Ambassador on campus

Ball State University in 2023 launched a new program for students to promote their home county on campus.

Jay County now has its first such ambassador.

McKenna Vore was recently approved to represent Jay County through the Ball State University County Ambassador Program.

“I love Jay County,” said Vore, a Pennville resident. “I am involved a lot in the community. And I think it’s just a great way to say this is my home, this is where I’m from and here are all the things that you can do, and this is why Jay County’s so great.”

The 2022 JCHS graduate said her mom shared a Facebook post regarding the program with her last year and that she reached out again about the possibility of being involved this year. After talking with officials at Ball State, she met with Jay County Visitors and Tourism director Mary Adair to make an initial connection in the community.

Vore found out recently that she was approved as the county’s ambassador through the Ball State program, with Adair making an announcement at last week’s Jay County Development Corporation meeting.

County ambassadors, at their core, serve as a student representative for their home county. While there is a lot of freedom in how to promote the county, the ambassador’s job description involves representing their county by:

•Proudly identifying themselves as their county’s ambassador

•Developing a unique “elevator pitch” for their county

•Sharing information with peers

•Creating social media posts

•Welcoming employers to campus that are from the ambassador’s home region

•Attending training once a semester

•Attending Ball State Day at the Indiana Statehouse

Vore explained that she will attend training sessions during the 2024-25 school year. They will cover topics including the importance of promoting quality of place, how to tell a compelling story about the county and best practices and parameters for promotion on campus.

Events she said she hopes to promote include the Tri-State Antique Engine and Tractor Show and the Jay County Fair.

So, why does Vore love Jay County?

“I really love the people,” she said.

She mentioned that her eyes were opened when she joined Jay County Civic Theatre in late 2017.

“Meeting a lot of people in the community opened me up to be like, ‘Oh, OK, so this is what it’s like to be part of a community, part of a home within a home,’” Vore said. “So I started looking at things that I could do to volunteer in the community, to be out and about in the community, all the things going on.”

One of the opportunities that led to was participating in the Jay County Fair Queen Pageant.

Vore is in the process of preparing to compete in the pageant for the third time this summer. She was on the queen’s court in 2022 and was third runner-up and Miss Congeniality last year.

“It’s fun to meet people,” she said. “And the kids are so cute. It’s just fun to be able to be someone in the community because sometimes it can be hard to get out there.”

Vore has been involved with Jay County Civic Theatre since first taking the stage as in “Miracle on 34th Street,” including serving as a student director for this month’s production of “Finding Nemo Jr.” A theatre education major, she is teaching Arts in the Parks classes through Arts Place and has been involved with a kindergarten readiness program for three years.

At BSU, she has been on the Schmidt/Wilson Hall Council, the Residence Hall Association and Theatre Education Club and also volunteers as a tutor for Muncie’s Northside Middle School. She is slated to co-direct a play with a fellow student at Burris Laboratory School in the fall.

Vore has also been involved with the Philanthropy Education Council — it leads One Ball State Day — since arriving on campus and will serve as its vice president for the coming school year. One Ball State Day, 24-hour online fundraising event for alumni, faculty, staff, brought in nearly $1.13 million in April.

“We have to give back or things don’t get better,” said Vore on the importance of philanthropy and public involvement. “When people complain and say, ‘Oh, well this needs to happen or this needs to happen …’ You need to make it happen.”

She said she hopes to serve as the county’s ambassador through her final two years at Ball State — ambassadors are appointed for an academic year but may be reappointed for additional years — and then seek to identify a successor to continue the work of representing Jay County.