S5E2: “I Will Always Be a Ball State Cardinal, Through and Through” | (Jill Lacy, Ball State University Foundation Board Officer and Graduate)

Jill Lacy is an accomplished, committed graduate of Ball State University. She serves on the Women of Beneficence Leadership Council, and she is a member of the Ball State University Foundation Board. As a student, Jill was active in student government and in her sorority. After graduating, she earned her master's degree in higher education administration, and then she pursued professional opportunities that allowed her to work at several colleges and universities across the country. Today, she serves as the president of The Lacy Foundation. 

In this episode, Jill talks about the objectives of The Lacy Foundation and the challenges and opportunities of working in philanthropy. She also shares her excitement about her son attending Ball State, and how much she appreciated being asked to serve on the committee that developed the latest iteration of our University’s strategic plan. 

If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show. 

Transcript

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Hello, I'm Geoff Mearns, and I have the good fortune to serve as the president of Ball State University. On today's episode of my podcast, I will have a conversation with Jill Lacy. Jill is an accomplished and committed graduate of our university. She serves on the Women of Beneficence Leadership Council, and she is a member of the Ball State University Foundation Board. During her years as a Cardinal, Jill was active in student government and in her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. After graduating from Ball State, Jill earned her master's degree in higher education administration. She then pursued professional opportunities that allowed her to work at several colleges and universities all across the country. After starting her family, Jill took a prominent leadership position with the private charitable foundation that was founded by her husband's family.

Today, she serves as the president of the Lacy Foundation. In this role, she is responsible for helping the foundation fulfill its philanthropic objective of helping Indianapolis to become a world class city. Jill, welcome back to campus, and thank you for joining me today.

[JILL LACY]

Well, thank you, President Mearns, for having me.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So I want to start at a place that makes sense. It's where I start with all of my guests. Why don't you tell us a little bit about where you're from and a little bit about where you grew up in your childhood, in your family?

[JILL LACY]

Sure. I grew up on the west Side of Chicago, about 20 miles outside the city, in a town called Lombard. I am the second of four girls. My mom was your typical stay at home mom at that time. And my dad was a teacher, principal, superintendent. So grew up having just really everything I could ever want. Everything we could ever do. We had a great time. Good family, lots of camping trips. Softball. My dad was a huge athlete, three-sport athlete growing up. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. So he had no son. So, of course, softball became the sport of choice—

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Became the outlet for his passion.

[JILL LACY]

He did. And thankfully, the two younger daughters are the athletic ones. My older sister and I, we tended to go more of the theater route. But he had some athletes, but he coached us all in softball. So, that was a fun adventure for us during the summers because he had a little bit lighter schedule being a principal, most of my, growing up life. And he became a superintendent later.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Did you go to the high school where he was principal?

[JILL LACY]

No. My dad was very specific about not wanting to live in the town where he was a teacher, principal, superintendent for ... so he had a little bit of a life. So to this day, even when I saw if I'd see a teacher in my grocery store, I'd be like, okay, hi, Mrs. Campbell, but then would, like, run away.

So he really wanted to have a little bit of separation. And school districts in the Chicagoland area are not these big county or city schools. My dad's districts were two schools, like tiny, tiny districts. That's just the way we were developed. So it was a little easier to live outside of the district. Yet still be pretty close to school.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. So we'll probably come back to this, but it sounds like education was a theme in terms of growing up as a theme within your family.

[JILL LACY]

Absolutely.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So you chose to enroll here at Ball State. And so I'm always interested to hear why our graduates picked this institution.

[JILL LACY]

I was looking to go out of state, but I knew I wouldn't go far. I was, as I said, to—one of four girls. So I also understood the cost of college. So I'm like, I can't go too far away. Trying to be responsible. My older sister went to Southern Illinois. So good in-state tuition, yet she was the farthest away that any of us went to school because it's six hours.

I liked the MAC size school. My dad went to Western Michigan, so I kind of, I liked that we are probably about 18,000 undergrads when I was here, it was probably when it was pretty big. I liked the size, and I thought I was coming to be a physical therapist. I thought that was what I wanted to do with my life.

