The Ball State University Alumni Center was filled with laughter and stories of old as almost two dozen alumni gathered to see the university they once called home.
The Alumni Center hosted the Half-Century Club on Wednesday. The day's events included a luncheon, a group picture, a tour of campus and a presentation from Larry Cox, director of the entrepreneurship center.
Sue Taylor, asst. director of alumni programs, said any alumnus who graduated before 1957 was eligible to attend.
"We like to give people time to reminisce," she said. "All these [people] are very loyal alumni."
Alumnus Paul Sylvester, who graduated in 1951, said he watched Ball State develop since 1932.
Sylvester said he began attending Burris Laboratory School when he was 4 years old.
"I was the first to graduate [from Burris] after all 13 years," he said. "When I was a fourth-grader, we would sit outside and our teacher had us listen to the construction of the buildings."
Sylvester said the enrollment of the university has changed the most since he's lived in Muncie.
"Back then, 600 to 700, that was the common number," he said. "Back then, during the Depression, not many people went to college."
Alumnus Charles Rittman said the only building that has remained on campus since he was a student is the Administration Building.
"Everything's changed - the size, the buildings," he said. "I'm amazed by all the new construction. When I was here, it was still just a teacher's college. This has become a great school. It's a great place to be."
Rittman said he is not able to visit Ball State often.
"I was a member of the Alumni Board, way back when," he said, "but at [age] 91, you don't move as fast or as far as before."
Alumnus Dorothy Haskett, who graduated in 1933, said she has come to all but one Half-Century Club meeting since it began.
"Ball State has always been like a second home to me," she said.
Haskett said she decided to pursue a college education despite her parents requests to not do so.
"My folks thought, back in '28, a woman was to sit behind a type writer and spend her time behind her desk," she said. "I had another idea."
Haskett said she came to Ball State when Lemeul Pittenger, the L.A. Pittenger Student Center namesake, was president of the university.
Haskett said after she graduated she worked as a secretary for faculty such as Ralph Noyer, for whom Noyer Complex is named and Gola Clevenger, Clevenger Hall's namesake.
Haskett said the campus and the enrollment are completely different than when she was a student.
"It's little things, such as size," she said. "Here I am, 97 years old. I've never dreamed of such a thing."
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