Missed One Ball State Day? Click here to make an impact!
$ 1,426,040 raised 7,410 gifts
Communication Studies has raised $ 24,119 from 290 gifts!
Communication Studies

Because of Ball State...COMM IS GREAT!

Thank you SO Much for considering donating to the Department of Communication Studies! Your generous gift will be used to support students in our classes, as well as those who excel in our nationally ranked speech and debate teams. 

This year, we are ready to ROCK! Just look at our hourly challenges! Whether Kathy has to appear as an '80s fashion crisis, Glen's ceramic turtles get immortalized, or Beth and Scarlett must devour unsavory snacks, the COMM faculty wants our students, their parents, our beloved alumni, and our dear friends to know that we succeed because of you: our Ball State family!


We remember Mike Bauer...


As you consider your gift for One Ball State Day this year, please help us honor Mike Bauer's memory by donating to the Michael Bauer Debate Fund (details below)! 

Mike Bauer was a cherished member of the Communication Studies Department and a dedicated educator at Ball State University for 34 years. Even though he left us too soon, Mike's passion for debate and his commitment to student success left an enduring legacy within our department and among the thousands of students and alumni whose lives he touched. 

Please direct your gift to one or more of the following five funds

The Michael Bauer Debate Fund recognizes Mike Bauer's enduring coaching and program-building legacy. Our goal this year is to raise enough funding to signify Mike's monumental contributions to Ball State's nationally recognized debate program. 

Our Debate Enhancement Fund supports our nationally ranked student debaters...who need lots of $$$ to travel to debate tournaments. The more funding we receive, the more students can develop their debate skills by participating in debates near and far.  

Our Individual Events (Speech) Enhancement Fund helps things such as helping us maintain BSU's status as a national speech legend! The more the speech team travels and competes, the better we get! It's that simple. We need you.

Our General Fund lifts up the Communication Studies Department by supporting things such as, immersive classroom opportunities, events like the Big Talk Showcase, bringing speakers to campus, funding alumni networking initiatives, and providing professional development opportunities for our students.  

Our Communication Studies Master's Student Development Fund supports graduate students in multiple ways. It supports activities such as travel, so that our graduate students can learn from senior academics and present their own scholarly work at regional and national conferences. It also helps us to recruit the best and brightest graduate students...and once they arrive, it helps us to support them with material resources to excel in their coursework.


You can contribute to these special challenges ALL DAY LONG!

Michael Bauer Debate Fund

If the Michael Bauer Debate Fund raises $1,500 by NOON, it will unlock a $1,500 gift from awesome debate alumn Neil Alldredge.

Thirty donations throughout the day to the Michael Bauer Debate Fund will unlock a $1,000 match from Dr. Laura O'Hara. 


Twenty-five alumni donor gifts to the Michael Bauer Debate Fund throughout the day will unlock the debate team debating on a topic area chosen by an alumni donor (randomly selected; please mention your topic of choice in the memo line).  


Individual Events (Speech) Enhancement Fund

Twenty alumni donors to the Speech Team (Individual Events Enhancement Fund) throughout the giving day will unlock a $250 match from Dr. Carrie Shue. 


Forty gifts to the Speech Team (Individual Events Enhancement Fund) throughout the giving day will unlock Spencer Coile's performance in a stunning music video. 


The Debate Enhancement Fund

Twenty alumni donors to the Debate Enhancement Fund throughout the giving day will unlock a $250 match from Dr. Carrie Shue. 


Twenty alumni donors to the Communication Studies Master's Student Development Fund throughout the giving day will unlock a $250 match from Dr. Carrie Shue.

 

Communication Studies General Fund

Twenty gifts to the Communication Studies General Fund throughout the day will unlock a $500 match from Dr. Laura O’Hara. 

Trying to decide when to give to the Department of Communication Studies? This handy guide will help you decide! 

12 AM – 8 AM: Twenty-five gifts will unlock Dr. Glen Stamp naming his beloved ceramic turtles after three randomly selected donors.

8 AM – 12 PM: Fifty gifts will unlock Dr. Beth Messner and Dr. Scarlett Hester going stomach-to-stomach in a mortal battle of "Fill your guts or spill your guts" (high stakes "truth or dare!").

12 PM – 2 PM: Forty gifts to the Communication Studies Master's Student Development Fund will unlock Dr. Kathy Denker serving the looks as an 80's FASHION CRISIS! No joke! This will be RAD!

2 PM – 4 PM: Twenty gifts will unlock Dr. Courtney Dreyer's appearance as Tiffany--Bride of Chucky for all of her classes.  BOO!

