Diversity

On March 26, 1991, the Asian American Student Association (AASA) was approved to become a student organization. The AASA was originally located in the Multicultural Center. The reorganization of the Multicultural Center in 2000 relocated the group to the Office of Student Life, the clearing house for all recognized student organizations. During the Spring Semester of 2021, the AASA changed its name to the Asian Student Union (ASU).

This collection includes material pertaining to the history and activities of Spectrum. The student organization’s mission is to educate the ball State and Muncie communities on gender, sexual, and romantic minority (GSRM) issues, cultures, and history through various programming efforts.

The Black Student Association (BSA) first began as an off-campus organization under the name Black Student Union in 1968. On May 22, 1969, the group became a recognized student organization known as the Afro-American Student Union (AASU). The AASU established an office within the Special Programs House, later known as the Multicultural Center, after it opened in December 1970. During the fall of 1974, the group revised its constitution and changed its name to the Black Student Association. In 2000, the Multicultural Center was reorganized, and the BSA and other student groups were relocated to the Office of Student Life, the clearing house for all recognized student organizations.

Before the Latinx Student Union (LSU) became a recognized student organization, a group of students came together to form the Hispanic Student Association whose goal was to create the Notre American Hispano Association (North American Hispanic Association). On May 1, 1987, the North American Hispanic Association became a recognized student organization and changed its name to La Allianza De Estudiantes Lationos (The Alliance of Latino Students, LADEL). In 1999, La Alianza De Estudiantes was renamed the Latino Student Union (LSU). The LSU was originally located in the Multicultural Center. The reorganization of the Multicultural Center in 2000 relocated the group to the Office of Student Life, the clearing house for all recognized student organizations. In an effort to be more inclusive, LSU changed its name to the more gender-neutral name Latinx Student Union in 2016.

This collection of oral histories includes interviews with African American alumni and employees of Ball State University between 1950 and 2017. Interviews were conducted and recorded by Ball State University Honors College and Public History students in 2015 and 2017.

The Middletown Digital Oral History collection consists of audio and accompanying transcriptions for oral history interviews conducted with African American, Jewish and Catholic communities of Muncie, Indiana. In addition to the value of these "personal narratives" illuminating lives of Indiana citizens, the oral history collections selected for this collection provide research material on populations that were neglected in the seminal studies published by sociologists Robert and Helen Lynd in the 1920s using Muncie as Middletown, a representative American community.

The Middletown Women's History Collection provides access to archival materials documenting the experiences of women and women's organizations in Muncie, Indiana from the 1880s through the 1930s. It includes diaries, minutes, correspondence, photographs and other documents selected from the wealth of resources available in Ball State University Libraries Archives and Special Collections.

The Muncie LGBTQ+ History Project is an ongoing effort to document and preserve the history of sexual minorities (including, but not limited to: lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer folks) in Muncie and Delaware County. The collection includes oral history interviews as well as donated archival materials.

The Muslims in Muncie Oral Histories and Documentary Film collection contains twenty-two life history interviews with Muslims in Muncie, Indiana, and the hour-long documentary, Muslims in Muncie, recipient of the 2019 Award for Oral History in a Non-Print Format from the Oral History Association.

The Other Side of Middletown Collection, consisting of over 150 digital images, illustrates the history of the life and achievements of African Americans in Muncie and Delaware County through photographs donated by members of the community. The collection was the product of a collaborative project undertaken in 2003-04 involving Hurley Goodall, Eric Lassister, Elizabeth Campbell, Michelle Natasya Johnson, and a group of Ball State student, working with the local African American community resulting in the publication of The Other Side of Middletown: Exploring Muncie's African American Community.

The Facing Project is a nonprofit organization that brings awareness to national issues such as racism, addiction, poverty, homophobia, and disabilities by creating a collection of stories that reflect the everyday struggles of individual living these realities.

The Muncie Times Newspaper collection consists of volumes of the newspaper published by owner and publisher Bea Moten-Foster since 1991. This bi-weekly publication serves the African American communities of Muncie, Richmond, Marion, New Castle and Anderson, Indiana.

The Temple Beth-El Records includes board meeting minutes, monthly bulletins, membership directories, photographs, and other records documenting the history of the Temple Beth-El congregation in Muncie, Indiana between 1922 and 2013.

The Human Relations Council of Delaware County was a voluntary community organization with open membership formed in 1963 to advocate for equality in employment, housing, education, and public accommodation regardless of a person’s race, creed, or place of origin. The council coordinated the creation and dissemination of human rights resources, services, and initiatives throughout Delaware County.

The Muncie Human Rights Commission digital collection includes correspondence, reports, and other records from the Human Rights Commission in Muncie, Indiana ranging from 1964-1988 regarding appointments to the commission and the commission's initiatives. The Muncie Human Rights Commission was created by a 1964 ordinance for the purpose of studying the problems of discrimination in the city and advocating for equality in education, employment, youth recreation, and housing regardless of race, color, creed, or nationality. The commission of 15 citizens appointed by mayor works towards those goals by sponsoring community programs and education on civil rights, advising City of Muncie departments and officials, and investigating discrimination complaints.

The Allen Williams Ball State University Black Alumni Collection provides access to a collection of scrapbooks, photographs, newsletters, and videos donated by Allen L. Williams, Class of 1973, documenting the lives and activities of members of the black student and black alumni communities at Ball State University.

Before becoming an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Ball State, Kenneth Heinen spent 35 years as a photojournalist. In 1968, he captured the story of the Poor People's Campaign in a series of captivating photographs featured within this digital collection. After photographing the riots and violence that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Heinen, who was working as a photojournalist at the Washington Star, volunteered for a long-term assignment to cover the Poor People's Campaign.