“…Let us resolve that we will be worthy of the past, so that when sixty years from now those who may come after us come together in the great auditorium of the greater Butler and speak of us, they shall not point to us as weaklings, but as men [sic] who loyally and righteously strove to do their best.”
–Butler President Thomas Carr Howe
Founder’s
Day Address, 1916
Marianne Glick ’73, MS ’74 continues her legacy of support with a gift to Butler’s newest entity, Founder’s College.
Caroyln Gentle-Genitty arrives as inaugural Dean of Founder’s College.
Butler’s campus provides the perfect setting for the 2024 total eclipse.
Butler Chemistry Professor Dr. Anne Wilson and her students send their work into orbit.
NASA
Highlights
Butler’s Indianapolis Community Requirement helps serve the
Ashley Churchill ’24 inspires the next generation.
CCOM student Eva Hallman ’26 ices the
Nursing degree and three new majors
Butler’s new Office of Sustainability forges a new future on campus.
Nancy (McCoskey) Thoms ’75, MA ’24 on finally fulfilling her dream.
Best-selling author, Cat Bohannon ’01, perfects her craft.
The Florence Jessup Memorial Study Abroad Fund
The long career and enduring legacy of Barry Collier ’76.
Linda Calvin ’00 and her passion for helping others.
Music professors continue their run of accolades.
The 100th anniversary of Butler’s first foray onto the Fairview campus.
TBT comes to Hinkle.
As I reflect upon the past year and look forward to the next, I am filled with immense pride and gratitude for our collective achievements. Our journey has been marked by significant milestones and transformative experiences that underscore our commitment to excellence in education, innovation, and community engagement.
In this edition of Butler Magazine, we explore the themes of honoring our rich past, celebrating our vibrant present, and envisioning an exciting future. These stories and accomplishments reflect the essence of Butler University and the collective spirit that propels us forward.
Honoring the past, we reflect on the legacy of individuals who have shaped our institution and the remarkable achievements that have paved the way for future generations. From the groundbreaking research of our alumni to the historic moments that define our University, we pay tribute to those who have contributed to our enduring legacy. Notably, on April 30, 2024, Barry Collier ’76 concluded a remarkable decades-long career. From student-athlete to Coach to Athletic Director, Barry exemplifies The Butler Way. His legacy in Athletics will continue to inspire as Grant Leiendecker ’11 begins his tenure.
Celebrating the present, we take pride in the accomplishments of our current students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. Their dedication, creativity, and resilience continue to drive Butler’s success and uphold our mission of providing an exceptional education. Whether it is groundbreaking research included in NASA space expeditions or reimagining sustainability on our campus, the Butler community continues to shape the world around us in significant and meaningful ways.
Looking toward the future, we embrace the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead with optimism and determination. Initiatives like Founder’s College exemplify our commitment to expanding access to a Butler education and adapting to the evolving landscape of higher education. Our forward-thinking approach ensures that we remain at the forefront of innovation, providing valuable experiences for our students.
Your support and commitment make these achievements possible. Together, we will continue to honor our past, celebrate our present, and envision a future filled with promise and potential.
Best regards,
James Danko
By Jennifer Gunnels
Indianapolis philanthropist Marianne Glick ’73, MS ’74 has two Butler degrees to her name—a bachelor’s in Elementary Education and a master’s in Educational Psychology—but early on, college proved challenging for her. Glick recalls struggling to make the transition and dropping out after her first year. With the help of her parents, she regained her footing and re-enrolled.
She has never forgotten the support that helped her reach those academic milestones, and she’s built a legacy working to provide that support for others.
“Even with financial advantages and parents who really stressed education, I still struggled,” Glick says. “I would have fallen through the cracks. It’s very important to me that students who may not have the same kind of support systems I had have support.”
A desire to help historically underrepresented students access high-quality education and persist in earning a degree fueled Glick and her spouse, Mike Woods, to make a $2.5 million gift to help launch Founder’s College at Butler University. In honor of their personal and fiscal commitment, the dedicated space for Founder’s College on Butler’s campus will be named the Marianne Glick and Mike Woods Founder’s College Commons.
“I’m really thrilled Butler is doing this,” Glick says. “Providing affordable education at a high-quality school like Butler for those who have historically not been able to go is transformational. I want to make sure that all students, regardless of their race, gender identity, or income have that opportunity.”
During college, Glick, an Indianapolis native, worked alongside her father, Gene, in the family’s real estate development business. Glick says the values that guided her father’s business decisions became the guiding values in her life’s work.
“
at Butler University founder’s College
The Glick family also has a deep history of supporting historically underserved youth. Gene Glick launched the Pro 100 program in 1981 to provide teens with a summer job. The program evolved into TeenWorks, an independent non-profit organization that provides yearround mentorship, scholarship, and career development coaching in addition to summer employment.
Serving as the Board Chair of TeenWorks is chief among Glick’s many philanthropic and leadership commitments to provide families with access to highquality education and career opportunities. She sees the investment in Founder’s College as a natural extension of that work.
Woods also has a personal connection to Butler University and the Founder’s College mission. His father attended Butler in the 1940s until he was forced to drop out in the second semester of his senior year to care for an ailing family member. Woods sees the couple’s gift as a nod to his father’s Butler experience and the difficulties so many students face in completing their degrees.
Through her community work, Glick has witnessed many similar stories of students experiencing personal setbacks that can derail their academic success. She says the holistic support services embedded in the Founder’s College model were significant in the couple’s decision to give.
“Sometimes something as simple as a flat tire can knock students off their academic track,” Glick says. “So those emergency funds and wraparound support services are really critical.”
