Ballantine's near 50-year history marked by suicide, sex

Just east of the chemistry building stands Ballantine Hall, used daily by many yet perhaps historically familiar to few. \nNot many are aware of the history behind the nearly fifty-year-old building. Constructed in 1957, Ballantine is home to numerous humanities and social science classes. \nThe building is named for former acting president and professor of mathematics at IU, Elisha Ballantine, who first taught here in 1854. \nAt the time it was built the building increased the amount of classroom space on campus by about 50 percent, according to Indiana Daily Student articles. However, at one point, the financial burden of construction called the building's completion into question. \nThe money necessary to finish it was taken out of University savings intended to be used towards a business building, and total costs for construction eventually reached $6,242,422, according to an IU-Bloomington Physical Plant release. This financial shortage left Ballantine without air conditioning for its first 18 years. \nToday, Ballantine exists to the majority as a place for learning and studying. But its history is marked with some extracurricular, even tragic, events. Among the stories surrounding the building are tales of suicide, including a 28-year-old graduate student who fell nearly six stories in 1970 and another student who survived an eight-story fall in 2004, according IDS articles.\nBallantine Hall is, in part, known for the six-foot geophysical globe donated to the school by two alumni in 1961, and housed in the first floor foyer. Less known, however, is the 1993 sexual scandal in Ballantine that caused an uproar across campus, according to IDS articles. Every Sunday in Ballantine there was "a mess of used condoms, semen and articles of clothing" left for janitors to clean up. After reports made by custodians repeatedly complained of sexual mess, the building increased security.