By Sheryl Swingley—
MUNCIE, IN—Reservations for the Muncie Central Alumni Association dinner and annual meeting are due Monday, Oct 23. Attendees do not have to be a member of the association to attend.
Check-in for the event will take place from 5 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, in the Muncie Central High School cafeteria. Attendees should enter the west door from the north parking lot.
Kelly Ershew
Reservations for the event are $18 per person. Checks payable to the Muncie Central Alumni Association should be sent to 6604 W. Talamore Court, Yorktown, IN 47396.
After dinner, distinguished alumni awards will be presented; the $2,000 in grants awarded to Central teachers will be detailed; and the Central students who are the recipients of the association’s $2,000 scholarship and the $5,000 Harris-Jones Scholarship will be recognized.
Speaker for the event will be Kelly Eskew, who for her master’s thesis at Indiana University wrote “Hysteria on the Hardwood: A Narrative History of Community, Race, and Indiana ‘Basketbrawl’ Tradition.” The research paper details the January 1964 IHSAA’s suspension of Central from all athletic competition.
“It’s hard to believe that it was nearly 60 years ago that the suspension happened,” said Kay Rankin, a retired Central teacher and board member of the Muncie Central Alumni Association. “Even more interesting is the fact that Kelly’s grandfather was Phil Eskew, the commissioner of the IHSAA who was responsible for this devastating action on our beloved school. I think, too, that you’ll want to hear Kelly’s conclusions about the suspension based on her research.”
Eskew is a clinical professor in the Department of Business Law & Ethics in the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University, where she also earned a law degree in 2001. In addition, she is director of Education & Outreach for the Kelley Institute for Environmental and Social Sustainability.
The association’s scholarships and teacher grants are supported through memberships in and donations to the Muncie Central Alumni Association. Membership forms are available from the association’s website, https://www.munciecentralalumniassociation.com/, under “How to join.” You do not have to be a graduate of Central to be a member of the alumni association.
Membership forms and donations may be mailed to Muncie Central Alumni Association, 6604 W. Talamore Court, Yorktown, IN 47396.