As lifelong Indianapolis residents, Glick and Woods see their gift not only as an investment in the lives of local young people but in the community and the state as a whole. With workforce-aligned degree programs, Glick sees Founder’s College as instrumental in contributing to the state’s talent pipeline and preparing job-ready graduates for Indianapolis and beyond.
SUPPORTING
We didn’t build high-end apartments; we built apartments for working class and lower-income families,” Glick says. “Dad had a very strong conviction that everyone should have a safe, affordable place to live. So, because I worked in the business with him, I really felt strongly about that, too.”
“I am a big proponent that if students are educated in Indiana, we want to retain them,” Glick says. “They will be contributors to our economy. The Founder’s College courses of study—business, health sciences, and education—are all sectors in need of employees in Indiana. And I think Founder’s College students will be well poised to fill those roles.”
FOR SUCCESS
By Francesca Jarosz Brady
In her nearly two decades at Indiana University, professor and administrator Caroyln Gentle-Genitty wore an IU pin on university business. On non-university business, she wears a different pin—one emblazoned with the words, “Making a Difference.”
That phrase summarizes how Gentle-Genitty has measured her professional impact across a career in social work scholarship and higher education leadership. It also captures what drives Gentle-Genitty as inaugural Dean of Founder’s College at Butler University, the two-year college that will launch in August 2025 to increase access to higher education for historically underserved students.
Serving as Founder’s College Dean culminates a lifetime of youth-serving work, from her place as the eldest of five in a low-wealth family, to her years leading youth programming as a staff member, consultant, and volunteer.
“At Butler, I get to do both—make a difference and do University business—because it’s what I’ve been hired to do,” says Gentle-Genitty, who began the job on June 3. “In this role, I get to show up as who I am.”
Paving her own path
Gentle-Genitty’s journey to Butler began in her hometown of Belize City, Belize, where she was born to parents who emphasized the value of learning. They worked long hours operating a food cart and canteen, and Gentle-Genitty helped care for four younger siblings.
She recalls meeting with her siblings’ teachers so she could support them in school—an experience that proved valuable to Gentle-Genitty as she charted her own educational path.
She attended one of the country’s top all-girls private high schools, followed by earning her associate’s degree at a two-year college, which she paid for through campus employment and waitressing.
It was during her two-year college experience that GentleGenitty met the president of Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, where she would enroll to complete her undergraduate and master’s degrees.
Though she initially pursued law, she switched to social work in her second undergraduate semester after an admission counselor saw her light up around the topic of helping others. Her experience as a first-generation student deepened her understanding of the obstacles around higher education access. Gentle-Genitty paid for her undergraduate education through work-study and covered her master’s with a promissory note.
After graduating with her master’s, she returned home to lead the YMCA of Belize. A former professor from Spalding recruited her to pursue her doctorate at Indiana University, which brought Gentle-Genitty and her husband to Indianapolis in 2004.
Though she planned to go home after completing her doctorate, a 2008 election upended life in Belize and Gentle-Genitty’s plans. She instead moved into a visiting professor role at IU, and a year later moved into assistant professor tenure-track, where she advanced to full professor on the IU Indianapolis campus.
Over the years, Gentle-Genitty took on a variety of roles, from leading IU’s School of Social Work bachelor’s program and more than doubling its enrollment, to pioneering online education, overseeing academic policy and programs, improving transfer policies, and representing her institution at the state and national levels.
Creating a “family culture”
Last November, Gentle-Genitty had returned to IU after a yearlong leadership training fellowship when she received an email from a Butler recruiter. They were looking for a dean for their new two-year college. When Gentle-Genitty started researching Butler and Founder’s College, she became intrigued about the possibility.
“I saw a commitment to always push the dial to make a difference for people,” she says. “I fell in love, and my prayer literally to God was, ‘if this is your prayer like it is mine, let it be.’”
Butler’s team selected Gentle-Genitty for the role in March. Brooke Barnett, Butler’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, says throughout the interview process, those who interacted with Gentle-Genitty saw her passion and desire to build community.
“We knew we were looking for a dean who had it all and were so lucky to find that in Dean Gentle-Genitty,” Barnett says. “She is a teacher, scholar, mentor, gifted administrator, and leader. And she brings a passion for supporting students.”
Just a week after her selection, Gentle-Genitty was already formulating a vision for the type of “family culture” she wants to create—centered around ensuring Founder’s College students experience the sense of belonging that Butler desires for all undergraduates.
“Founder’s College is the heart of Butler’s mission,” she says. “Butler’s team was warm and welcoming to me from the moment I stepped on campus. I want Founder’s College students to have that same experience.”
Carolyn Gentle-Genitty has measured her life by how much she helps others. As inaugural Dean of Founder’s College at Butler University, she aims to make a difference through her career.
Fulfilling Her
at Butler University founder’s College
expectations
Thousands of sky-gazers converged on Indianapolis on April 8 to view the once-ina-lifetime total solar eclipse. Butler served as a popular gathering point, with Dr. Brian Murphy, Professor of Physics and Director of the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium, offering detailed play-byplay (met with cheering and applause) for the large crowd concentrated on the lawn in front of the Observatory. The festive atmosphere included food trucks, games, elaborate picnic lunches, and all the eclipse t-shirts. It was enhanced by the Carillon’s celestial soundtrack playing in the background. The collective “ooooos” and “ahhhhhs” during totality put an exclamation mark on the historic event. One group in attendance came together from opposite ends of the country and united on Butler’s campus. Making the trip from California, New Jersey, and Michigan, they had searched online for the perfect spot, “Someplace nice, someplace we hadn’t been. The [Holcomb] Observatory seemed like there’d be people that knew what they were doing and were right there.”
April 8,
“Sharing the cosmos with the community at Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium, my adventure began as a first-year faculty member with the fascinating 1994 annual solar eclipse. Now, as I bid farewell, my academic journey culminates with an unforgettable grand finale—celebrating my retirement amid the awe-inspiring spectacle of the 2024 total solar eclipse, surrounded by thousands of fellow eclipse enthusiasts.”
