By Katherine Hill for the Ball State Daily News .
Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the Ball State Daily News-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Collaboration.

The walls of Maplewood Guest House are etched with history. Photos of Ball State’s original first family hang on the walls — carefully dusted and fawned over by inquisitive visitors — serve as a reminder to residents who reap the benefit of the family’s generosity to do good by the community.

The house, with its still fully-functioning original fireplace, now serves as a residential hub for third and fourth-year students — a collaboration between Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine and Ball State for students earning a medical degree or working on a clerkship in East Central Indiana, according to the Guest House’s information page.

Guest House manager David Martin was at the forefront of the collaboration project when he took on the residential community’s first-ever management role. 

Although Martin stepped into the position in August 2017, there were discussions between Ball Brothers Foundation, Ball State University, Indiana University and IU School of Medicine about the collaborative housing effort in the year prior.

“The discussions were to find out whether they could use the space, which had been vacated by Ardahl Corporation,” Martin said. “They wanted to find use for this building that would help the community.”

The solution was to make the housing complex a so-called “epicenter” for medical students and provide immersive learning opportunities.

Martin came to Maplewood Guest House having worked as an adjunct professor and in Ball State’s Housing and Dining departments for 15 years prior.

When it came time to manage the Maplewood property, he applied policies and procedures from the university’s housing models because he didn’t “need to reinvent the wheel.”

He also worked with Ball State property management and hospitality students to figure out how to best maintain the building's antiquarian structure and honor the Ball Brothers' legacy.

Beyond the general upkeep of the Guest House, such as through inventory monitoring and spreadsheet bookkeeping, there is a responsibility to make sure students know about the opportunities the property offers. Martin and his team of Ball State immersive learning students knew this.

“We created basically everything here in 2017, everything you can think of to successfully run a business, including social media. I found it really exciting to start the building from the ground up, so to speak,” Martin said, noting that the house itself was built in 1898.

Martin remembered a February 2020 phone call, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, from the IU School of Medicine, urging all students to go home. Despite the closure of surrounding universities, the housing complex remained open and maintained “almost the majority of the time that COVID was here,” he said. 

Even so, the building was vacant for several months before students returned to their medical practice rotations — a discouraging and stark reminder of how young and exciting the collaboration project had been at that time.

Muncie was the ideal localized space for the undertaking that was Maplewood Guest House. 

According to Optimus Primary, which partners with the Ball Brothers Foundation, “Muncie has something no other city in Indiana has: an array of healthcare anchor institutions located in close proximity to one another, making it one of the leading physician training centers in the state.” 

This is a pipeline program for medical professionals, in partnership with the Ball Brothers Foundation.

The city has a reputation of consistently being within the top five best destinations to study medicine in the state, largely because of IU Ball Memorial Hospital, which is three minutes from Ball State and IU School of Medicine.

“Muncie was number nine in a location, as in terms of locations that students wanted to come to to serve their rotation at the hospital. [By 2017], the city became number two in the state outside of Indianapolis. We are number two in the location of destination students want to come to [when they] do their clerkship,” Martin said.

To help drive those numbers, Martin enforced the residential community to foster a welcoming environment for all students who pass through its doors, which is especially important because students are only actively living in the community for only three to four weeks at a time while in rotation.

“One of the things that we've developed is programming and events for medical students. Every week, on a Wednesday or Thursday, we have a welcome event or some type of event that brings them all together,” he said.

These events feature popcorn, pizza and “provide a chance for students to connect,” something particularly important to Martin. For Martin, his favorite part of the job is connecting with students and talking with them about their future goals.

The bonding opportunities between IU and Ball State students simultaneously debunk a common misconception, the rivalry between Ball State and Indiana University.

“IU School of Medicine isn't a competitor of Ball State. Indiana University may be, but IU School of Medicine isn't,” Martin said. “The partnership has provided several opportunities for research between me and other faculty members. We were given the Housing Impact Award from the Housing Education and Research Association. That was for some of our work with immersive learning with Ball State students.”


Katherine Hill wrote this article for the Ball State Daily News.


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President Donald Trump's executive order dismantling diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs has led to the defunding of Kutztown University's NASA program for STEM students.

