The search for the university's president will not be affected by the multi-million dollar lawsuit filed Tuesday against two University Police Department officials, University Senate President Marilyn Buck said.
"(Lawsuits) are the type of thing that happen on a university's campus," Buck said. "You don't always know when an injury occurs."
University Police Officer Robert Duplain shot and killed Ball State student Michael McKinney in November after responding to a burglary call. The McKinney family filed a lawsuit against Ball State University specifying Duplain and Gene Burton, the university's director of public safety.
Buck said the magnitude of this case is unique for two reasons -- a student died and the amount of money asked for is the largest the university has ever seen.
"There hasn't been one this large," Buck said.
But former provost Warren Vander Hill, who served on the presidential search committee that hired Blaine Brownell, said the McKinney lawsuit would not affect the opinions of potential candidates.
"I don't think those types of individuals would see (the lawsuit) as a negative overall assessment of the quality of Ball State," Vander Hill said.
Student Government President Jayson Manship referred all questions to Heather Shupp, the executive director of university communications. He said he didn't know how, or if, the case would affect the search for a president.
"I honestly have no idea," Manship said.
Shupp said the search would not be effected by the lawsuit.
"I don't think there's any direct connection between them," she said.
Sarah Atkinson, a student representative on the Board of Trustees, said she did not wish to comment on how the search may or may not be effected.
Vander Hill said potential candidates take an all-encompassing view of the university in which they are applying.
"It seems dramatic because it is," Vander Hill said.
He also said because of the media attention, the nature of the lawsuit and the high profile of the family's attorney, the case will be an ongoing subject at Ball State.
"It's something the university will have to deal with," Vander Hill said.
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