4 PM – 6 PM: Twenty-five gifts will unlock Christine Sprunger wearing a Buc-ee Beaver outfit to work.

6 PM – 7 PM: Twenty gifts will unlock Melanie Turner "keeping Candy Handy": by handing out candy to anyone who comes to her office for a week!

7 PM – 8 PM: Thirty gifts will unlock Will Reid modeling his new ALL PINK WARDROBE for his classes.

8 PM – 12 AM: Fifty gifts will unlock the Graduate Students getting into a silly-string battle!!

Share your Cardinal pride using #OneBallState
Leaderboard
Morning Leaderboard
The four departments/units/teams with the most donors by 10 a.m. receives $3,000, $2,000, $1,000, and $500 in challenge funds.
Rank Prize Department/Unit/Team Donors
1 $3,000 Theatre & Dance 131
2 $2,000 Indiana Academy 86
3 $1,000 Field Hockey 70
4 $500 Communication Studies 56
5 Football 48
Ended
Leaderboard
College Donor Leaderboard
The college that has the most donors by midnight will receive $5,000 in challenge funds.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $5,000 College of Fine Arts 723
2 Teachers College 670
3 College of Communication, Information, and Media 512
4 Miller College of Business 429
5 College of Sciences and Humanities 399
Ended
Leaderboard
Academic Department Gift Leaderboard
The three academic departments with the most gifts by midnight receive $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000 in challenge funds.
Rank Prize Department Gifts
1 $5,000 Theatre & Dance 699
2 $3,000 Communication Studies 290
3 $1,000 School of Music 204
4 Accounting 158
5 Center for Information & Communication Sciences 111
Ended
Leaderboard
Who is giving?
Which part of the Ball State family is making the biggest impact on One Ball State Day?
What is your affiliation to Ball State University
Rank Answer Donors
1 Alumni 2,210
2 Friend 911
3 Employee 828
4 Parent 712
5 Student 441
6 Young Alumni (2016-2026) 242
7 Indiana Academy Alum 112
8 Emeritus/Retired 71
9 Burris Alum 15
Ended
Leaderboard
Dash & Splash Leaderboard
Dash & Splash participant who has the most gifts between 12–1 p.m. will win $1,000 for the fund they’re racing for.
Rank Prize Fund Gifts
1 $1,000 Registrar General 44
2 Online Student Support Fund 21
3 Indiana Academy General Fund 11
4 Elementary Education General 9
5 Learning Center Fund 9
Ended
Leaderboard
College Leaderboard
The four colleges with the biggest percentage of money raised from OBSD 2025 will receive $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 and $500.
Rank Prize College % +/- Goal
1 $3,000 Teachers College +260.28% $165,077.10
goal: $45,819.00
2 $2,000 College of Health +56.82% $94,393.86
goal: $60,194.00
3 $1,000 College of Sciences and Humanities +14.83% $69,831.79
goal: $60,811.00
4 $500 College of Fine Arts +14.02% $160,177.42
goal: $140,480.00
5 Miller College of Business +7.52% $133,851.87
goal: $124,491.00
Ended
Success!
Student Donor Challenge
5 randomly selected student donors will receive $250 to designate to the fund of their choice.
Completed
Success!
The First Four Challenge
The first student, employee, parent, and alumni donor will each receive $250 given to the fund their gift went to.
Completed
Success!
First 5 Academic Departments
The first 5 academic departments to receive a gift will each receive $500 in challenge funds.
Completed
Success!
First International Alum Challenge
The first international alum to make a gift from abroad on One Ball State Day will get $500 in challenge funds designated to the fund their gift went to.
Completed
Leaderboard
10AM—Noon Leaderboard
The five units/areas/teams that raise the most money from 10 a.m. — Noon each receive $1,000 in challenge funds.
Rank Prize Unit/Area/Department Raised
1 $1,000 Men's Golf $16,157.00
2 $1,000 Gymnastics $5,392.34
3 $1,000 Field Hockey $5,165.00
4 $1,000 Theatre & Dance $4,556.64
5 $1,000 Indiana Academy $4,537.08
Ended
Leaderboard
Afternoon Leaderboard
The five departments/areas/programs with the most donors between 3-5 p.m. will each receive $1,000 in challenge dollars.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Theatre & Dance 59
2 $1,000 Field Hockey 59
3 $1,000 Indiana Academy 53
4 $1,000 Communication Studies 38
5 $1,000 Soccer 36
Ended
Leaderboard
Most Donors - Unit Leaderboard
The five departments/areas/programs with the most donors by midnight will each receive $1,000
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Theatre & Dance 517
2 $1,000 Indiana Academy 310
3 $1,000 Field Hockey 232
4 $1,000 Gymnastics 190
5 $1,000 Communication Studies 183