So looking at exercise science programs and Ball State, the Human Performance Lab at the time was relatively new and getting lots of attention. Olympic athletes were coming here to work. It was like, oh, okay, that sounds good. It hits my mix: it’s four hours away from home, out of state. And then the clincher was I got a presidential scholarship, so it paid my out-of-state tuition. So on the money side of my brain thinking, okay, I'm one of four. How do we make this work for my parents? Because they were luckily helping us in paying for school, which I think is one of the greatest gifts a parents can do for your kids if you're able to do that. So I came here and I just fell in love.

So I applied to two schools, and, luckily I got into both, but, this is where I wanted to come.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And so did it fulfill your expectations when you were?

[JILL LACY]

Absolutely. 100%. I was here during a little bit of the heyday of good basketball.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yes, you certainly were.

[JILL LACY]

Yeah. Rick Majerus was our coach at the time. My sophomore year, we made it into the Sweet 16. So it was kind of a fun, bigger school, quote unquote, you know, kind of event, and wonderful time. And I loved my time here.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And did you go to some of those basketball games?

[JILL LACY]

I did, yes. People don't, I wish more people went to athletic events. I think it's same kind of thing now, but, most of us did. A lot of times it was sororities and fraternities going together as kind of a social part or, we'd go to support my big sis was on the women's basketball teams, and we'd go there and support that team. So it was it was a fun time to be a Cardinal, for sure.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And I've never seen it, but I've heard a lot about the gymnasium at the time before Worthen Arena. The students would pack that and it was a great environment for our home teams.

[JILL LACY]

Definitely. I guess when you have that smaller environment, it's easier to pack, and you did really feel like it was in a big stadium with lots of things. So yes, Worthen Arena was built and opened, I think my senior year. So we really didn't get to experience much of that, but it was a great time.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

I think there's too much now televised sports, or now on your iPad or your or your cell phone. So I think that inhibits some of the students. But you and I can reminisce about the good old days.

[JILL LACY]

Yes. Before phones and email and all that stuff. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So you mentioned a moment ago that when you came to Ball State, you thought you'd become a physical therapist. But then you met some mentors, or faculty members, on your journey here at Ball State. And that led you to a different career path. Who were those people and how did they shape your aspirations, your professional goals?

[JILL LACY]

Yes. So I was very involved in high school. I was student body president and involved in a bunch of groups and things like that. So getting involved was one of the first things I wanted to do here. So I ran for a freshman senator. That was kind of like my caveat into being involved. And that led to I then pledged Alpha Chi Omega my sophomore year. So I waited a little bit to pledge Alpha Chi. But, was an orientation leader and a whole bunch of other little projects here that I just love being involved. So, being student government, I was a freshman senator, then an at-Large senator, and then student body secretary for both my junior and senior year. So spent much of my time in the good old Student Center Building and at the time, the student association, we didn't use the word government. It was just SA back in the day, I don't know when that was changed, but our office was attached to the Office of Student Life. So, Kay Bales, who was then Kay Paul at the time-- she got married while I was in school--was the assistant director and worked a lot with her and just talked to her a lot, particularly with the sorority events and things like that.

And then Doctor Barb Jones was the department chair, the director of student life at the time. And they were just wonderful role models about really explaining what life in higher ed is on a non-faculty career. So you think when you grow up, you think, oh, somebody works at a university, they're a professor, they're a teacher. Not really understanding that there's the whole other side of the student life angle. So it just, wonderful time. Don Mikesell was the dean of student affairs at the time and Doctor McConkey. And they were just really open to conversations with people and really just had a great, great university experience.

So when I started thinking about, okay, well, I liked the physical therapy concept before, but now I understand that this is an actual career path. What does that look like? So talking with them about higher ed programs and where to apply and what to do and really working with that...they were wonderful, wonderful cheerleaders for me and that concept.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Right. So you decided after graduating from Ball State to continue your education, you earned a master's degree in higher education administration at IU. Assume were down in Bloomington?

[JILL LACY]

I was, yes.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

I also understand that while you were in Bloomington, you met your husband, Peter. Describe for us and the folks who were listening what those years in your early 20s, when so much was taking shape for you both professionally and personally? What was that like?

[JILL LACY]

I loved my time in grad school. Going full time was an amazing experience, and going to a Big Ten school was a nice caveat to my Ball State experience. So I had a little bit of taste of both schools. So I met Peter my second year of graduate school. He was just coming up to visit a friend from high school who happened to be in my program, and we met. He was living in Lexington at the time, so he came up for the IU-Kentucky football game, and we met and then started dating long distance.

