At 11 days old, Sarah Mahensmith was brought to a Ball State basketball game, playing against a rival school. It was her first time on campus, but definitely not her last. From homecoming events to football games, Sarah has always known what life is like at Ball State.
Her family has always had a deep connection to the university; Holly Mahensmith, Sarah’s mother, says there are around 15 family members who received their degrees from Ball State among their extended family, about 30 degrees in total.
Holly graduated from Ball State in 1992, moving on to become an elementary education teacher. Both of her daughters, Sarah and Kate, have attended the university, following in their family’s footsteps.
Sarah, now a graduate student at Ball State, is studying special education.
“It’s almost like a family tradition, getting to come here,” Sarah said.
When beginning the recruitment process as a student athlete, Sarah got a lot of offers for running track and cross country. She narrowed her options down to either Bowling Green University or Ball State University.
Holly said her husband always told Sarah, “If you took running out of the equation, where would you want to be?”
Holly was ecstatic when Sarah decided to attend Ball State.
“We just kept telling her, you have to find your home, because Ball State was my home [but] it may not be yours,” Holly said.
There was no pressure for Sarah to attend Ball State, but having grown up on the campus because of her family’s connections to the university, it pushed her decision to attend while going through the recruiting process.
“It definitely helps knowing Ball State and being surrounded by it,” Sarah said when asked about her decision to attend the university.
Holly described her reaction as “over-the-moon” when she found out that Sarah would be attending Ball State.
There have been a lot of changes on campus since Holly was a student. An example she remembers is the dining halls. Thirty years ago, the dining halls were connected to the dorms, and depending on where you lived, you were assigned a specific dining hall.
Current students may not realize these changes happened on campus, but having legacy students to share how different it is now, compared to their family members’ time at Ball State, is important to keeping track of the changes and history on our campus.
“I get to hear all of their old stories about how things are different,” Sarah said.
Holly lived in the Lafollette dormitory, which is no longer a building on the campus. She often had to walk long distances for lunch. Having her classes in the Teachers’ College, she’d often take the “Cow Path” behind North Dining, which was once an unpaved path and difficult to walk, all the way to Lafollette to her designated dining hall.
Sarah also attends her classes in the Teachers’ College, and there have been many changes to the building throughout the last thirty years.
“I feel like Sarah was in the classroom a lot more than I was,” Holly said, explaining the changes in the curriculum for current teaching majors. “I feel like I didn’t really get into the classroom—a little bit, maybe my sophomore year, but more so my junior and senior year.”
From the standpoint of education majors, this gives insight into the changes the program has made throughout the years and how things were for previous generations of students.
Sarah acknowledged the changes in the teaching department at Ball State and said that despite pursuing different programs, their experiences were not completely different. While the insides of many buildings on Ball State’s campus may not look the same, Sarah described these buildings as “the same bones that have just been built up.”
The Ball State website stated that “Ball State University today was once again recognized by U.S. News & World Report for its standout graduate degree programs in education” in 2023.
Ball State’s education programs have been recognized multiple times as highly ranked. Along with the credit that legacy students may give these programs, it shows the quality of education for these degrees.
When asked about the importance of legacy students for colleges, Sarah said, “It shows how good the university is…your family’s not going to send you somewhere or recommend somewhere that’s bad.”
Legacy students get a unique experience at Ball State because of their family connection, Sarah explained. It’s brought Holly and Sarah closer to their extended family, and even each other, throughout the years.
“I think it’s something not many people get to talk about, and have in common with their families,” she said.
Holly recalled all the times she’s talked to extended family members about old hangout spots around campus. Once-popular restaurants in Muncie that have since gone out of business, such as The Cork and Cleaver or Skyline Chili.
Sarah said there was one semester when she and her older sister, Kate, were both students on campus, and they attended FanJam — an event designed for student athletes to meet coaches, participate in interactive stations and relax with fellow athletes. Sarah attended with the Cross Country team, and Kate with the cheerleaders.
Despite being in different sports, it was a unique experience for both sisters to be at the event at once, with both of them participating in a sport, Sarah said.
Kate was not the first Ball State cheerleader in her family, as Holly also cheered for Ball State for a period of time.
“[Sarah] is more immersed in Ball State Athletics,” Holly said. “I feel like, as a cheerleader, I was kind of on the outside of the circle, where she’s more on the inside of the circle.”
Cheerleaders don’t travel as often as the track team, but Holly still had to manage her time well. Something that remained constant in the Mahensmith family’s time at Ball State has always been time management.
“[Kate and I] both understand the time management piece of it,” Sarah said. “Even though Kate didn’t travel, she’s done practices. All three of us had to understand [it with] doing athletics.”
Both Holly and Sarah brought up the importance of managing their time as student athletes, and sharing that experience at Ball State.
“You have class time, you have practice time, you have performance time, and then you have study time. You really do have to be on top of it and be able to manage your time wisely,” Holly said.
Similarly, track athletes have to worry about their schedule with traveling, practices and traditional events.
“We’re here for our job. Contributing and representing the university in that aspect.” Sarah said.
Holly mentioned that even athletics have changed, and she gets to see that through Sarah’s experience with it. Now, President Geoffrey Mearns can often be seen attending sporting events, even knowing the names of the girls on the teams — they’re not just a “number” to him, said Holly.
“I’m sure the athletic director and the president at the time were there, but almost unapproachable,” Holly said. “Now I feel like the president, and the athletic director, they’re so much more approachable.”
With multiple generations of a family attending Ball State University, it gives an insight into how things have changed over time. Even now, Holly finds out new things about campus.
“I sure wish when I was at school, we would have had the ‘chirp, chirp’ [slogan],” Holly said. “I don’t know [who] thought of that, but I think that is the coolest thing.”
She’s even learned things about the campus through her daughters’ experiences, which she hadn’t heard anything about when she attended Ball State.
“[The] seventh floor [has the] best view, I never knew about it until my girls put me up there,” Holly said, in reference to the Teachers’ College building. “I lived in this building, and I never knew to go up to that seventh floor and view the campus.”
Outside of the advantage of a unique experience, legacy students can even receive awards and scholarships for being related to an alumnus.
The official website for Ball State University lists scholarships offered for legacy students through the Ball State Alumni Association. One example is the Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship, funded by the Ball State Indiana license program. According to Ball State’s website, it states, “for the 2025-2026 academic year, over 400 students have been awarded [the Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship].”
“It’s something that we all get to share in common,” Sarah said. “We all went here, but we all have different experiences here, which is really cool [to talk about].
This award is given to students with parents or grandparents who once attended Ball State University, similar to the Cardinal Legacy Award, which is “designed to increase enrollment of well-prepared, highly motivated, non-resident students who are children or grandchildren of Ball State University alumni,” according to Ball State’s website.
Legacy students get to experience Ball State University in a unique, personal perspective, Sarah said.
While scholarships are an incredible tool, learning more about the campus’s history is still important, and it’s incredible to have stories like Holly and Sarah’s to share.
“It’s just something that I hope that when my girls start their own families,” Holly said. “They will bring their families to the Ball State homecoming, and experience the parade, experience the football games … I hope they continue that.”
Contact Jae Krueger via email at jae.krueger@bsu.edu