2024
—Dr. Brian Murphy, Emeritus Professor of Physics and Director of the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium
Crystal
Forgive Butler Chemistry Professor Dr. Anne Wilson if she wants to brag, but the research she and her students are doing on growing crystals in microgravity is being used by, among others, NASA. And if all continues to go well, the experiments they’re now helping with, which are taking place on the International Space Station, will ultimately go toward making better pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, cosmetics—even ice cream and chocolate.
By Marc Allan MFA ’18
The story begins in 2021, during the height of the pandemic. Ken Savin, a former Butler adjunct Chemistry Professor, contacted his friend Wilson about analyzing trends in NASA data.
“They really don’t do a good job of evaluating in a meta way the trends that are happening in science being done in space,” he says. Wilson agreed, and she and some of her students began looking at the data that had been compiled on growing crystals in space. (A crystal is a solid material whose constituents—such as atoms, molecules, or ions—are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions.)
“We were able to show that there was a massive improvement in crystallization in microgravity,” Wilson says. (Microgravity is the minimal gravity that exists in space.)
“NASA loved it,” Savin says.
More than that, Wilson and her students were able to add to science’s collective knowledge base by studying things such as complex inorganic salts and proteins bound to DNA and creating databases so scientists can look at and search the data.
“I was fortunate because people at NASA got very excited, and they were able to do things like write reports and brief the White House using the data that Butler students had collected,” Wilson says. So far, eight Butler students have worked on this project, and she’s adding more this summer.
“And now, we’ve started to get some partners who are interested in working with me on doing some of these experiments in space,” she says.
One of the Butler partners is Redwire, a Floridabased aerospace manufacturer and space infrastructure technology company that designs and builds hardware to help people accomplish science and production goals in space.
Their chief scientist? Ken Savin.
In March, Wilson took four samples to the Redwire labs at the Kennedy Space Center so they could be brought to the International Space Station. In early May, they returned to Earth—and to Butler.
“They survived intact and my students and I are currently analyzing them,” Wilson says. “They look great!”
This summer, Wilson and her students will be working with a list of 110 compounds they will be sending to the International Space Station for experiments. One of those students is Amari Williams, a fourth-year from Merrillville, Indiana, who plans to head to dental school in 2025 to become a pediatric dentist.
For the past two years, Williams has been among the students who have
Savin says Redwire is interested in this work because it’s hoping to grow crystals that have commercial significance and that someone—perhaps a pharmaceutical company like Eli Lilly and Co.—would buy them or buy the rights to the intellectual property around that crystal form.
“Some of the work that we’re doing is setting the stage for breakthroughs in other fields where crystals are important,” Savin says, citing food chemistry as one example. “A lot of foods—their texture and their flavor and the way your body interacts with them—depend upon their form. And crystals are a part of that.”
He cites two examples: ice cream and chocolate. If you change their crystal form, it changes the way it feels in your mouth and the way it tastes. Companies spend a lot of time figuring out what type of crystalline structure they build into those products. Similarly, cosmetic companies use crystals to regulate their color and the way they glisten.
been compiling data from various international flight studies, analyzing the data presented, and observing/comparing the trends seen in space and on Earth.
“By associating data from hundreds of publications with the crystals’ proposed applications, we intend to provide a clearer look at the past, present, and future of this field of research,” she says. “I feel really proud to know that our databases have been really useful for our partners at NASA as well as at Redwire.”
Wilson says she’s especially grateful that this project came along at this time.
“Usually, later-career scientists start wrapping up their careers and finishing up outstanding projects,” she says. “Here I am, starting on a whole series of exciting investigations, and we are just getting started. I can’t wait to see what my students get done this summer, and in the years to come.”
This mission patch was created to signify the crystallization in microgravity experiment.
Dr. Anne Wilson with Redwire partners Stephen Tuma, Jeff Canary, and Zach Fisher.
Connections
By Nancy Lyzun
Something out of this world made a visit to the College of Education’s Science and Social Studies Methods class this spring.
Butler students in the Elementary and Middle Secondary programs, as well as invited fourth, fifth, and sixth graders from two local elementary schools, had a rare experience engaging with moon rocks and meteorite samples from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Since the early 1970s, NASA has run a program for educators through the Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science arm in Houston that provides sample disks and classroom activities to teachers. However, the teachers must undergo training and certification.
“And in 2017, almost 40 years later, I received the training and certification to bring that excitement to Butler students and classrooms around Indianapolis.”
During the experience, the visiting students learned about the samples and participated in hands-on activities like lunar surface modeling and robot end-effectors as they learned about Apollo 11. The lunar samples were from the Apollo missions, and the meteorite samples were taken from Antarctica, Africa, and the United States and included fragments from Mars.
Growing up, COE Professor Dr. Catherine Pangan watched as her mother, Dr. Barbara Hagerman, a former seventh-grade science teacher, received her training in the 1980s by NASA and was then allowed to handle lunar and meteorite samples.
“I saw how inspired her students were to be able to have the lunar samples in their classroom,” Pangan says.
Of course, there is always a significant safety protocol for having the samples in an educational setting. Pangan enlisted and is grateful for the help of both Butler’s Public Safety team and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to ensure all safety protocols were strictly followed during the classes and while the samples were being stored outside of the classes.
The classes with the younger students provided a great opportunity for discussions around the history and the technology involved in the first moon landing, and Pangan adds the timing was perfect. “It was thrilling to be able to bring the samples around the time of the eclipse this year.”
