Ball State’s Los Angeles Alumni Club Builds Community Far From Muncie

On the eve of One Ball State Day, Cardinals in Los Angeles gathered to build friendships, professional connections, and a stronger West Coast alumni community

Three Cardinals had just moved to California. One was an online student who had never set foot in Indiana. Others had spent years building lives and careers in Los Angeles.

But on a rooftop in El Segundo, Calif., they found common ground quickly—thanks to Ball State University.

By the end of the March 31 gathering at Flora Bar and Lounge, new connections had formed over shared memories, career paths, and Cardinal roots. The evening, organized by Corey Feldpausch, MA ’11, the lead of Ball State’s Los Angeles Alumni Club, was timed with intention: at 9 p.m. Pacific time, it would be midnight in Muncie, and One Ball State Day—the University’s annual 24-hour online fundraising event.

“My goal was just to have a small group get together, get to know each other, and reconnect,” Mr. Feldpausch said. “It wound up being a greater turnout than I expected.”

The turnout exceeded his expectations by more than double—he estimated more than a dozen people attended, many of whom he had never met despite years of living in the same city.

“I got to meet so many people who have done amazing things,” Mr. Feldpausch said. “There were former student-athletes, some working in media, one who is a firefighter, and some who had just recently graduated from Ball State and moved out here.”

Mr. Feldpausch, who graduated from Ball State with a Master of Urban and Regional Planning and now works in affordable housing development and operations at Decro Corporation, stepped into the club lead role in 2023 after meeting Dwight Smith, ’87, the previous chapter lead, at an alumni gathering in Beverly Hills. Since then, the club has hosted student send-offs for incoming Ball State freshmen from Southern California, outdoor meetups with alumni and their dogs, and game watches.

For Mr. Feldpausch, the goal has always been the same: “I want this to be a group that supports each other,” he said.

Sally George Simmons, ’15, a public relations professional at Edelman, reflected on the evening in a LinkedIn post that resonated well beyond the rooftop. The common ground between attendees, she wrote, does something most networking events cannot.

“It skips the part where you’re strangers,” Ms. Simmons wrote.

Ms. Simmons, an honors graduate who studied journalism and public relations at Ball State, moved to California with her husband after graduation—drawn, in part, by a dream she had carried since college.

“I had always wanted to work at a big PR firm and had read about Edelman throughout college,” Ms. Simmons said. “It has been really cool to have that come to life.”

She had attended a previous L.A. Club event and made a point of coming back this year.

“L.A. is big, so anytime there is an opportunity to meet someone from Ball State, it is kind of cool because you have so much in common right away,” Ms. Simmons said.

What she found that night went beyond small talk. Among the attendees was an online student who had never visited the Muncie campus, and three recent graduates who had moved to California just days before the event—people at the very beginning of a journey Ms. Simmons remembered well.

“Connecting with them from that standpoint was really special,” Ms. Simmons said.

By the end of the night, Ms. Simmons had met Darnell Smith, ’16, a fellow alumnus she had never crossed paths with before.

The two are now exploring ways to collaborate professionally, including his recent event for women in Los Angeles, where they planned to feature her health coaching business.

“It’s about using those connections to further what you are doing, learn from other people, and give guidance where you can,” Ms. Simmons said.

The ripple effect did not stop there. Ms. Simmons said her husband, who attended the event with her, was inspired by what he saw and is now considering leading the University of Louisville’s Los Angeles alumni chapter.

Dalton Coers, ’14 MA ’24, associate director of regional engagement for the Ball State Alumni Association, said evenings like this one are proof of what the alumni network can do.

Mr. Coers oversees more than 40 alumni clubs and works with nearly 100 volunteers across the country—a network he has helped grow since joining the Alumni Association three years ago.

“They’re volunteers doing this out of the kindness of their hearts,” Mr. Coers said. “I have one volunteer who has been doing it for 40 years—longer than I’ve been alive.”

The decision to gather the night before One Ball State Day was not an accident. Mr. Coers and Mr. Feldpausch worked together to identify the timing that would allow the L.A. Club to be among the first to give when the giving day began at midnight Eastern time.

“Any time we can get alumni together, we’ll take it,” Mr. Coers said. “And this one had a great turnout.”

What stood out most to Mr. Coers, though, was not the turnout itself, but what it revealed about the alumni network’s reach. He has run into Ball State alumni in places he never expected—Alaska, Germany, and even a chance encounter in Ketchikan that turned into an hourlong conversation about shared memories of campus traditions.

“That’s why these events further away are so successful,” Mr. Coers said. “You’re bringing people together who probably haven’t shared those stories in years.”

For those who were there, the evening was proof that the Ball State network does not end at Indiana’s borders. It travels as far as its alumni do—and the L.A. Club intends to keep showing up.

Find Your Cardinal Community

Ball State has more than 224,000 living alumni and 40-plus Alumni Clubs nationwide, bringing alumni, friends, and fans together for local events, professional networking, community service, and opportunities to cheer on the Cardinals. To find a club near you—or learn how to help start one—explore the interactive alumni club map at bsu.edu/alumniclubs.