My Butler Story | Matthew Aspinwall ’23

Catching up with Blue

How has your first full school year as the Butler University Mascot gone for you?

Welp, it’s definitely not the first year I or anyone was expecting. However, like my fellow Bulldogs here on campus I found ways to adapt in a pandemic so that I could continue to thrive. Even though this was a tough year, I think the lessons we have learned and the things we will no longer take for granted will make us stronger.

Because of the pandemic, live appearances were minimized. How do you stay connected?

I was luckily able to attend a handful of in-person appearances in a safe manner. A special shout out to our students for following protocol, our Arts & Events team, and our Health Services team for helping us facilitate those events. Those were very special to me to be able to spend time with our students.

But with the pandemic I have had to get creative in how I connect with the world. The Butler Bulldogs have always been on the cutting edge of the social media world so I was able to lean into the digital world to communicate to our community. I explored live meetups on Instagram, launched my Tik Tok, and revamped my Snapchat game.

While I know nothing can replace Bulldog pets, I hope my photos on social media bring a smile to my followers’ faces every single day. Which College is your favorite? (blink twice if it’s COE…) I LOVE EVERY COLLEGE EQUALLY.

What is your favorite thing about being a live mascot?

I’m in it for the people. Hands down. My perfect day would be a day full of spending time with Butler students, hearing about their classes, and letting them know how proud of them I am. Butler is full of the most wonderful, driven, and talented people and it is an honor to not just spend time with them but to be their representative.

What’s it like working and living with your handler, Evan Krauss ’16? Do you have a work/life balance?

HA, Handler! We all know I am in charge over here. All jokes aside, we have such a weird work/life balance. Not only is this job such a lifestyle-based job with the weird hours and availability but we also live right here on campus. Even though we live on campus, because of COVID, we are still operating mostly out of our apartment. So our commute is 5 short steps from the desk to the couch. However, it’s such a blessing to be here every day. It helps me be more available so that I can attend as many events as possible and spend time with as many students, alumni, and fans as I can. My Dad helps keep my program a well-oiled machine on the backend while I reel people in with the charm. He takes great care of me, helps me run my social pages, and keeps me looking good. Most importantly, we have gotten really good at creating two modes; “work mode” and “home mode” even when work mode may be happening at home. While I do think my job is fun, like any human with a job it is important to draw a thick line between work and time for myself. When we are working, Dad and I have a co-worker relationship, we are working together in a professional manner with the goal of representing Butler. Then we can turn that off when we log off for the day and our relationship can resemble a dog/human relationship. In all honesty I think my parents are obsessed with me, I am very, very, very well loved.

What are your favorite treats?

1. Apples

2. Watermelon

3. Cheese Evan, what’s been a highlight of this year for you, given that yours and Blue’s duties have shifted a bit to meet pandemic guidelines?

Just like Blue, for me the highlight has been the people. To be able to have a front row seat to watching our students adapt to this once in a lifetime scenario and not just survive but thrive in their time was remarkable. There is just something special about our corner of Indy and I am so grateful to be a part of it every single day.

To learn more about Butler’s mascot program, check out the Netflix episode “Much Ado About Blue” from the docuseries Dogs.

When you hang with Uncle Trip, what do you do for fun?

Mostly I just run around him in circles trying to convince him to play. If he doesn’t want to then I play fetch with his human brothers. They are great bulldog wranglers themselves. When Trip does want to play we love to chase geese, run around Hinkle Fieldhouse, and we love to ruin a fresh coat of snow with bulldog tracks. We have also been known to split a Benebone treat.