A lunar sample disk
And we feel we owe a debt to thee, that never can be paid.” “
Clarence
Crain ’73, a distinguished alumnus and dedicated community leader, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during the University Commencement Ceremony on May 10, 2024. Crain has significantly shaped both the University and the broader Indianapolis community through his profound dedication to higher education and civic involvement.
By Elle Rotter ’27
con nect ing serving the community through Butler’s Indianapolis Community Requirement
From working with children, to serving as a translator at a medical center, to walking dogs, Butler’s Indianapolis Community Requirement (ICR) helps serve the Indianapolis community—and the students themselves—in a variety of ways. The ICR is part of every student’s Core Curriculum and goes beyond just volunteering; it’s about connecting experiences outside of the classroom to academic learning goals within the classroom.
Junior Biology and Psychology double major Sam Lineweaver took Lifespan and Development with Assistant Professor Dr. Karina Hamamouche ’14. Lineweaver completed his service hours at the Martin Luther King (MLK) Center’s after-school program working weekly with a second-grade class.
When Lineweaver started the volunteering requirement he thought he was just going to be checking off another box required for graduation; he didn’t expect the students would have such an impact on him as well.
“It’s been really special to bond with the kids,” Lineweaver says. “They’re coming from all sorts of different schools and all kinds of different backgrounds. For some of those kids, the dinner the Center serves is the only food they’re getting that evening. I think that learning about that sort of thing was eye-opening for me.”
Hanako Gavia ’21, Assistant Director of the Center for Citizenship and Community at Butler, says the ICR fosters holistic learning. “The ICR helps you to find your purpose in life, not just paying your bills, but really going out and becoming a productive person who knows what’s going on in your community as well,” she says.
Sam Lineweaver ’25
Sarah Mangan ’25
Lineweaver experienced this connection in his Lifespan and Development course. “You learn a lot about all the different cognitive, social, and physical changes that people go through their entire lives. Applying that to the kids enhanced my understanding of the course material and also allowed me to give back to the community in that meaningful way,” he says.
Additionally, the ICR helps to broaden students’ cultural awareness of societal issues and find ways to connect these issues to academic interests.
“I see students making dramatic impact through the relationships they’re building with our young students,” says Leintz Belony, Community Engagement Coordinator at the MLK Center. “I see them reading books to the kids. I see them helping with their homework. Having those positive relationships is really key to the health and development of our young people and Butler’s students are great at doing that. They’re also consistent in showing up and being there when they say they will, and we’ve grown to rely on their support and their presence.”
Students like Lineweaver credit the ICR with pushing them to volunteer in the community when they otherwise thought they wouldn’t have the time. Junior Health Sciences major Sarah Mangan agrees.
“I really do appreciate Butler requiring the ICR because I think if they didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity or the push to go out into the community and volunteer, Mangan says. “Butler is really good about offering a large variety of opportunities to go out into the community.”
Mangan worked with Near West Clinic as a translator to complete her ICR service hours, and she wants to be a PA after
she graduates. She found that volunteering was a networking opportunity to meet other students and current PAs she may be working with in the future.
“I think if I was just taking the Medical Spanish courses without actually going out into the community, I would not be where I’m at today,” Mangan says. “ I always feel really good after leaving the clinic because I know I did something I didn’t have to do but also enjoyed it.”
Not only does this requirement help integrate student learning with real-life experiences, it also helps increase community awareness and engagement in a way that simultaneously benefits the community and the students.
“I see students benefiting from their time at the MLK by just raising their community awareness,” Belony says. “It’s important that students know about what is going on in their community, how their community is being impacted, learn about the history of their community, learn about the needs in their communities, learn about ways they can develop their community involvement, and even benefit from being in that community.”
Butler’s ICR provides opportunities for students within their major, but students can also take ICR courses to fill other Core requirements or even electives. Junior Psychology major Manveet Kaur took Wagging, Walking, and Wellness to fulfill the Physical Well-Being Core Requirement.
“I think it’s nice to experience firsthand the impact that you can make in your community,” Kaur says. “It’s a small impact, but it’s a meaningful one. It’s also a way for us to connect and give back to the community.”
Kaur takes the time to get to know each animal that she works with to make sure they are comfortable with her before she takes them outside. Not only did she feel like she was making an impact, but Kaur says that this class also helped her physical and mental health.
“When I was taking care of these animals, it really reduced my stress level because I kind of forgot about my problems,” Kaur says.
Assistant Professor Dr. Alexander Roehrkasse began teaching ICR classes this year. He says some students claimed in their final assignment that this was the most meaningful course they have taken at Butler.
“Classes like this invite students to go out into the community to interact with people they wouldn’t otherwise interact with, to learn the stories of people who have had very different life chances,” Roehrkasse says. “It helps us see that our learning is not just for ourselves, but ultimately, it is in the service of caring for, supporting, and advocating less fortunate people in our community.”
Manveet Kaur ’25
PURSUING HER DREAM
By Victoria Ochs
Ashley Churchill ’24 was six weeks into her student teaching placement when a local school partner reached out to the College of Education (COE) with a need for an additional teacher due to high enrollment numbers.
When Churchill was given the opportunity to apply for the role, she found herself at a crossroads. This position meant stepping in as a full-time staff member. She knew she needed the qualifications to manage a classroom all by herself and had to decide if she was ready.
“It was a hard decision, but the education I’ve gotten from Butler has made me feel so much more prepared than I could have ever imagined.” Churchill says. “I felt like I was ready for that next step.”
Churchill interviewed for the position and was hired to teach third grade at IPS/Butler Lab School #55. Butler’s COE partners with local school districts and youth serving organizations, many of which are staffed by a significant number of Butler alumni. To the COE, her role is considered a residency: an opportunity extended to student candidates who meet a certain criteria. But in the eyes of her students and fellow staff, she is a full-fledged teacher.
