Although David Letterman was at Ball State University for one day, it took weeks of planning and thousands of dollars to coordinate the event.
Kevin Burke, director of university communications, said the university spent about $32,000 preparing for Letterman's visit.
"That was for staging and communication for the event, so that would include things like the JumboTron and the public address system, as well as the confetti cannon," said Burke.
The money Ball State spent came from development funds, which are intended for events such as Letterman's visit, Burke said.
Burke said the ceremony was a worth while experience for the university.
"We realized this was a major historical event for the university," he said. "We realized we were going to commit whatever resources in terms of time, energy and anything else that would require to get the job done."
Soon before the event, faculty and staff gradually spent more time preparing for it, Burke said.
"In the last week it was all Dave, all the time," he said.
Stephanie Arrington, special assistant for the office of the president, said the university started planning immediately after Ball State announced the communications and media building would be named in Letterman's honor and that he would attend the dedication ceremony.
Arrington said event coordinators had to plan for the large crowd that was expected.
"We spent several weeks [planning how] to handle the crowds and the weather," she said.
Staff had to borrow equipment from around campus to set up for the event, Arrington said.
Burke said the university had more than 400 media exposures as a result of the Letterman ceremony
"The media was very pleased with the event," he said. "We had 80 credentialed media here [from] as far as Chicago, and things went very smoothly, which is good relationship building for the university."
Burke said the university worked to welcome media representatives.
"The media was as much our guests as our invited guests," he said. "So certainly we wanted to address their needs and insure that they also had a positive experience as visitors to campus."
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