'Godfather of college publications' Louis Ingelhart dies at 86

Louis E. Ingelhart, a retired Ball State University journalism professor known as the "godfather of college publications" and for championing students' First Amendment rights, has died at the age of 86.\nIngelhart passed away Sunday at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, friends and colleagues said. \n"To me, Dr. Ingelhart was the true heart and soul of this department," said Ball State journalism department Chairwoman Marilyn Weaver. "He was the center of the whole program, and his death is a terrible loss for us." \nA native of Grand Junction, Colo., Ingelhart joined what was then the Ball State Teachers College in 1953. He led the school's Center of Journalism and later the Department of Journalism from 1968 to 1979, when he stepped down, but he continued as director of student publications. He retired from Ball State in 1983. \nIn 1981, Ingelhart helped form the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C., and was named to its national executive board. He was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in April 1982. \nIngelhart and IU Student Media Director Dave Adams were at the only high school journalism case brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, in 1986. The court ruled in a 5-3 decision that school principals could exercise some control or censorship over school-sponsored student expression such as school newspapers, Adams said. Adams worked with Ingelhart at College Media Advisers Inc. and the Society for Collegiate Journalists. \n"He was very passionate about the First Amendment and giving voice to student journalists," Adams said. \nInglehart wrote a dozen academic books and commentaries on students and their free speech, according to a self-penned obituary. \n"What's honorable about him is that he did a lot of research after he retired," said Jack Dvorak, director of IU's High School Journalism Institute. "He was very productive up until his death." \nDvorak knew Ingelhart for about 30 years. The two were professional colleagues in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. \nBall State journalism professor Mark Popovich said Ingelhart testified at trials over freedom of the press and congressional hearings on First Amendment issues.\n"He was a true champion for students and their First Amendment rights," said Popovich, who succeeded Ingelhart as journalism chairman in 1979. \nVisitation for Ingelhart will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Meeks Mortuary, 415 E. Washington St., Muncie. The funeral service begins at 1 p.m. Thursday at Hazelwood Christian Church, 1400 W. University Ave., Muncie. \n--The Associated Press contributed to this report.