nervous. And then it dawned on me that this is what Dave did for a living. He interviews people. So really, I had nothing to worry about. I was not in control of this meeting. He was in control of this meeting. And he would decide everything that went on in that meeting.
So, it was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. Dave came back to the campus four times while I was there. He brought with him the first time, Biz Stone, who was then a co-founder of Twitter. Rachel Maddow, who broadcast her MSNBC show from our campus, using our students in the production of her show that evening. A phenomenal experience for all of us, but especially the students she engaged. And then, of course, Oprah. And I thought, “After Dave and Oprah and I appeared on the stage of Emens Auditorium, that it wasn't going to get any better than this!” And so it was probably time to retire.
But Dave, certainly you know, he endowed the professional lecture and workshop series. And has since then taken a real, a really wonderful interest in our programs and in our students. And he is just a charming, charming individual who, well I … I’ll tell you one last story.
You know, the first time Dave came back, and he didn't want to be Commencement speaker. He said he didn't deserve it. Can you imagine that? And I said, “Well, let us name a building for you.” No, I don't deserve that. I said, “Dave this isn't about you, this is about us. If you let us name a building for you, that will inspire others.” And that he got. He got that. And the best part of this story is he's walking around this building and asking his executive producer who was with him, “Barbara, do we have this equipment?” And the Letterman Building had just been opened. And frankly, Barbara said, “No Dave, but we're getting it.” So, at that point, the facilities we were offering, our College of Communication, Information and Media, were truly a professional quality.
And you know, his folks had told me that Dave would not speak at the ribbon cutting. But I knew, deep in my heart, that there was no way that this man would get up in front of thousands of people and not speak. But they said, “You know, Dave … Dave doesn't like to speak in front of an audience where he knows people are—he knows there's families in the audience, people he knows.” And of course, he brought his family and his son Harry, who was, I think, 3 or 4 at the time, very young. And I, I had absolute confidence that he would speak. And it was one of Dave's most wonderful talents, he managed to get my name in the first paragraph of every article that was ever written about his appearance at Ball State, by commenting on some aspect of my person. So, the first time he was here, he told the audience that I was the president with the best legs of anybody he had ever met. And that of course, got into the very first paragraph of every article across the country. And he did that every time he was here. And do you think that was an accident? I don't think so.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
No. And I've had a chance, as you know, to meet him. And the first time I met him also was in Manhattan, several years ago. And you're right. I spent an hour with him, and I would say 50 minutes of it was him asking me questions.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Yes. Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
But, and we're still working on trying to persuade him to come to Commencement and speak at Commencement. I haven't given up. So—so speaking of Commencement, you've invited, in addition to David Letterman, you invited several other alumni to speak at Commencement. Do any of those speeches stand out in your memory?
[JO ANN GORA]:
Oh, that's a tough one. Let me … let me think. Gee. Actually, who comes to mind is Angela Ahrendts, who at the time was President of Burberry. And she comes to mind because first of all, she had a stunning career. She majored in fashion merchandising at Ball State. Went to New York the day after she graduated, had a fabulous career. I'm now grasping, you know, reflecting back I think she was with Liz Claiborne, Donna Karan, all big fashion houses. And then became President of Burberry. What was remarkable about her tenure at Burberry, was the way she used technology to bring Burberry into the 21st century. And frankly, that's—that's what she did when she came to campus to be the Commencement speaker.
First of all, she, she spoke, you know, at the Arts Terrace. But instead of having a sheaf of papers in her hand, she had an iPad in her hand. Her speech was on her iPad. And when the students saw that, they just roared. They loved it. And in addition to the way she delivered her message, the content was truly inspiring. Because she talked about humility. She talked about taking advantage of every little opportunity. You had to learn more, to become better at your craft, to meet people who could teach you more. And she told lots of stories about her own career to illustrate this. And spoke in such … such a warm and thoughtful way to our students about her own personal career, starting from when she graduated. The students were spellbound. In fact, all of us on the stage were spellbound. Because here she was, the President of Burberry in London. This is a billion-dollar business. Which she was transforming with the art of the trench and the use of technology, to really capture a global market. And she was talking about her experiences, when she was 20 and 21, and 22, and 24. So the students could really relate to the stories she was telling them. So, she really stands out in my mind as someone who really wanted to give back. And really took the assignment of being Commencement speaker to heart … to really help the students benefit from her experience.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Yeah. And … and you know, Dave and Angela, and so many of the other people that you and I have the great good fortune to have met in this position, really do embody the distinctive character and culture of this institution which we are fortunate to be a part of. So, I conclude every conversation on this podcast with a question about beneficence. As you know, that's the beautiful iconic statute that is the tangible reminder of our commitment, our university's commitment to the enduring values that distinguish Ball State University. So, of course, beneficence means doing good for other people, doing good through service and philanthropy. So, what, Jo Ann, what does beneficence mean to you?
[JO ANN GORA]:
You know, I think it's a great theme. I think it's a great theme. And for me, it's all about, what it means is paying it forward. That those of us who have, who have been successful, have an obligation to pay it forward. To help others in ways that we were helped or maybe not helped. But to really give others the benefit of our experience, and frankly, of our wealth. So that they too may … may pay it forward.
You know really, the Ball family is really, such—we have such a unique story. There are other universities that were founded by philanthropists. But what's different is the Ball family continues to be engaged with the university. One of the things that we did in my 10 years, was create a Ball family reunion. An annual event in which we invited Ball family members from all over the country to come back, to reflect on the incredible legacy. I mean, this, these were 5 brothers who came to Indiana because of the free natural gas, and created a successful company, Ball Corporation, that's still operating, a hospital, Ball Memorial Hospital, and a university. And then three family foundations that have continued to support the university. So, this is a family that truly believed in paying it forward. Truly believed, not just in making money and acquiring things.
Which you know, I'm at that stage in my life in which I'm hanging out with a lot of retired people. And everybody's got a lot of stuff. You know what? This stuff is irrelevant. It's truly irrelevant. And frankly, most of it is unnecessary. What's important is, what's the legacy that you, that you have, that you leave behind? And the Ball family created such a fabulous message for people. They did well, but they did good by doing well. They, they enabled other institutions to thrive because of the success that they had. So, I think beneficence has a special meaning at Ball State, really. Because of the family ties and the enduring message, the message of more than 100 years. That you need to pay it forward.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Well, thank you, Jo Ann. That's a perfect way to end our conversation. Please know that your legacy here at Ball State University endures with the positive impact that you made during your service here. So, thank you very much for joining us today. And please take good care.
[JO ANN GORA]:
Thank you so much, Geoff. It's been a delight talking with you.
[GEOFF MEARNS]:
Thank you.
You've been listening to Our Call to Beneficence, a podcast hosted by Geoff Mearns, the President of Ball State University. Check back again soon to hear from another Ball State graduate or friend. At Ball State University, We Fly.