Mayor speaks about Ball State’s civic involvement

 Mayor Dennis Tyler talked about programs and bettering Muncie at Thursday’s discussion with students.

One of those questions was how to get Ball State and the Muncie community to partner together.

“You have to take it to the public,” Tyler said.

Awareness of events that are happening within the community is vital in getting people involved, said Tyler.

“People in Muncie need to know how important Ball State is to the entire community," Tyler said. "On the same hand, Ball State University needs to understand how important they are to the south side of Muncie."

Roughly 1,000 hours of service per year flows into the Muncie community from Ball State, said Tyler.

“I’ve never called on Ball State that they’ve never responded,” Tyler said. “They always respond.”

Still, it will take more than a pat on the back to fill the opportunities that the mayor has in mind.

The city of Muncie will be cooperating with the Arc of Indiana to bring a new project that will aid the developmentally disabled in the field of food and hospitality, but the plan is still pending approval.

Youth programs will also kick off this summer and include a music instrument class and mentoring for younger boys and girls.

Tyler said the Parks and Recreation Department will be partnering with the Ball State football team as well to revamp the parks.

These different programs are more important than the potential business for companies looking to move to Muncie, said Tyler.

“What they care about is the quality of life and what type of community that they’re bringing their business to,” Tyler said.

However, Tyler said one student told him that there is a stigma to the other parts of Muncie, which could be a hindrance to the campus-city cooperation and the improvement of that quality of life.

“He said, 'That’s the same side of the city that they tell us out at Ball State not to go to,’” Tyler said, in reference to Muncie’s south side.

That type of alienation creates a prejudice, said Tyler.