“She is lauded by her peers, her University Supervisor, and building level colleagues for her professionalism and care for her students,” says Angela Mager ’92, MS ’01, Senior Lecturer and COE Assistant Dean. “We learned recently that many of her colleagues don’t even realize that she is still a student— they just view her as an outstanding member of their team.”
The COE strives to find creative solutions to address the national teacher shortage while also ensuring students are supported in their student teaching and residency placements. Students like Churchill are able to work as paid employees as resident teachers while also receiving observation and mentorship.
Churchill is grateful she accepted the opportunity because she has enjoyed the freedom to experience and experiment in her own classroom, communicate with students’ families, and continue receiving regular support from her University supervisors.
“I feel like I’ve gotten the experience of being a first-year teacher without the pressure of being a first-year teacher,” Churchill says. “This residency has helped me excel in my teaching abilities as well as in my growth as a person
because of the support I have from Butler and from my school.”
When Churchill recalls her coursework at Butler, she thinks of all the ways she uses what she learned from her professors in the real world. She remembers math games she learned from Dr. Ryan Flessner ’97, and she uses versions of those games for her third-graders. Dr. Catherine Pangan’s MS ’99 emphasis on experiential learning inspired her to do a handson unit themed around the solar eclipse, letting students build crafts and play with flashlights to understand the material. She said she uses teaching strategies taught by Dr. Theresa Meyer in her classroom every day.
One of Churchill’s colleagues, Brittany Shackleford ’11, has also been instrumental in her development as a teacher. Churchill decided to remain in Indianapolis to continue working with Shackleford and IPS/Butler Lab School #55 after graduation.
“I adore Brittany and I’ve learned more from her than I ever thought possible,” Churchill says. “She has helped shape me into the educator I want to be and I want to keep learning from her, so I decided I love the school, I love the City of Indianapolis, and I accepted to stay in the position I’m in now.”
Churchill emphasizes that her time at Butler has been powerful for her and the COE set her up for success. She says she has her professors to thank for why she can do the things she’s doing now and feels grateful she feels so prepared to pursue her dream of being an educator.
Churchill received the Outstanding Elementary Student Teacher Award from the COE this spring.
“My first grade teacher inspired me to become the kind educator that makes everybody feel welcomed,” Churchill says. “I knew I wanted to change the world in some way… to shape the younger generation and develop future leaders. Teaching feels like my way in.”
GAME CHANGER
By Victoria Ochs
“There’s no bigger smile on my face than when I’m broadcasting hockey,” Eva Hallman ’26 says.
Hallman, a student in Butler’s College of Communication (CCOM), made Indianapolis sports history as the first woman broadcaster for the professional hockey team Indy Fuel, donning the headset alongside Play-by-Play Broadcaster Andrew Smith. The sophomore Journalism and Strategic Communication double major has spent the year gaining real-world experience as a communications intern and color commentator for Indy Fuel.
Color commentating requires a quick wit, statistical savvy, and familiarity with the sport and players to keep fans immersed during stoppages. Hallman considers this internship a game-changer for her career path—but she wasn’t always comfortable with the sports spotlight. Before she could become a dynamic commentator, she had to find her voice.
Alpha Chapter, 1924
Hockey was a staple sport in the Hallman family growing up. She attended her first Fort Wayne Komets game at six months old and followed the team up to their first ECHL title win in 2021. But in high school, Hallman’s involvement in sports took a backseat to her interest in communications. She decided to sign up for her school’s speech and debate program.
“I chose the broadcasting category because I wanted a controlled environment, a script, and I didn’t want judges to be able to see me,” Hallman says.
Despite her struggles with self-consciousness, Hallman placed fifth in the state competing with her speech and debate team by her senior year. When making a college decision, Butler’s speech and debate program stood out to her, so she enrolled as a Journalism major and continued her passion for communications.
At Butler, Hallman seized every opportunity she could to hone her craft. She won IFA Radio Broadcasting State Champion with the Butler Speech and Debate Team in 2023. She became Multimedia Editor of The Butler Collegian student newspaper and tutored her peers in the Speaker’s Lab. She added Strategic Communication as her second major where she learned how to craft press releases, a skill she uses in her internship. She met representatives from Fort Wayne’s WOWO radio station at a career fair and got a job broadcasting and producing shows during college breaks.
She also worked as a news Digital Producer at WANE 15 back home, fully embracing her love for news.
Sigma Gamma Rho Founders’ Plaza
But something was still missing.
After attending two Indy Fuel games, Hallman was smitten by the idea of sports broadcasting. She took a leap of faith and emailed her resumé to Indy Fuel Director of Brand Partnerships, Halston Mavrick. He hired her, and Hallman said her job experience and the background she developed in CCOM helped her stand out.
Hallman credits her Indy Fuel team and her CCOM classes in helping her identify her passions and her dream job. She’s especially grateful for the support system she’s received from professors in CCOM and her core classes, emphasizing that Butler feels “like a big family” to her.
One example of this support was a CCOM scholarship from the Roger Lindberg Fund, which enabled her to travel to Las Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters Convention. CCOM’s Marketing and Recruitment Manager, Ross Hollebon, had connections that allowed Hallman to shadow TV and radio broadcasters at an NHL game. There, she met Kevin Gorg, Reporter and Hockey Analyst for the Minnesota Wild team.
“It was the most incredible experience of my life… I was so starstruck,” Hallman says. “After watching him for a couple periods of the hockey game, I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ I want to do sideline reporting.’”
Hallman looks forward to continuing her path to becoming a sideline broadcast reporter post graduation and is thankful for all the people cheering her on.
“I never want to shut up about hockey—I want to wake up and go to an NHL rink every morning,” Hallman says. “That’s my dream. And I’m not the kind of person who will let a dream go.”
