Ball State holds Charlie Cardinal auditions

Seven students prepared for Charlie Cardinal auditions Friday by bouncing on the spring board, doing flips into the foam pit and testing out the trampoline.

During auditions, which are hosted at the beginning of each academic year, each contestant is evaluated by six judges, previous Charlies, graduate assistants and Chris Ulm, director of marketing and promotions.

The Charlie hopefuls are judged on a variety of things.

“We look at their agility out there, how comfortable they look in the suit, how they look performing the various tasks,” Kevin Thurman, a graduate assistant, said. “Then they’ll come in afterwards as themselves, and we’ll talk to them, ask them, ‘Hey did you have fun? Why did you come out tonight? Were you smiling under there?’ Stuff like that.”

Another round of tryouts could happen if the judges don’t find what they’re looking for.

“[Charlie] needs to be able to be the face of Ball State University," Thurman said. "He’s kind of the liaison between Ball State and the campus community, as well as the Muncie community. He’s what some people come to see when they come to an event, and when they see Charlie, they’re happy to see him, or they come to a game and expect to see him.”