Seth Slabaugh

The Star Press

MUNCIE — John Schnatter and the Charles Koch Foundation have awarded a $3.25 million grant to fund Ball State University's new John H. Schnatter Institute for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise.

A BSU graduate, Schnatter is the CEO of Papa John's pizza chain, while Koch is CEO of Koch Industries, which is involved in refining, chemicals, forest products, fertilizers, commodity trading, minerals, ranching and other industries.

"The free enterprise system is the greatest mechanism mankind has ever created to eliminate poverty, enhance prosperity and enable the pursuit of happiness," Schnatter told The Star Press through a spokesperson.

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After a long absence from campus, Schnatter spoke at Ball State's com

mencement ceremonies last spring. When university officials approached him about efforts to elevate BSU's longtime entrepreneurship program, Schnatter said, "Let me come back and talk in more detail."

That led to a meeting with university officials last fall, during which “Mr. Schnatter was very impressed and said, ‘I think this is something important for my alma mater to do,’” acting Ball State President Terry King said. “We had the institute in mind and were blunt. We told him, ‘With your support, we can accelerate our efforts.’"

The grant will help the university fund four tenure-track professorships, an operations manager, two graduate assistants, an Entrepreneurial Learning Academy and Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy, the Entrepreneurship Center, and other educational and research activities in the institute and the university’s economics department.

“This helps us do a lot more of what we’ve always been doing,” said professor Michael Goldsby, Ball State’s chief entrepreneurship officer, who will lead the institute. “We’ve had this entrepreneurship program for 33 years. What this now allows us to do is to build this institute that stands outside the College of Business to help promote entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurial learning throughout the university and into communities in Indiana … We can now train faculty in other (BSU) colleges, we can give students across campus a lot more opportunities.”

King said the grant will help Ball State build on its brand of immersive/entrepreneurial learning aimed at solving real-world problems. BSU in recent years has been honing its desire and assets to develop a university-wide entrepreneurial mindset among faculty, administrators, staff and students, who now will receive “world-class exposure” on entrepreneurship and innovation “no matter the discipline,” from business to theater/dance to nursing, King said.

Schnatter was quoted in a news release as saying the grant will support the university's goal to become a national model for values- and ethics-based entrepreneurship, developing research and talent to solve modern problems.

In January, some Indiana University students questioned a $210,000 research grant a professor accepted from the Charles Koch Foundation. The billionaire Charles and David Koch brothers are known for funding conservative and libertarian causes including climate change skepticism in addition to higher education scholarships, cancer research, arts and science.

The foundation supports a wide variety of programs and disciplines at more than 300 universities and colleges across the country, John Hardin, director of university relations at the foundation, told The Star Press. One thing that knits together the foundation's approach to support of higher education is ideas and values that enable people to improve their own lives and society, he said.

Hardin added that the foundation has been supporting the work of Ball State economics professor Cecil Bohanon for years. Bohanon ran for Congress as a Libertarian in the 1980s.

Goldsby, Ball State's chief entrepreneurship officer, says the Schnatter/Koch gift comes with no strings attached.

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"We have autonomy in this situation," Goldsby told The Star Press. "It's been a very good working relationship. We are the ones who will, if there is any hiring (of faculty), we will do the hiring. When it comes to speakers and programs, we will put that together. That's our job. That's what we are being charged with, to be good stewards of the gift and put on world-class educational opportunities and events. I'm 100 percent confident we will be able to do that."

The gift appears to be for five years of funding, which could be renewed after that. "If we do good work with this and we are a good partner with our external funders, then we truly see this from both sides as being something that will be ongoing and sustainable," Goldsby said.

"We have a long history with the Koch Foundation," said Bob Morris, acting BSU provost.

In 2009 and again in 2010, the foundation granted $8,300 for a BSU economics professor's "Liberty Project." Goldsby in 2011 received $8,000 for "Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Guest Speaker Programs." In 2012, another economics professor was awarded $3,000 for the "Koch Speaker Program and Undergraduate Student Travel.”

In 2013, Bohanon obtained $2,000 in Koch funding for “BSU Economics and Finance Student Field Trips,” followed by $10,000 for "Ball State University Economics Department Programs Spring 2014,” and $20,000 for “Ball State University Economics Department Programs 2014-15."

In addition, Ball State signed an agreement this week for a $16,000 "Koch Foundation Grant for Student Activities” obtained by Bohanon. In addition, Bohanon is seeking a $6,250 Koch grant for "Econ 495; Films and Economics.”

The Star Press learned several weeks ago that in mid-January BSU President Paul Ferguson had telephoned Adam Kissel, a university investments officer at the Koch Foundation, but until Wednesday, neither Ball State nor Koch officials would comment on the purpose of the call. Ferguson has since resigned.

"It's a long-term project," acting President King said of the new institute. "Dr. Ferguson was very supportive of this as president at that time and was fully engaged in developing it, and we have continued that momentum."

Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.

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