NEW PROGRAMS
Accredited Nursing degree and three new majors expand students’ academic and career opportunities
By Cindy Dashnaw Jackson
A direct-admission Nursing degree program and three new majors are the latest additions to Butler University’s robust health-related offerings, an area that has experienced tremendous growth in the last decade.
New Nursing degree gets students to bedsides in first year
In May 2024, the Indiana State Board of Nursing accredited a brand-new Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree at Butler University.
“It’s a rare opportunity to build a Nursing program at a time when the healthcare field—and patients’ needs—are so dynamic,” says Dr. Seth Carey, the program’s Founding Director. “Butler is well-positioned to be on the cutting edge of healthcare training so our graduates can be ready for the future.”
Two significant features of Butler’s Nursing program are:
•Direct admission—Unlike many other Nursing programs, Butler’s admitted students are automatically enrolled in the Nursing program starting their first year, with no need for additional applications.
“Our program arose from working groups with healthcare institutions in the city. One of our goals was to get students to the bedside sooner,” says Dr. Jennifer Snyder ’97, Associate Dean, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (COPHS).
“The more time a student gets to spend with patients, the better professionals they will be.”
The need for nurses is enormous and still growing. Indiana is projected to need an additional 5,000 nurses by 2031, mirroring a national demand driven by a systemic nursing shortage.
“Butler is responding to a clear need for highly trained nursing talent in our state,” says Dr. Robert Soltis ’87, COPHS Dean. “This degree is a natural extension of Butler’s other top programs in health sciences, including our nationally renowned Pharmacy and PA (Physician Assistant) programs.” Applications will be accepted beginning August 1 for a fall 2025 launch.
NURSING KINESIOLOGY
•Clinical practice in the first year—Students will be in clinical settings by the second semester, allowing them early access to internships and job opportunities.
More information can be found online at butler.edu/ nursing.
New Kinesiology major reflects ‘flexible ’ curriculum
No one is more excited about the new Kinesiology major than Program Director Dr. Tom Parry, who cites the program’s relationship with Butler Athletics as one of its biggest advantages.
“Other universities are geared toward research, but being Butler, we are centered on student experience. “The Athletics department is really on board and sees value in Kinesiology,” he says.
Students will get hands-on experience with equipment they may see on the job as well as practical visits and internships with community partners like Ascension St. Vincent and Forte Sports Medicine.
“These are premium internship sites, and they’re very open to having our students shadow practitioners,” says Parry.
“There are so many opportunities in the Indianapolis area for internships. We’re connecting with professional sports teams to see how we can help.”
The flexible curriculum with two concentrations is based on human movement and its relationship to biomechanics, exercise physiology, and sport and exercise psychology.
“Whatever related area a student wants to go into, they can learn concepts and theories in Kinesiology they can readily apply in real-world careers,” says Parry.
Learn more about the Kinesiology program at butler.edu/kinesiology.
“Some of our graduates will seek professional degrees in medicine or law, some will pursue graduate school in fields such as psychology, biology, or computer science, and many will eventually become physicians, PAs, neurobiologists, or clinical neuropsychologists,” says Lineweaver. “This degree opens doors and makes our students well-rounded people.” Learn more about the program at butler.edu/neuroscience.
New
Public Health major is ‘redefining a college education’ The pandemic kick-started a long-simmering interest in developing a Public Health degree at Butler, says Christopher Stobart, Program Director.
“All parts of public health were challenged. Jobs were created overnight that no one had thought about, and we were seeing students leave Butler with valuable traditional degrees but not necessarily ready for the changed workplace,” Stobart says.
As soon as conversations for a Public Health major began in 2021, the response from Butler faculty was immediate.
NEUROSCIENCE PUBLIC HEALTH
New Neuroscience major suits Butler’s many disciplines
Butler will welcome its first class of Neuroscience majors this fall, and Program Director Dr. Tara Lineweaver ’91 believes it perfectly fits the University’s approach to teaching.
“Neuroscience is interdisciplinary. It’s about understanding the brain from many perspectives, which means we interact with a lot of different fields in many different ways,” she says. “Butler aims to help students recognize that there are numerous approaches to understanding what’s happening in society and the world. We have the advantage of a large faculty who have such diverse interests.”
Neuroscience majors often transfer from other majors or pursue combinations of majors, many who wish to take advantage of Neuroscience’s research opportunities. She cites existing relationships with several Indiana University labs, along with community internships with psychology offices and mental health organizations.
“There was a callout across campus: ‘If you’re interested in helping develop a Public Health program, let’s meet.’ Every single college showed up. With the pandemic, everybody could see natural connections to public health that were essential to their areas of expertise and wanted to be involved,” says Stobart.
The major gives students the ability to consider the many variables that impact health. How one looks at those factors reflects their public health focus, he says. Faculty wanted a highly customizable major to allow students to find their niche under the Public Health umbrella. After a common core set of classes, the biggest part of the major comprises electives so each student can create an education that aligns with their career pursuits.
“This major is a reflection of where future academia is going. We are redefining a college education. I promise every student will be captivated by something they learn.”
More about the Public Health major can be found at butler.edu/public-health.
By Victoria Ochs
What does sustainability at Butler look like?
Maybe The Farm at Butler and its fresh, vibrant produce comes to mind, or the distinct blue of the campus-wide recycling receptacles. The flash of energy-efficient lights activating might serve as a reminder when entering a room, or the “no mow zones” designed to preserve native plant life on Butler’s grounds.
While these examples do represent several areas of Butler’s sustainability initiatives, they are only snapshots of a much larger picture. At Butler, the most significant strides toward sustainability are often like changes in the atmosphere— unseen, yet everywhere.
Enter the new Office of Sustainability, the beating heart behind Butler’s large body of sustainability and decarbonization efforts.