Kutztown was one of only eight schools nationwide selected last fall for NASA's Here to Observe program.

Kutztown Professor of Physical Sciences Erin Kraal, PhD, said they were told their program violated DEI rules.

But she said the program follows the law and is open to all students, especially those who face challenges and might not normally have such opportunities.

"What I want to emphasize is that our program was focused on providing opportunities to our Kutztown students," said Kraal, "and that the NASA H2O program let us do that in a way where financial need would not be a barrier."

She said they received a five-year, $375,000 NASA grant that would have reached about 70 first-year Kutztown students. The program started in the fall but was canceled after only three months.

Kraal - who is also the faculty director for the Center for Engaged Learning - said about 60% of the first group of students are freshmen majoring in fields such as physics, engineering, astronomy, computer science, and chemistry.

She added that they had only about $1,500 in allowable expenses, and that neither she nor the other faculty members will be paid for their work.

"Our students were supposed to receive a stipend because they were participating in something beyond their normal classwork," said Kraal. "The stipends were not awarded through NASA, so we were terminated in March, and we have appealed that. However, we've received no information about that appeal."

She pointed out that Kutztown University stepped in along with the provost and president to provide some transition funding to help with emergency expenses.

However, a planned trip to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference had to be canceled.

Despite these setbacks, students are still connecting with NASA mentors and learning about Mars, mission design, ethics, and storytelling.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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Jude Bruno, president-elect of the Florida Parent Teacher Association, is leading a charge against two controversial education bills which would reshape the state's school system, even as Republican lawmakers tout the measures as expanding parental choice.

The legislative battle comes in what is supposed to be the session's final week, with high stakes for public school funding and governance. His organization opposes House Bill 123, which would permit municipal charter schools to bypass local district oversight, arguing it creates unequal standards for taxpayer-funded institutions.

"We are not against charter schools but we are against mechanisms and rules that would circumvent the governance of our local public schools and our communities," Bruno explained.

The bill's companion, Senate Bill 140, which passed the Senate 30-7 last week, would allow traditional public schools to convert to charter schools with approval from 50% of parents, while explicitly excluding teachers and staff from the voting process. Supporters argued the measures empower families, particularly in underserved communities.

The PTA is raising concerns about proposed budget reductions, which could affect mental health services for students and funding for advanced academic programs. Bruno stressed the growing need for student support services.

"Even coming off the pandemic, we realize how important it is that we address the social and emotional needs of our students," Bruno emphasized. "That can only be effectively done by having licensed practitioners in that field be in our schools."

The PTA's legislative priorities come amid a broader debate over education funding that has pitted parent groups against lawmakers supporting school choice initiatives.


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Tennessee educators are expressing concern over President Donald Trump's push to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and return control to the states.

The Tennessee Department of Education serves more than 1 million students in 147 districts.

Tanya Coats, president of the Tennessee Education Association, said states already oversee most aspects of public education. She argued the plan risks key student services and could lead to defunding and privatizing public schools, resulting in larger class sizes, less individual attention and fewer resources for students with disabilities.

"Since there's only less than 30 days for most schools in the state of Tennessee to be in service, that it would cut our after-school programs come the next year," Coats pointed out. "And particularly our summer programs that augment this in school learning and skill building."

She noted educators would lose access to programs helping low-income students and those with disabilities go to college.

Gov. Bill Lee supports keeping education control in Tennessee's hands. In his State of the State address, he announced an additional $580 million for public education, including more funding for the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula and another teacher pay raise.

Coats argued if the Department of Education is dismantled, vulnerable students could lose essential academic resources, civil rights protections and life skills, putting their futures at risk. Federal programs like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have transformed lives, ensuring crucial support for students with disabilities.

"When we think about if it's transferred to another department, it will likely cause chaos," Coats emphasized. "Chaos for those students with special needs and their families. But students and their families who currently have these Individualized Education Program and students with special needs will adversely be the most impacted by this change."

According to National Education Association, more than $308 million is allocated for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding in Tennessee.

Coats urged legislators, the governor and local communities to recognize the risks of unequal access to vital educational services. She stressed it is crucial every child, regardless of their ZIP Code, receives the support they need.


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