Ended
Success!
Ball State Employee Social Media Challenge
Faculty and staff social media challenge! Share a photo of your 'Because of Ball State' postcard to share how Ball State has shaped who you are today—or what you and your area have been able to accomplish because of Ball State. Be sure to stamp your post with #OneBallState and #BecauseOfBallState. Two random participants will get to donate $500 in challenge funds toward their favorite area.
Completed
Success!
Social Media Video Share Challenge
Share any of the One Ball State Day videos on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram Stories, or TikTok using #OneBallState for a chance to earn extra challenge dollars. Two participants will get to donate $500 to their favorite area. Tag @BSUFoundation or @BallStateAlumni ❤️
Completed
Success!
LinkedIn Challenge
Share a One Ball State Day post on LinkedIn on April 1st for a chance to designate $1,000 to your favorite Ball State area! Use #OneBallState and tag the Ball State Foundation!
Completed
Success!
Paint the U.S. Cardinal Red
Paint the U.S. Cardinal Red. Gifts from all 50 states will unlock $5,000 from the Alumni Council to Ball States greatest needs.
Completed
Success!
Because of Ball State Video Challenge
Share your “Because of Ball State” video with #OneBallState for a chance to win $1,000 in challenge dollars to support the area of your choice. We’ll select three winners!
Completed
Leaderboard
CCIM Dean's Morning Dash
CCIM Dean Kristen McCauliff will donate $500 to the unit within the College of Communication, Information, and Media that raises the most money within this one-hour period (8am—9am).
Rank Prize CCIM Unit Raised
1 $500 Communication Studies $1,265.52
2 Center for Information & Communication Sciences $770.26
3 School of Journalism and Strategic Communication $335.26
4 Ball State Student Media $150.00
5 Department of Media $130.26
Ended
Leaderboard
CCIM Dean's Evening Rush
Dean Kristen McCauliff will donate $500 to the unit within the College of Communication, Information, and Media that raises the most money within this one-hour period (5pm—6pm).
Rank Prize Department Raised
1 $500 Center for Information & Communication Sciences $1,270.00
2 Communication Studies $930.26
3 Department of Media $155.00
4 School of Journalism and Strategic Communication $150.00
5 Ball State Student Media $100.00
Ended
$1,500
Michael Bauer Debate Fund Challenge
If the Michael Bauer Debate Fund raises $1500 by noon, it will unlock Neil Alldredge match gift of $1500.
$1,500 / $1,500 Raised
Completed
$1,000
Dr. O'Hara Michael Bauer Debate Fund Challenge
30 donations throughout the day to the Michael Bauer Debate Fund will unlock a $1,000 match from Dr. Laura O'Hara.
30 / 30 Gifts
Completed
$250
The Carrie Shue Debate Enhancement Fund Challenge
20 gifts to the Debate Enhancement Fund throughout the giving day will unlock a $250 match from Dr. Carrie Shue.
20 / 20 Gifts
Completed
$250
The Carrie Shue Individual Events (Speech) Enhancement Challenge
20 donors to the Speech Team (Individual Events Enhancement Fund) throughout the giving day will unlock a $250 match from Dr. Carrie Shue.
20 / 20 Donors
Completed
$250
The Carrie Shue Communication Studies Master's Student Development Fund
20 donors to the Communication Studies Master's Student Development Fund throughout the giving day will unlock a $250 match from Dr. Carrie Shue.
20 / 20 Donors
Completed
$500
Laura O'Hara's Communication Studies General Fund Challenge
20 gifts to the Communication Studies General Fund throughout the day will unlock a $500 match from Dr. Laura O'Hara.
20 / 20 Gifts
Completed
Success!
Charlene Alexander Chief Strategy Office Challenge
Dr. Charlene Alexander, Chief Strategy Officer, will give $600 to the Chief Strategy Office Unit that generates $600 in gifts on One Ball State Day.
Completed
Leaderboard
Provost Marri College Challenge
Top 3 colleges in number of donors will unlock $250 for 1st place, $150 for 2nd place and $100 for 3rd place from Provost Marri.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $250 College of Fine Arts 723
2 $150 Teachers College 670
3 $100 College of Communication, Information, and Media 512
4 Miller College of Business 429
5 College of Sciences and Humanities 399
Ended
Success!
Registrar Staff Challenge
April Hay, University Registrar, will match up to $250 of her staff’s donations during OBSD.
Completed
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Or you can contact us at oneballstateday@bsu.edu.