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Woman announced as next BSU president
By: Jon Seidel
Reporter, Ball State Daily News
Published: 05/11/2004, 17:12:25
Last Updated: 05/12/2004, 14:15:54
MUNCIE, Ind. (NLI) - Jo Ann Gora was introduced
as the 13th president of Ball State University by
Board of Trustees President Thomas DeWeese on
Tuesday during a news conference at the BSU
Alumni Center. She is the first woman to hold the
post.
Gora is currently the chancellor of the University of
Massachusetts Boston (UMB). She has presided
over the 13,000-student commuter campus in
Massachusetts for three years. During that time
state funding for the school was cut by $29.4
million.
• Before becoming chancellor of UMB, Gora
"Now it is time for me to understand the university
was the provost and vice president for
from your perspective, based on your experience Academic Affairs at Old Dominion University
and unique expertise," Gora said. in Norfolk, Va. Before that she served as the
dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
and provost of the Madison campus at
The new president downplayed her gender, despite Fairleigh Dickinson University. She holds
the fact that no public university in the state of master's and doctoral degrees in sociology
from Rutgers University. She received
Indiana has been led by a female president.
her bachelor's degree from Vassar College.
(Photo from Umass Boston Web site)
"It's not significant," Gora said. "Hopefully that's not
MULTIMEDIA
what will be the most important part about me."
Video: Jo Ann Gora spoke briefly after
being introduced on Tuesday as Ball
Gora will take office August 9. She gave no definite
State's next president. NewsLink Indiana
indication of how long she plans on staying at Ball was there to record the three minute
State, but said she does not plan on leaving speech in which Gora said she wanted to
hear from the entire BSU community.
anytime soon.
(NLI/Tim Underhill)
"I hope to be at Ball State as long as you'll have RELATED STORIES
me," Gora said.
BSU's David Bahlmann speaks on Gora hiring
BSU's Marilyn Buck speaks on Gora hiring
Gora also plans to acknowledge last year's deaths
of students Michael McKinney and Karl Harford. RELATED SITES
McKinney was shot in November by a University The Ball State Daily News: For More Coverage
Police officer during an altercation, and Harford was of BSU
Bio: Jo Ann Gora
shot in March after leaving an off-campus house University of Massachusetts Boston
party. Ball State University
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"I would like to visit the families of the two
students," Gora said. E-mail This Story
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Most Boston faculty give her credit for the way she
handled the situation.
"She managed to preserve the academic integrity of the institution in the face of the largest
cuts in the United States," Steven Schwartz, chairman of the psychology department at
Umass Boston, said. Schwartz also represents the faculty of UMB to the Board of Trustees
at the University of Massachusetts.
Schwartz described Gora as a strong, decisive leader who created a strategic plan for UMB
that not only detailed what must be done to realize her vision for the campus, but also who
Figure 2.2 The announcement of Jo Ann Gora as the president of Ball State University was a heavily anticipated event
in Muncie, Indiana. NewsLink and the Ball State Daily News decided to break the story on the Web. A more in-depth
look at the event and its ramifications followed in the next issue of the Daily News.