By: Natalie Sissac
Early in her teaching career, Professor Lorraine Ball stood in a classroom full of students and explained the importance of using pathos, ethos and logos in persuasive speeches. To emphasize her point, she used as an example the warnings against smoking—and how, despite compelling evidence, many people still smoked cigarettes.
After hearing her lecture, one of Ball’s students who had been experimenting with smoking decided to quit. It was then that Ball realized the real impact she could have on students as a professor.
“You’re like, ‘Oh, I’m so humbled that the Lord could use me that way,’” she said, recalling the pivotal moment.
Now, 25 years later, Ball is retiring from the School of Journalism and Communication (SJC), where she has taught speech, public relations and communication courses to hundreds of students, leaving an indelible mark both as a professor and an adviser.
Rachel Williams-Smith, dean of the SJC, described Ball as someone always willing to do her part and serve others.
“She exemplifies dedication and excellence in teaching, consistently receiving high marks on her teaching evaluations,” Williams-Smith said. “She is always willing to go the extra mile to help students rise to the standard, rather than taking the easier route of lowering it for them.”
“Along with the other faculty and staff in the School of Journalism and Communication, I will deeply miss Professor Ball,” she said. “She is not the kind of person who can simply be replaced. She leaves behind a legacy that challenges those of us who remain and will continue to influence the many students who have learned and grown under her guidance.”
Stephen Ruf, an SJC professor, has worked with Ball for 25 years. Ruf said he will miss her positive, cheerful disposition and strong connection with students.
“Mrs. Ball is so many things—a wise adviser, a well-connected PR professor and the most gracious host who opens her home to students,” Ruf said. “Always organized and prepared, she expects a lot but is always there to coach a student who needs one-on-one help. I think her secret weapon is how deeply she really listens.”
Currently, Ball advises more students than any other professor in the SJC, and she was named the university’s “Adviser of the Year” on two occasions.
In 2022, Sharon Rogers, assistant director of Records and Advisement, wrote about Ball’s role as adviser in an article for The WIRE, the SJC’s departmental magazine. Rogers described great advisers as those who successfully assist, guide and encourage students, while helping their advisees meet graduation requirements.
“Prof. Lorraine Ball has been one of those advisers that cares and helps her advisees succeed in graduating,” Rogers stated in the article. “She has been on the Adviser Honor Roll lists for years, and it is no wonder that she was nominated and voted as ‘Adviser of the Year’ twice in her years at SAU.”
During her career at Southern, Ball chaired not only task forces and university committees, but she also served on the Collegedale Academy School Board and in the Faculty Senate, where she was eventually elected chair. Her leadership skills are a natural result of her childhood.
Ball is a “pastor’s kid” who grew up in Glendale, California. By the time she turned 10, her father, Philip Follett, had become president of the Ohio Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Follett went on to become president of the Chesapeake Conference in Maryland, Northern California Conference, Atlantic Union and a vice president of the General Conference. His career shifts caused the family to move frequently, which had a significant impact on Ball’s life.
While her father was president of the Chesapeake Conference, Ball attended Columbia Union College, now Washington Adventist University, majoring in elementary education her freshman year. However, after taking a communication class, she realized she wanted to become a communication major. So, Ball transferred to Andrews University for their communication program and to be with her then-boyfriend, now-husband, Scott Ball.
After getting married, the couple spent a few years at Ohio State University while Scott Ball completed his PhD in music history and literature. In 1990, Ball moved with her husband to New England, where they lived for 10 years, during which he taught music courses and she served as director of career services at Atlantic Union College.
Ball holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, and a master’s degree in professional communication from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
She and her husband transitioned to Southern Adventist University in 2000, when Scott Ball received an invitation to serve as dean of the School of Music. Ball began her tenure at Southern as an adjunct professor in 2001, teaching three back-to-back speech sections, and was hired full-time the following year. Because speech classes allow students to write about their own experiences, Ball said that teaching those classes allowed her to get to know her students more deeply, leading to meaningful friendships.
Jehiely Balabarca-Martinez, a strategic communication-public relations major, said Ball has been a positive influence on her life.
“Sometimes she knows what I need, even though I don’t want to hear that,” she said. “She’s like a mom—in a good way—when she listens to you. She’s always there for you.”
Kyla Wetmore, a student with three majors, including business-public relations, commented on Ball’s success as an adviser.
“As my adviser, Professor Ball was such a calm and grounding force in helping me decide what to prioritize,” said Wetmore. “She has helped me believe in myself and take on challenges with confidence. I will miss stopping by her office at whim to talk about anything and everything. Professor Ball always made me feel heard, understood and valued. I know the impact she made on this department is so much bigger than she will ever know.”
So, what’s next for Professor Ball?
“Well, obviously, after retirement, you have two paths,” Ball said. “You have a rocking chair on the front porch, and you have, ‘Let’s just go for the next act.’”
The latter aligns more closely with her plans for an active, vibrant life.
Ball hopes to become more involved in her home congregation, Collegedale Community Church, volunteering in the hospitality, children’s and women’s ministries, and possibly even in the elementary school. She wishes to spend more time with her children and grandchildren, some of whom reside in California. She also wants to travel abroad.
“So as long as we have our health, I think we’re probably going to be kind of active that way,” she said, “and [I’ll be] working with my flowers, of course, and all of the projects that I say, ‘Oh, I’ll do that when I retire.’”
When asked what she wants her legacy to be, Ball said, “YProbably what makes me [most] proud is when an alum comes back and says, ‘You know when you said this in class? It changed my life.’”
“Those,” she said, “are mission moments.”
