Community-Minded
Ball State University held a grand opening celebration for the Brown Family Amphitheater on Sept. 19, 2023. The outdoor performance and gathering space was made possible thanks to the generosity of Charles W. Brown, ’71, and his wife, Dr. Louise Tetrick.
Businessman and philanthropist Charles W. Brown, ’71, and his wife, Dr. Louise Tetrick, remain focused on enriching the lives of the Ball State and greater Muncie communities
It didn’t take long for Dr. Louise Tetrick to fall in love with Charles W. Brown’s generous, yet unassuming, nature.
About 20 years ago, Mr. Brown was logging 60-hour work weeks at Southern Bells Inc., the highly successful regional fast food restaurant franchisee business he co-founded. He also served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana.
Big Brothers Big Sisters was hosting a picnic for its mentors and mentees, and Dr. Tetrick was pleasantly surprised at Mr. Brown’s suggestion that she join him to help serve lemonade.
It was one of their first dates.
“It told me a lot about Charlie,” Dr. Tetrick said. “This is what he was choosing to do with his free time.”
The couple married in 2005, and eight years later, Southern Bells Inc. was acquired by Flynn Restaurant Group, the largest franchisee of Applebee’s restaurants in the country. Mr. Brown, now president of the newly-formed Bell American Group, had reached his pinnacle—personally and professionally.
Yet, Mr. Brown’s success brought a greater sense of responsibility. Ever grateful for the people and places that enabled him to achieve such fulfillment, he was eager to expand his philanthropic endeavors.
Accordingly, over the past decade, Mr. Brown’s generosity has made a significant impact on the campus of Ball State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 1971.
In 2014, the University opened its Charles W. Brown Planetarium, featuring Indiana’s largest and most technologically advanced digital planetarium theater facility. And in September, Ball State hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and grand opening concert at the Brown Family Amphitheater, a new outdoor community performance and gathering space located in the heart of campus.
To Mr. Brown, the lead donor for both the planetarium and amphitheater, alongside Dr. Tetrick, “There’s nothing more rewarding than to see people enjoying something that you had a part in.
“I’m proud of the University. I’m proud to be an alum. And I wish more people could get back to campus to see how it’s changed,” Mr. Brown continued. “So, maybe by helping with these projects, it will attract more students, alumni, and the greater community to Ball State. That’s the goal.”
Future Veterinarian?
Had things gone Mr. Brown’s way as a high school student in Indianapolis in the 1960s, he would’ve instead pursued a career caring for animals.
He applied to just two state universities, including Ball State and Purdue University, but, unable to gain immediate acceptance into Purdue’s veterinary program, he decided to make the move to Muncie.
“I came to Ball State, actually, with the thought of being a science teacher,” Mr. Brown recalled. “I was very interested in science in high school, so that was the direction I was going.”
But Mr. Brown eventually switched his major to Business Administration, where he began to build the foundation for a successful career.
While at Ball State, Mr. Brown immersed himself in many student activities. He was the first president of Hurst Hall, then a brand-new residence hall located within the former LaFollette Complex. He became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, the Student Center Governing Board, and the Homecoming Committee, and served as chairman of the Miss Ball State Pageant.
Mr. Brown said he was influenced by Dr. James Marine, then Ball State’s director of student programs, who taught him the importance of embracing leadership roles.
“He’s a guy that I worked with very closely for three-plus years,” Mr. Brown said of Dr. Marine. “He was very impactful and influential, the way he managed student programs.
“That’s when it really clicked,” Mr. Brown continued. “I think the social and leadership skills that I learned from Sigma Chi and from my campus activities were just as valuable as what I learned in the classroom.”
After graduating from Ball State in the Summer of 1971, Mr. Brown was jumping into a career in business just as singer Don McLean’s hit song, “American Pie,” was beginning to climb the charts.
In 1982, Mr. Brown and business partner Craig Fenneman purchased two Taco Bell franchises in Southern Indiana. More than 30 years later, their company, Southern Bells Inc., which had grown to include 76 regional franchises, was sold to Flynn Restaurant Group.
“Charlie really wanted to be a good steward of this money,” Dr. Tetrick said. “And so, that was the beginning of him really thinking, ‘What am I going to do with this? How will I use it? How can I make a difference?’”
Charles W. Brown, ’71 and his wife, Dr. Louise Tetrick
Back to his Roots
In 2010, Mr. Brown, through his good friend and Sigma Chi fraternity brother Larry Metzing, ’70, was introduced to then-Ball State President Dr. Jo Ann Gora.
