For Marva Hunt, Martin University was a point of pride.
Hunt started at Martin in 1993, back before the center of the university’s campus was even built. As the university grew, she appreciated the tiny details that made the campus what it was — the peace garden in the back, the glass globe, the bricks engraved with the names of donors who’d made the new building possible.
“We were just so proud of what President Hardin and Sister Jane were able to do,” Hunt said. “I was a part of that. I was there. So it felt like, you know, our building.”
Hunt continued to stay involved with Martin after she graduated, serving as a board member and later, a faculty member. She was leading the university’s healthcare management program when Martin abruptly shut down at the end of 2025.
For nearly 50 years, Martin University was a symbol of hope and Black educational excellence in Indianapolis. Many alumni and community members still have ties to the college and remember the early days with the founder, the Rev. Boniface Hardin.
Alumni hoped to see the university, and its history, saved. Eastern Star Church purchased the property earlier this year with plans to convert the university campus into a community center. Representatives from the church have said they’re committed to preserving Martin’s history as the building enters its next chapter.
But the church has already run into some hiccups with historic preservation. After a petition was filed to demolish an 113-year-old former Catholic church that was part of Martin’s campus, the city’s historic preservation commission quickly moved to designate the property as historic. That temporarily halted the demolition.
The final decision on whether the church is historic is awaiting approval from the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission.
The Rev. Anthony Murdock, executive pastor and leader of Eastern Star Church’s ROCK Initiative, told Mirror Indy the church would’ve thought twice about acquiring the St. Francis property if it had previously been designated as a historic site.
“We just don’t have experience developing historic spaces,” Murdock said, “and what we’ve learned is that we want to do what we do very well, and then those things we don’t do well, others can do.”
A building in transition
For years, drivers heading west down I-70 toward downtown Indianapolis would see Martin University’s campus from the freeway.
The red brick building and its glass globe are still there, but the sign on the exterior that used to read “Martin University” has been replaced with one for the ROCK Impact Center, a community and event center Eastern Star recently opened inside the former campus.
“We are keeping the history and legacy of this school and its assets in our community,” the Rev. Jeffrey Johnson II, Eastern Star’s lead pastor, said in a video on the ROCK Impact Center website.
ROCK Impact LLC, a limited liability corporation listing Murdock as the chief administrative officer, was incorporated April 28 and bought the campus April 30, according to the sale document.
The LLC closed on the purchase of the former Martin campus May 20, just six months after the university closed. The nearly $3.2 million purchase included the university’s buildings, parking lots and a handful of surrounding residential properties.
Months after the quick sale, Martin alumni told Mirror Indy they’re still mourning the loss of an educational institution that was paramount in the Black community.
“I think my only feeling at that point was grief, knowing that it was not going to be Martin University again,” Hunt said of her reaction when the college was sold. “And then to say, ‘OK, it’s not going to be Martin. Then hopefully it will be an entity that we’re familiar with that continues to help the community.’”
Earlier this year, Murdock told Mirror Indy the ROCK Impact Center will include affordable housing, education, financial literacy and community engagement as an extension of the church’s outreach in the Arlington Woods neighborhood.
The nearly 52,000 square foot space will be open to rent for both events and long-term tenants. A video production apprenticeship has already leased space, and Murdock told Mirror Indy a childcare center has expressed interest. (Martin previously had a childcare center and preschool in the building.)
In September, leaders also broke ground on two houses in the vacant lots close to the old school building. Murdock said the church plans to build homes and keep them affordable by offering subsidies to people who apply through the initiative’s homebuyer program.
Eastern Star, though, has had its development challenges — namely, the historic Catholic church on Martin’s campus. To Murdock, the church is damaged and needs lots of work, which is not what Eastern Star typically does or signed up for.
While Eastern Star isn’t actively looking for a buyer, Murdock said if a historic preservationist reached out and wanted to acquire the property, he’s “open to those discussions.”
“We’re gonna follow the process,” he said. “We’re open to what’s best for the community.”
What was left behind?
When Martin closed, alumni immediately jumped into action to save the school.
They held press conferences, called for new leadership, prayed together and held meetings to try to save Indiana’s only predominantly Black university.
Months later, though, many have reached acceptance and are trying to move on.
“Believe it or not, it’s almost like an out-of-sight, out-of-mind type thing,” said Dwight McGill, president of the Martin University Alumni Association, which led many of those efforts.
Mirror Indy spoke to four Martin alumni who said they’re not up to date with Eastern Star’s plans for the property. Still, they’re thinking about how to preserve their university’s history with whatever comes next.
That includes the Founder’s Room, a glass-walled space off the lobby of the campus’ main building that chronicled the university’s history and held artifacts from the college’s founder, Hardin.
Murdock told Mirror Indy in an email that ROCK agreed to maintain the Martin University Founder’s Room prior to acquiring the property. Murdock also said that representatives from Martin “retained historical assets they deemed important during the acquisition phase,” and that Eastern Star honored those requests.
Maire Gurevitz, director of collections management for the Indiana Historical Society, told Mirror Indy in an email that the organization received a collection from Martin prior to its closure and that those items are being processed. Most of the items, Gurevitz said, were photos.
As for Hunt, she’s coming to terms with the closure, calling it a “small comfort” that the property will stay in the Black community with Eastern Star. She, too, wants to make sure that all of Hardin’s possessions, as well as any other art or documents, are saved for the next generation.
Hunt’s also partial to two murals that were painted in the old St. Francis de Sales Church — one of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the other of St. Martin de Porres. Whatever happens to the church, Hunt wants to see those preserved.
“I never want (Martin) to be forgotten,” Hunt said. “After about 30 years of involvement, there are still days where it’s hard to believe that it’s gone.”
What’s next?
The city’s Metropolitan Development Commission will vote on whether to adopt the historic preservation plan for St. Francis de Sales Church at its Oct. 21 meeting.
If the plan is approved, Eastern Star will have to seek permission from the Historic Preservation Commission before making any changes or updates to the building, including demolition.
Are you a student, former employee or community member with questions or information about Martin University? Reach out to higher education reporter Claire Rafford at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org.
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Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire by email claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org, at 317-759-0249 or on most social media @clairerafford.
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