The Office of Sustainability will continue all programming formerly offered by the Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability (CUES) while centralizing campus-wide efforts toward achieving Butler’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan. It will also facilitate Butler’s journey through its Decarbonization Roadmap—approved by the Butler University Board of Trustees in February 2024—placing the University in an excellent position to reach its goals of a 45 percent reduction in greenhoiuse gasses by 2030 and net carbon neutrality by 2050. The multi-phased, multi-decade Roadmap will pave the way for Butler’s goal of 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses by 2030, net carbon neutrality by 2050, and the University’s eventual adoption of clean energy.
Research ecologist, educator, and long-time CUES Director Dr Julia Angstmann was named the inaugural Executive Director of Sustainability, working alongside Assistant Director of Operational Sustainability Julie Lindeman and Farm Manager Tim Dorsey. Two new positions in the Office are yet to be filled.
“The new Office of Sustainability represents systemic change that is integral to transforming how the University will solve its most complex sustainability challenges,” Angstmann says. “This change provides a potent opportunity to redefine how all divisions on our campus innovate, collaborate, and support one another to meet our sustainability goals.”
To accomplish these institution-level sustainability policies, this Office will lead and collaborate with the Butler Sustainability Leadership Council (BSLC), consisting of campus-wide divisional leaders, to continue progress in the following areas: land and water management, waste diversion, intelligent building technologies, energy efficiency, community partnerships, green fleet development, responsible institutional investing, and more.
“Julia Angstmann and a handful of other sustainability champions on our campus, including CUES co-founders Dr. Travis Ryan and Dr. Carmen Salsbury, have been diligently working on these efforts behind the scenes for many years,” says Butler President James Danko. “Today, over 70 percent of Butler students, faculty, and staff believe that protecting the natural environment is more important than all or most other issues.
A SUSTAINABLE
Sustainability simply must feature prominently among our students’ learning and professional development options.”
In keeping with this renewed prioritization and increased awareness, Presidential Spouse and University Relations Associate Bethanie Danko has served as the Office’s executive sponsor over the past two years, providing strategic planning, resource allocation, and project management support. She will continue to serve as a member of the BSLC on behalf of the President’s Office.
The Office will also continue championing student-focused programming such as The Farm, curriculum connections, the Green Grad program, community education, and the Sustainability Leadership Cohort (SLC). The SLC internship model focuses on peer-to-peer mentorship and community building, providing opportunities for real-world problem solving and professional development. Student contributions remain integral in achieving Butler’s sustainability goals.
“I am so excited about the creation of the Office of Sustainability because of all the new internship and leadership opportunities it will provide for students. I think it will make students from all majors feel even more empowered to pursue a career in sustainability,” says Ella Sarles, a senior Environmental Studies major and SLC intern. “Working at the Office has really helped me narrow down what I’m looking for most in a career. It’s allowed me to gain experience
in different fields such as sustainable agriculture, conservation, and energy auditing.”
Sarles conducts audits across campus to assess Butler’s transition to LED lighting. This research will enable the University to identify the status of energy used for lighting, the cost to complete the entire campus conversion, and the projected return on investment and carbon emissions reduction.
In addition to the reduction of greenhouse gases, future sustainability projects include implementing curricular and internship enrichments, conducting a carbon sequestration inventory, developing guidelines for sustainable campus events, piloting a campus thrift store, transitioning to intelligent building management systems, and replanting Holcomb Gardens using local plant species in partnership with the Indiana Native Plant Society (INPS). The INPS flower bed designs will evoke those established by James Holcomb and Arthur Lindberg in the late 1940s, but will use native species to better support the larger ecosystem.
“For the first time in Butler’s history, environmental sustainability has been formally endorsed as a strategic priority of the University. Cross-divisional collaborations abound that will generate lasting, impactful change to University operations, student learning, and campus and community engagement,” Angstmann says. “I am inspired by the participation and ideation of our campus community in these early stages and look forward to continuing forging a path to more sustainable operations and carbon neutrality.”
SUSTAINABLE PATH
Why Not?
By Nancy Lyzun
“We always told our kids, ‘Finish what you start.’ And that’s really why I went back.”
Nancy (McCoskey) Thoms ’75, MA ’24 began her Butler journey as a freshman out of Seymour Senior High School in Seymour, Indiana, in the fall semester 1961. On a scholarship that covered half of the $250/semester tuition, Thoms remembers fondly times spent drinking Cokes in the C-Club, made possible by the $2 a week her grandmother would send. “It was a different world,” she says.
Thoms, a History and Political Science undergraduate, spent three years as a typical Schwitzer coed of the early ’60s, abiding by the strict curfew rules and Sunday dinner dress codes in the all-girls dorm. “I don’t even remember wearing slacks to class,” she says. But a part-time job at the IU Law Library that began in her sophomore year added a detour on her road to a degree. It was at the Law Library that she met her future husband. Thoms continued with her Butler coursework, moving out of Schwitzer into an apartment with friends her senior year, but about halfway through the year she was ready to get married, so she left the University. Over the next 10 years, Thoms took occasional evening classes at Butler and completed her bachelor’s in 1975.
“There has not been one person who has not been wonderful to me. It’s been a phenomenal experience.”
but credits her with making all this possible. Dr. Poor reached out to Associate Professor Dr. John Cornell in the History, Anthropology, and Classics Department who not only agreed to become her advisor, but also helped reconstruct a Master’s in History program, as it had been removed from the University’s offerings several years prior.
“I took graduate classes off and on, but I was working full time and had kids and just kind of let it go,” Thoms shares.
“Then my husband, Bill, passed away about six years ago and I’ve got more time than I know what to do with,” she says.
“And I thought ‘Both my kids are attorneys, my husband was an attorney; the least I can do is finish what I started.’”