He, shortly after we met, was transferred to Columbus, Ohio, to yet another college town. So like these things, and we...when I was looking for a job, I'm like, I'm going to look wherever. And he was like, okay, that's fine, we'll figure it out. So my first job was at what was then Southwest Missouri State University. It has now been renamed Missouri State University. And I was the assistant director of student activities, back in the day. So had all three Greek councils and student organizations as my space and thanks to Southwest Airlines and email, that is how Peter and I were pretty much communicated, and a boss who was awesome to let me leave a little bit early on Fridays to drive three hours to Saint Louis, to hop on a Southwest Airline, to go to Columbus to visit Peter.

So, we were married in ‘96, so I left my position and started looking for a job in Columbus. Luckily, there's lots of universities in that space. We were married in February of ‘96, and we got home from our honeymoon, and then my husband was transferred to Cincinnati. So I was like, well, there was a reason I didn't find a job here in Columbus.

And then went, we moved to Cincinnati shortly after that. We had my oldest daughter, she was born in Cincinnati, and I was working at the University of Cincinnati. So luckily the program director of Greek Life was available at that time. So I was hired on there.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And it's my understanding that after University of Cincinnati, you then landed a job in Washington, D.C.

[JILL LACY]

Well, it was my husband was transferred out to DC. And at that point in time, I had had all three of my kids. So when we moved to—oh, no, sorry I’d had Megan. And then I was pregnant with Rachel when we moved out to DC, and my husband was working for a company called Finish Master at the time, and he had the sales territory from basically Pennsylvania through the Carolinas. So DC was just somewhat in the middle of that space. So that's where we chose to go. And we thought we'd be out there for a couple of years. So what a fun place to be at that point in time. So then I had Rachel out there and Callahan as well. And then we were out there during 9/11, which is a very interesting time to be in DC. Very, just very unique. My brother in law was in the Navy at the time and stationed at the Pentagon, so there was a lot of upheaval. Luckily, he was fine. He was in his Crystal City offices that day, so that was lovely. But it was an interesting time to be in DC. But we loved the experience of being out there.

All the Smithsonians are free when they're open, unlike today. So it's a great place to take the kids to the zoo. And if somebody acted up, you just left. You didn't spend $1,800 to go into the zoo or all the other aerospace museums and things like that. So we had a great time. And, I really became the stay at home mom out of necessity. DC is very expensive. Even preschool. You had to spend the night outside the night before to get in to register your kid the next day. Super competitive just to get somebody into preschool. So it made a little bit more sense for me to stay at home. Versus going back to work in student affairs, which is never a 9 to 5 job or 8 to 5 job. And that was what suited us best. And we were luckily able to do that.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And those student affairs jobs also involve weekends, too.

[JILL LACY]

Yes, weekends and nights. All my meetings were always after 5 p.m. because that's when the students were available. So a difficult—a little bit more difficult of job when you don't have family with you and yeah, three kids under four.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. So at some point shortly thereafter, after 9/11, you and Peter decided to return to the Midwest. And that was when your kids started going to school and you had a little bit more time, even as a stay at home mother. It's my understanding from our conversations that you then started to invest your time in community activities. Community organizations. Tell us a little bit about that.

[JILL LACY]

Absolutely. We moved back to Indianapolis. My husband was transferred then back to his home office in Indy. And while I grew up in Chicago, he grew up in Indianapolis. So it was coming home for him. But me learning a new city. We moved there, right, about a year before Megan went to kindergarten. So that was ideal that we were able to have my kids settled before they went to school.

So I did have a little bit more time. So volunteering was just natural and easy to me. It was my outlet, I guess I would say? My way to meet people. And do something for myself that was also helpful, just for the family in a hole. So I always, always, always was volunteering for Alpha Chi Omega in some capacity. Even when I was out in DC, president of the alumni club and other things like that. So when I moved to Indianapolis, I got the call very shortly thereafter that said, hey, the Gamma Mu chapter, which is the Ball State chapter of Alpha Chi, needs a chapter advisor. And I was like, well, fantastic.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Is that a volunteer position?

[JILL LACY]

It is a volunteer. Almost all of Alpha Chi is a volunteer role. Okay. So I was like, fantastic, I will do that. So, every Sunday during the school year, I would drive my 62 miles is what it is from door to door. And come up here on Sunday nights and have chapter meetings and work with the chapter.