From 2004–14, Dr. Gora oversaw a dramatic transformation of campus, with more than $520 million of facilities construction and renovation completed or undertaken during her presidency. Mr. Brown and Dr. Tetrick, both impressed with Dr. Gora’s leadership, vision, and personality, decided to donate $25,000 to Ball State’s Marilyn K. Glick Center for Glass. The following year, they generously contributed to the Ball State Bold Celebration Scholars program, which provided $40,000 each in scholarships to 55 incoming Honors College students.
Those contributions sparked further conversations between Mr. Brown and Dr. Gora, who expressed an interest in upgrading the University’s nearly 50-year-old planetarium.
Mr. Brown, recalling fond memories at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, was intrigued. But his subsequent conversations with former Ball State planetarium Executive Director Ron Kaitchuck, MS ’72, became the deciding factor behind his decision to provide the lead gift for the project.
“We met, and he had such passion about this planetarium,” Mr. Brown said of Mr. Kaitchuck. “And when you hear somebody talking from the heart and how important he thought it was to the students and the University, he really sold me on it.”
Mr. Brown said he had two wishes for the planetarium project: he wanted it to be the largest in Indiana, and for all public programming to be offered free to the community. With its roughly 52-foot dome, that dream became a reality. And now, the facility provides free programming to more than 20,000 visitors annually, many of whom are students from local school systems.
New Performance Facility
Much like under the leadership of Dr. Gora, Ball State’s campus has seen tremendous growth under President Geoffrey S. Mearns, who joined the University in May 2017.
And, similarly to Dr. Gora, President Mearns has earned admiration from Mr. Brown and Dr. Tetrick for his long-range vision and passion for the University and the local community. So, when President Mearns brought up an amphitheater project planned for the heart of campus, Mr. Brown was very intrigued.
Follow-up conversations with Dr. Seth Beckman, MM ’90 DA ’96, dean of the College of Fine Arts, and Bill Jenkins, ’95 MA ’96, chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, resulted in another significant financial commitment, leading to the construction of the Brown Family Amphitheater.
“What happened with the amphitheater was that it exposed me to some new people,” Mr. Brown said. “Bill Jenkins and Seth Beckman, I just really enjoyed talking with them. And, again, when you get closer to these people, you find out how much heart they have and how much passion they have for what they’re doing. One can also see how successful they’ve been.”
Located on the grand lawn between Park and Pruis Halls and between Noyer and Woodworth Complexes, the amphitheater is an impressive performance facility for artists and audiences. It features dressing rooms, a green room, storage space, a control room, and a loading dock, as well as a booth/mix station with a lightboard, soundboard, elevated spotlights, truss lighting over the stage, and more.
The University hosted a grand opening event for the Brown Family Amphitheater on Sept. 19, which included a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a performance by the Ball State Jazz Ensemble with vocalist and 2021 Ball State graduate Tatum Langley.
In a bit of irony, the City of Muncie on Sept. 2 also hosted a preview concert for the Brown Family Amphitheater that featured a performance from “American Pie” singer-songwriter Don McLean.
And, of course, those two performances were held free of charge and were open to the greater community.
“In all my conversations with Charlie over the years, he has always insisted that his gifts enrich the lives of our faculty, our staff, and our students—and also the lives of our friends and neighbors in the community,” President Mearns said. “Because Charlie understands that, at its best, a university can be a source of enrichment for a community. That is what Ball State strives to be—for the members of our University community and for all of our friends and neighbors in East Central Indiana.”
Charles W. Brown Planetarium
The Charles W. Brown Planetarium, the largest planetarium in Indiana, welcomes more than 20,000 visitors per year. The facility’s many public programs and shows are all offered free of charge.
Old Connections
Last Fall, Mr. Brown was going through his mail when he noticed a letter from a name that brought back all sorts of memories: Dr. James Marine.
The two had lost contact over the decades, but Dr. Marine had heard of Mr. Brown’s involvement with the new amphitheater and decided to reach out to his former student protégé.
“It was out of the blue. I hadn’t had contact with him for, I don’t know, 40 years,” Mr. Brown said.
That letter turned into a phone call. Then a visit.
“He’s just a good guy. Very influential, particularly from a leadership approach,” said Mr. Brown, a 2016 Miller College of Business (MCOB) Hall of Fame Award recipient who has served on the Cardinal Varsity Club, MCOB Executive Advisory Board, and the Indianapolis CEO Group.
Those kinds of connections, Mr. Brown said, make Ball State special. And it’s why he remains passionate about his alma mater and contributing his time, expertise, and money to further the University’s mission.
“I like being involved—contributing financially or with my presence, serving on a board—mainly because I can keep in touch with the University. That’s why I think it’s important,” Mr. Brown said. “You know what’s going on, and when you’re close to these people, you really get an idea of how much passion there is around the University.”
