Red and white confetti fell and the thunderous tones of Ball State University's fight song played Friday afternoon as David Letterman cut the ribbon outside the building carrying his name.
An estimated crowd of about 5,000 people gathered outside the David Letterman Communication and Media Building to watch the event, Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for Marketing and Communications said.
Letterman, a 1970 Ball State graduate and long-time donor to the university, expressed great humility at receiving the honor and entertained his audience with the zany wit that has propelled him to success as the host of CBS' "Late Show."
"I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be on the Ball State University campus today," Letterman told the cheering crowd. "If I had any way of knowing this was going to happen, I would have studied much harder."
Letterman is recognized in the telecommunications department for the David Letterman Scholarship, which awards three TCOM students per semester $10.000, $5,000 and $3,333, respectively. The award is not based on grade point average but on a creative project submitted by the student.
"I struggled through college," Letterman said. "I graduated, barely, with a 2.0 grade point average. If reasonable people could put my name on a $21 million building, anything is possible."
Varying amounts of drizzle fell intermittently throughout the ceremony, forcing many crowd members to make use of their umbrellas.
While President Jo Ann Gora opted to truncate her speech in an attempt to end the ceremony before more rain fell, Letterman gave his entire prepared speech, which included a Top Ten List, a staple of Letterman's show.
"I will not be eliminating my comments; screw the weather," he said.
During his speech, Letterman extended his thanks to the Ball State administrators who helped coordinate his visit to campus, especially Gora.
"I'll tell you two things about President Gora," Letterman said. "You are lucky to have this woman as your representative of this great university, and she also has tremendous legs."
Student Government Association President Betsy Mills said Letterman's visit made for "one of the biggest days Ball State has had in decades."
"The crowd is amazing," Mills said, "and everyone is excited to have [Letterman] back."
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Letterman was given the Sagamore of the Wabash, an award given by the governor of Indiana to someone who has given service to the state. Letterman accepted the award but made note of the fact that Gov. Mitch Daniels was absent from the event.
"I guess it would mean so much more to me if [Daniels] were actually here," Letterman joked.
Letterman last visited campus in 1979, when he spoke and performed during Homecoming ceremonies.
"[Letterman's visit] brings a lot of attention to Ball State and the Muncie community," Muncie Mayor Dan Canan, who was present for the ceremony, said. "There's been a lot of buzz in the community that someone as big as David Letterman has come back."
Student media organizations were "showing their best face" Friday for Letterman's return to campus, said John Dailey, assistant professor of interactive media.
Although Dailey said he was pleased and excited for the events of the day, he said Letterman's private nature makes public events like the dedication stressful.
"This is more stressful than work," Dailey said. "But he's doing this to thank us."
However, some students weren't as enthusiastic as Dailey about Letterman's return.
Senior Architecture major Katie Marinaro said while she envied the equipment in the new building, she thought there was too much hype surrounding the event. Letterman's visit was long overdue, Marinaro said, adding that was disappointed that the university had to name a building after him in order to bring him back to campus.
Sophomore Education major Spain Cosby said he is impressed with the building and was excited that Letterman was coming back to campus.
"It's good to have a famous [alumnus] on campus," Cosby said. "It's good to know they still care about where they came from."
The Letterman Building, which connects the Ball Communication Building and the Robert Bell Building, houses state-of-the art radio and TV facilities as well as communications studies and telecommunications classrooms. It is the first academic building on campus that is certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification standards. LEED certification indicates that the building is eco-friendy and energy efficient.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building, keynote speaker Jeffrey Smulyan, chairperson of Emmis Communications Corporation, stressed the importance of media adapting their strategies to fit a changing world while producing content that's important to a global audience.
"The world Dave and I grew up in was vastly different than it is today," Smulyan said.
Letterman, during a question-and-answer session with communications students, described himself as a "dinosaur" of TV humor and said that comedy acts such as himself will likely find success on the Internet and through other new media.
"The future of communications is inside this building," he said. "I am old media. I've done about as much as I can do. It's all up to everybody else, and I'm so proud to be a part of that."
During the session, Letterman's also recounted his favorite experiences from working at "Late Night," one of which was returning to the air after recovering from quintuple bypass surgery in early 2000. Letterman also credited the first episode back after the birth of his now four-year-old son Harry, who was present for the building dedication, as one of his favorite moments. Dorothy Mengering, Letterman's mother and frequent guest on "Late Night," was also present for the event.
"I hope that one day it will mean something to my son that his dad has his name on a building," Letterman said. "And who knows, it may help him impress girls."
Letterman was initially reluctant to accept the honors awarded to him Friday but hopes to leave a legacy for his family, Gora said. During his acceptance speech, Letterman told the crowd that he hoped his father, who died in 1974, was enjoying the day.
During his private tour of the building, Letterman visited the WCRD-Radio studio and was interviewed by the station's General Manager Joe Lacay.
Professor of communications Barry Umanksy said Letterman provided financial backing to get WCRD off the ground in 1988 and the station's call letters originally stood for "Cardinal-Radio-Dave."
Samantha Zilai contributed to this story.
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