So that was very, very satisfactory for me. I always say that Alpha Chi Omega was my first lifetime commitment because it is a lifetime. It's not just your four years in college or however many. It really is, is something that you can do for a lifetime. And it gave me lots of pleasure and lots of joy.

So I traveled up here and, for 13 years, I was a chapter advisor up here for Ball State, and I loved every minute of it. It's great. Again, students in college just give me that energy. It's my space to work with. I remember having to volunteer when the kids were in Girl Scouts and I'm like, oh, that’s hard—you feel that hour and a half. But working with my college students, it's so—it's such a wonderful space to be and to see them grow over the four years and be challenged. Fail, learn from failure. I always said college is a relatively safe place to fail and kind of figure out what that is. So I had many, opportunities to do that with Alpha Chi and then of course, with the kids in school, then became the PTOs of the world. Good old parent teacher organization in the schools. I was the president of the elementary school for a couple of years and getting involved that way. And then, the Children's Museum Guild of Indianapolis was my other really big endeavor. So that was a seven year endeavor. It was a wonderful experience. We build and host the haunted house every year for the museum. So I was the co-chair one year, which is affectionately known as the Head Witch.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Quite a title.

[JILL LACY]

Quite a title, one we all are very, very proud of. And had a wonderful experience there. I was on the fundraising side of the house, so raising the money, getting companies to donate. And that was a wonderful 15 year, 15 month experience, to really build the haunted house, which is the largest, one of the largest fundraisers in the city and the largest fundraiser for the museum annually. So that was a wonderful experience where I met my best friend to this day was my co-chair for that event. And, really just had a fun time being a little bit involved in Indianapolis, being involved up here in Muncie and working with helping my kids to go to school. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Just going to say and raising three children. You were pretty busy.

[JILL LACY]

It was fun. Yes. And Peter traveled all the time. So it was a nice little outlet for me when the kids were young.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Good way to meet people. So, after you returned to Indianapolis, you said a moment ago that's where Peter's family was. You became close with one of his aunts, Margot. And it's my understanding Margot was a great civic leader who was serving as the president at that time of The Lacy Foundation. Tell us a little bit more about her and also The Lacy Foundation.

[JILL LACY]

Sure. So Margot Eccles, was my husband's aunt, and she was the firecracker. She was a no nonsense, take it or leave it kind of lady. And just thought Indianapolis was a wonderful place and really wanted to impact the city. We had a family company that, at that time, my husband's the fourth generation. So we've been around, now for 100-plus years. 2012 was our hundredth anniversary. So really felt dedicated to the city. And the foundation was really impactful for the city. And she was an amazing, an amazing person, a little scary sometimes, a little daunting, a little intimidating, for sure. And she had this slicked back strawberry blond hair and always wore a black coat. And as she got older and, she suffered some from emphysema, so had some health skills or some health scares. And, she was taught how to write a Segway. So that was her way to maneuver around meetings on the Circle. So she wasn't in a wheelchair yet but walking to some buildings. So I'd always get the call. Oh, I saw your Aunt Margot flying around the Circle today from my friends. So it was a fun, she was an amazing, amazing person. And working at LDI, which is our family company, and as part of her responsibilities, was running the foundation as well.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

At some point, you developed a very close relationship with her, and she invited you to take a leadership role at the foundation. Tell us about that.

[JILL LACY]

Yes. She was thinking about succession planning, as to who would come next with the foundation. So she asked me to take over, so I'd be the first “outlaw,” as we call them in the family, to run the foundation—

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Outlaw in the sense of not— you're by marriage, not by birth.

[JILL LACY]

Correct. To take over the foundation. And I was honored and, very excited to do that. I really value the work that the foundation was doing. And putting community first. But she said I had to go through the SKL program. So our foundation owns, and created many years ago the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership series, which is Indianapolis’s executive leadership series.

And at the time, I said, well, great, I'll go through class. I said, I didn't want to take anybody's spot. It's a very tough program to get into, very tough application. So my class is the—we have 26 in my class. Every other class is 25. And there's always this competition of SKL of whose classes are the best. So I call our class the greatest class because mathematically I’m correct.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

You're the largest. So tell us about the foundation. Are there particular types of civic organizations that the foundation invests its philanthropy in?

