Three World War II-surplus Quonset huts, housed inside a converted Naval Reserve Armory, welcomed the first students and faculty when Ball State’s College of Architecture and Planning began holding classes.
Now, 50 years after then-Gov. Roger Branigin signed a 1965 bill that created the school, alumni, faculty, and students gathered to celebrate the college that has become, for many, synonymous for family.
See more of the College of Architecture and Planning's 50th anniversary celebration.
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“The people at this school, my professors and classmates, are so dear to me,” said Tom Baker, ’74, named the 2015 Distinguished Alumnus. “It’s very emotional for me to be here.”
The 50-year anniversary activities included special symposia and demonstrations from alumni and other experts, including a Charles Sappenfield Lecture by Thom Mayne, a 2005 Pritzker Prize laureate. The Pritzker Prize is considered to be the Nobel Prize of architecture. A Beaux Arts Ball, held at Minnetrista, capped off the anniversary celebration.
Guillermo Vasquez de Velasco, CAP dean, said commemorating 50 years is as much about honoring the past as it is preparing for the future.
“We are the school that Charlie built,” Vasquez de Velasco said, referring to CAP’s founding dean, Charles Sappenfield. “There’s a distinctive DNA that continues to run very strong in every member of the CAP family.”
"There's a distinctive DNA that continues to run very strong in every member of the CAP family."
— Guillermo Vasquez de Velasco
Dean of the College of Architecture and Planning
That legacy continues to grow, he said, when considering the ways in which the school has diversified — from one program with four faculty members to nine programs boasting more than 50 educators from three departments.
“Still, we have an appreciation for our footprint,” Vasquez de Velasco said. “We’re not changing in any fundamental way. The mission that defined our origin continues to inform our growth.”
That sentiment resonated with Amelia Clark, ’83, visiting from her home in Washington, D.C.
“I’m surprised how little things have changed and yet at the same time, how much they have,” Clark said. “I’ve not been back since I graduated and the 50th anniversary was a great excuse to return. It was great to see how busy CAP is, to see all the students enrolled — and to see the number of women enrolled.”
CAP Alumni Awards
Distinguished Alumnus Award
Thomas Baker, ’74
Award of Outstanding Achievement
Rebecca Leonard, ’95, MURP ’97
Dan Overbey, ’05
Steven Spears, ’99
Amy Williams, ’04, MURP, ’05
Charles M. Sappenfield
Award of Excellence
Andrea Swartz, associate professor of architecture
Even though she doesn’t get back to Muncie, Clark has never lost touch with her CAP roots.
“We have people that we get together with every New Year’s Eve,” she said. “It’s a different city every year and they are all CAP people. I think of them as my peers, definitely my touchstone.”
Chandra Aylsworth, ’16, said returning alumni and other visitors supercharged a week already filled with opportunity.
By Lisa Renze-Rhodes,
Senior Media Relations Manager