[JILL LACY]

Yeah. So we focus on community, education, business leadership and, arts and culture. Those are probably the four main caveats. But overall, our mission is relatively broad. It's any—we work with organizations that make central Indiana—and I get to figure out what central Indiana means—which means it hits Muncie and hits Bloomington and Lafayette, got some cousins that go to Lafayette. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Good for you. The benefit of being the president.

[JILL LACY]

Exactly. We get to control that a little bit. So anything to help organizations make greater Indianapolis a world class place to work, play, educate, and stay. Knd of I how I sum it up. So we do a lot in the arts and culture space. We do lots in the access space, making things available for people. I like to find new organizations or somebody who's got a new program out there.

We're not using marketing dollars like a corporation would, so we don't like our name on lots of things. So I like to try new things. I remember when the historical society was looking for an event for the holidays. They didn't have a holiday event, and they wanted to create a Festival of Trees, wanting to have 92 trees representing the 92 counties and somebody from each of those counties decorate those trees.

I'm like, okay, I'd be happy to do that. And they were like, well, we thought you would because you like to try new things and you're okay if it doesn't quite work out the first time. I'm like, yes, I love those opportunities for us. So I get to see a lot of what's happening in the city.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. And it harkens back to what you said a few minutes ago about being an at a university campus. Failure's not necessarily a bad thing because you learn from failures.

[JILL LACY]

Absolutely. And it's just trying something new. And you could always—you can always learn something from that. You can always say, well, this didn't go the way we thought. Or, something happened. Maybe it was a weather related incident and that couldn't...then the four year event couldn't go on. So it's just fun to see what what's out there? How can you make the place that you live better? What is that thing that's going to spark somebody's interest?

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So early in your career with various organizations you were raising money? [JILL: Yes.] And then now at The Lacy Foundation, you're involved in giving money?

[JILL LACY]

Yes.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

What have you learned about the difference between the two?

[JILL LACY]

Raising money is difficult and takes lots of time and energy. And luckily, we are happy enough to live off our endowments. We've been invested well over the years, and—

[GEOFF MEARNS] 

So The Lacy Foundation doesn't presently try to raise additional resources.

[JILL LACY]

Correct. We do not fundraise. Which is nice. It takes a little bit of pressure off this one woman show, which is the foundation. It's just me and so giving away money would seem easy, and it's not.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

What makes it difficult

[JILL LACY

It makes it difficult. We are not a foundation that has millions of dollars in which to give away. Our annual output is probably around nowadays, about $850,000. So significant. But it's not—here's $1 million, try this out. So smaller gifts, usually in that $25,000 range somewhere up above or a little bit below that. It's how do you how do you use those monies for an organization to be impactful?

How do you use a smaller gift like that to really make some traction or really make some differences? So we do a lot of general operating support for our organizations. Those are the hardest dollars to raise. The ones that help keep the lights on, help pay the salaries, help do the things that don't have the fancy name to it

And I'm amazed how surprised the organizations are with it. Like, oh my God, thank you. That's, those are the hardest dollars for us to get. And I'm like, I understand that. And I feel like that's where we can be impactful, as the foundation, and really helping some organizations try to hire. One organization we worked with needed to hire somebody for about six months to create some curriculum. There are a young actors theater, so wanted to create a new show about today's issues. So I gave them the funds to do that. That person created what they needed to do, and then they were able to go make a half-million dollar ask to a larger foundation in the city to create the program. And they did.

So those are those are fun things for me to feel like how we can be impactful.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. So it sounds like it's both difficult but also very rewarding.

[JILL LACY]

Absolutely. 100%. So rewarding to see what people do or how the programs affect the people that come to participate, how they are able to have, come see a show, maybe at the IRT that they've never been able to see, a real life performance, particularly when you have—I love when we're able to do generational things. So it could be a grandparent, a parent and a child coming to an event. To see something they’ve never seen—

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And knowing that you made that possible.

[JILL LACY]

That's right. Yes. It's very rewarding. I'm a developer by a good old strength finders nameology. So I really love, to see people be able to raise themselves a little bit higher, to just get a lot of joy out of other people finding joy. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. So we've talked a little bit about your early family life. We've talked about your career in your work. Let's come back to being a Cardinal. As we know, you're a Ball State graduate, and you recently got to celebrate your son Callahan becoming a Ball State graduate. Describe what it was like to become, as a Ball State graduate, to become the parent of a Ball State student and now a Ball State graduate.

What was his experience like? And what was that like for you?

[JILL LACY]

It was super exciting for me. So he is my youngest, so I'm like, oh my gosh, am I going to get my little Ball State legacy here? I don't know. My daughters are both Alpha Chis, so I felt like, okay, I had some ... a little piece of that. But my son, when he was in high school and he was figuring out what he thought he wanted to do, the media came up. Media production. He's, Oh, when? So when I said media, I'm like, oh, you know who has the best program around? Good old Ball State. So it was—

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And it's 62 miles away.

[JILL LACY]

62 miles away, for sure. So I was excited. So we, Callahan and I came up for your typical visit tour, and that was great. To see everything on campus has obviously changed so much over the last 35, 40 years since I was here. It's hard to say that, it's changed so much for the better.

It's beautiful. And all the new buildings. And, to see him walk around the space, he's like, oh, I could really see myself here. And we were looking at a couple other schools a little further away, and I was like, oh, please, please, please. This is where I think you really need to be. I think it's the right size for you, obviously has a great program. So he was still a little bit debating. So then I had my husband come up with Peter. So I'm like, I know my alma mater. I love my alma mater. You went to school in the South. You come up and do the visit. So of course I was a little sneaky there. So I had my contacts here, like, oh, could you have him meet maybe the Dean of CCIM or the department chair for the School of Media. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Working those angles behind the scenes. 

[JILL LACY]

Yes. Which was amazing. So, they met with, Paaige Turner, who was then the dean of CCIM and with Susie Smith, the department chair. And not only was Callahan like, yes, this is where I want to go, but then Peter was already he's like, oh my God, you could you hear all the things that they do and all the programs and XY and Z, and we got to meet with so-and-so and look at this space. And, Callahan was involved in radio in high school, so looked at that space and the family was all in at that point. So it was very enjoyable. I was very happy to see him here.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

We can hear the pride and excitement in your voice.

[JILL LACY]        

Yes.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So while Callahan was a student here at Ball State, you were invited to become a member of the board—of the Foundation board? Why did you say yes to that invitation? Given how busy you are?

[JILL LACY]

I love to serve on boards. I feel like it's one of the outshoots of running a foundation, of running a foundation in the city is that you serve on boards. I say it's part of my actual job to serve on boards. Being asked to serve on the foundation board was very humbling.

I was very excited about the opportunity for so many reasons. A, just being a proud alumni, first of all, having worked on other foundation boards, I finally felt like I actually had something to contribute other than just dollars. That I had the knowledge and the intelligence to be a good board member, which I think is very important to not say yes if you don't feel that way.

And with Callahan being a student here, it just made sense. And, and thanks to you a lot, President Mearns, because I think what you have done in your tenure here has just escalated and elevated Ball State to heights I really never thought we'd be at. So it just was a super energetic, I think is probably the best word, time to be involved in Ball State.

So it was a very easy yes for me to say it.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Well, thank you for your kind words. I want to follow up on something you said a moment ago, being a good board member. [JILL: Yes.] What does being a good board member on the Ball State Foundation board mean, or the other board?

[JILL LACY]

I think board member activity is not necessarily something you just automatically know how to do. What is your lane, particularly on a governance board, like the foundation board is. And many boards that I'm on are not operational. So we're not out there doing the work. It's really understanding what your role is, compared to the staff role. And really being the strategic brainchild of the board, of being a fiduciary responsibility. Understanding your duty in that regard of understanding where the money is going, how it’s being supported, how's it being raised. Coming prepared to board meetings—it sounds so simple and yet I've been on many boards where people have clearly not read the material.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Not everyone is as well prepared. 

[JILL LACY]

And then really doing everything you can, everything you say you're going to do, to do. If you're asked to reach out to people, what does that look like? So it's a lot of fun.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. And having been both on boards and now working with boards, to have board members who are committed and prepared, ensures that their contributions are constructive, in terms of supporting what the institution is trying to do. And speaking of service, last year you also accepted my invitation to serve on our university strategic planning committee. Tell us a little bit about that experience. What was that like? Because that was probably different for you to kind of be behind the curtain now. 

[JILL LACY]

Definitely. While I've done strategic planning on other boards before, never for a university, never for something so large and never for an organization—I well, I feel very comfortable in the student affairs side of the world and higher ed, but obviously never being a faculty member. That is a very a different part of the role at a university. And, so I was very excited to be asked for sure. I love the small group that you put together, and it's always a wonderful way to meet faculty members and department heads that I don't normally get the opportunity to meet. And the students and community members that we had working with that group. I was just so impressed with how the entire year-plus that we were meeting together, and the next iteration, the next five years, the second set of five years for the strategic plan. Very excited to learn, the number of .... what did we call those?

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Working groups?

[JILL LACY]

Working groups and open forums? So I came to as many as I could. I think I hit five of the six.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

You were well prepared....well engaged.

[JILL LACY]

I really wanted to see—and what amazed me, when we came to the groups, were faculty members were coming. Staff members from all over the campus were coming to particular events, the way in which everybody just seemed to know everybody. And there's a lot of camaraderie, and everyone was there really to try to help make impact on where the institution can go next. There was a lot of buy in. I don't think anybody was there as just a check the box. They were really, they took time out of their day, rescheduled classes, whatever they had to do to be at some of those forums and just the insight they brought and really, how do we make this university move forward into that process? And I thought you did a wonderful job. So thank you.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Well thank you. This is an engaged and special place, as you know. And I feel very fortunate to be here. So, a couple questions. So the strategic plan is called Destination 2040. It has a long term, you know, kind of time horizon. If you fast forward in your imagination and we're here in 2040, what do you hope will be the same about Ball State and what do you hope will be different and maybe better? What would you like to celebrate in 2040?

[JILL LACY]

Oh, wow. The same, I hope, is, the ease and simplicity of getting engaged in this university. I think at any level, whether you're student, faculty or staff member, there's so many things in which to do to really elevate Ball State and Muncie community as a whole. I love the intertwining and the work that we do to elevate East Central Indiana.

So I hope that still stays, that you come and you can automatically just say okay, I'm going to get involved in whatever the thing that you have passion about. In the future, I would love this to be the No. 1 place people in Indiana go. I love that we are a university for Hoosiers and that we retain our students here in Indiana. Which I think is a huge kudos, to the current administration for sure. And staff. Being, staying here in Indiana is important to elevate our state as a whole. I would love to see personally Greek life grow back a little bit to maybe what it was when I was here, when we had 16 sororities versus ...there's nine now. Unfortunately we lost one earlier this this semester. One closed here on campus, which is always sad because I, I do believe Greek life, that opportunity if you so chose, it gives you so many opportunities, not only while you're here in college, but in life and lots of challenges, in a way, to have good, thoughtful discussion.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Those relationships that are so valuable.

[JILL LACY]

So incredibly valuable. I hope that, the alums continue to be very proud of being a Ball State alum. I hope maybe our athletic programs grow. Maybe this NIL stuff can figure itself out. And we can keep—

[GEOFF MEARNS]

We have to do a little fundraising.

[JILL LACY]

We can keep the athletes, to stay here in Indianapolis and get students really a little bit more engaged into that side of college world. Because it is so amazing and so unique to that college time frame, that we want to see our games on Saturdays aired at the highest level with College GameDay coming there. Wouldn't that be nice? [GEOFF: On the quad.] That'd be super fun to have that there. And just for Ball State to be a sought after university to attend while still being a great place for first generation college students to come to get that support and to succeed.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. So one final question, Jill, if I may, and it's a question—a variant—that I ask all of my guests and it's about Beneficence. One of the things that I think is truly distinctive about Ball State is Beneficence as a representation of our enduring values. And as you know, we call them enduring values because they have distinguished the university for generations. And we all hope it will distinguish the culture of Ball State for years to come. You've been engaged in Ball State for many years in many different ways. But what does beneficence mean to you?

[JILL LACY]

Beneficence really is the act of doing something for the good for others. And I think that's luckily what I get to do as a job, to find a way to have some dollars impact some programs that help people. It brings it back to the Ball family and to the Ball brothers, which started this university, and going to a school that has a name versus a state or something, kind of just reminds you well somebody gave something to create this place that is so incredibly special to me.

So it's about giving back. It's about learning from the opportunities that you have. And then how do you carry that forward? How do you get other people excited. So I will always be a Ball State Cardinal through and through, whether that is my time, my energy, my dollars, to be supportive. And I hope that people behind me will follow that as well.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Well said. Jill, thank you. Thank you for this engaging conversation. Thank you for joining me.

[JILL LACY]

Well, thank you for having me. It's wonderful to be here.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Good to see you. Thank you.