“When I decided to go back, my kids [sons Chris and Joe] thought it was great. My 80-year-old friends thought it was ‘stupid,’” she laughs. “‘Why would you do that?’ they said. ‘You’re not going to do anything with it.’” “That’s not the point,” Thoms says, “I just wanted to do it. I thought, ‘Why not?’”
From there she began to make phone calls and connections at Butler. Thoms doesn’t recall what led her to College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Associate Dean Dr. Jennifer Poor,
How did it feel walking into a classroom of students 60 years younger? “The first day–that felt weird,” she says. “I didn’t know how I’d be treated. But every professor has explained to the class who I am and why I’m there and that makes a difference.” And the students seemed to enjoy the perspective she could bring. Thoms says, “I told them how I watched Clowes Hall and Irwin Library being built. And about the day that President Kennedy had been shot.”
Were there obstacles or challenges? “I was just afraid I wouldn’t be fast enough. And I never did figure out Canvas (Butler’s learning management system). But the professors were more than happy to accept my papers through email.”
And the students were always willing to help with any new technology, too. “They were so sweet and nice to me,” she says.
“There has not been one person who has not been wonderful to me. It’s been a phenomenal experience.”
“I just hate that I’ll never see those kids again.”
SO IT IS WRITTEN.
By Marc Allan MFA ’18
Cat Bohannon ’01 may or may not be joking when she’s asked what life is like now that she’s written a New York Times bestseller.
“Well, it’s paying for all of the additional therapy that requires,” the author of Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution says, smiling. “I don’t know how to process this.”
OK. We’ll ask an easier question: How did this future New York Times bestselling author get her start?
Like this: Her parents divorced when she was 5 and she moved to Indianapolis to live with her father, now-retired Butler Psychology Professor Neil Bohannon, when she was in high school. At Butler, “I was alternately a great and terrible student depending on the day and the subject and my mood,” she says. “I was a very moody person.”
She finished with a Literature degree, but not before trying out a bunch of secondary majors—Philosophy, Electronic Music, “anything that interested me.” But her time writing poetry and participating in Butler’s Visiting Writers Series made a lasting impression.
“The caliber of writers coming through Butler in the late ’90s was like, we had better people than Harvard, dude,” she says. She remembers being part of student welcome groups that took poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti to a jazz bar and went salsa dancing with poet Martín Espada. English Professor Susan Neville gave some of Bohannon’s poems to poet Yusef Komunyakaa when he visited campus, and they sat together as he suggested edits.
“It was an incredible thing,” she says. “I mean, he read my freaking poems! That’s crazy. If not for Butler, I don’t think I would have understood that these literary luminaries, the writers that I was so in awe of as a teenager, were, in fact, people who did things like have dinner and go out with students and have drinks and age in their bodies. The wonderful workshops I had as a young writer and also the Visiting Writers Series were very much what made me understand that being a working artist is simply being a person in the world making art.”
Neville says that as an undergrad, Bohannon was “fiery, fierce, funny, incredibly smart, creative, and an immensely talented poet and musician. She was, even then, the real thing.”
After Bohannon finished her Butler career abroad at the University of East Anglia in England, she lived in Europe for a while. Toured with a band. Earned an MFA at the University of Arizona. “Play-acting at pseudo adulthood.”
In 2012, she got the book deal for what would turn out to be Eve, which The New York Times says “presents nothing less than a new history of the species by examining human evolution through the lens of womankind. It’s a provocative corrective that will answer dozens of questions you’ve always had—and even more you never thought to ask.”
The subject matter is a bit off the beaten path, especially for a bestseller, Bohannon acknowledges. But “51 percent of the world has a female body, turns out,” she says. “And there’s a lot in my book that’s relevant for male bodies too. I think there was a desire, a need, to be able to speak about our bodies frankly, but also have the science behind it be understandable and not have it be patronizing or elite or incomprehensible.”
She’s in the process of writing her next book, which deals with the health of women and girls around the world. In the meantime, Bohannon, who received her doctorate PhD from Columbia University in 2022, continues to bask in the acclaim Eve has received.
Butler’s English Department, certainly, is justifiably proud.
“While so many of our alums go on to vivid and meaningful careers, there is something extra gratifying in seeing one of our own receive national media recognition on this scale,”
English Professor Andy Levy says. “But that’s all tribute to Cat’s own intellectual and creative vision, energy, and perseverance. It’s a brilliant book by a brilliant person.”
Photo by Stefano Giovannini
What Giving Looks Like.
By Jennifer Gunnels
Dr. Florence Jessup was a beloved Spanish professor at Butler from 1966 to 1996. Today, thanks to the collective efforts of her family and friends, her legacy lives on through the Florence Jessup Memorial Study Abroad Fund. Established in 2022, the fund supports students with financial need studying abroad through Butler’s faculty-led Semester in Spain program. During Butler’s Day of Giving February 28-29, Jessup’s family and friends combined their giving, using challenges to successfully inspire 119 donors to give to the fund during the annual event.
Jessup’s love of Spain and the Spanish language were fanned into flame through her own study abroad experience as a junior in college. Her children said when they first discussed the idea of establishing a study abroad fund in her memory, it felt like the perfect tribute.
“We talked a little bit about what to do, and when this idea materialized, we thought, ‘That’s the answer,’” says Jessup’s daughter, Liz. “She loved teaching and sharing her love of all things Spanish with her students. The ability to help someone study in Spain would have brought her joy.”
For the recent Day of Giving, Jessup’s family and friends pooled their gifts to offer a challenge to inspire others to contribute to the fund. Their initial goal of 25 gifts was reached by mid-morning, unlocking $10,000 for the
fund. The challenge was extended into the afternoon, and another 10 gifts unlocked an additional $10,000 for the fund. A third and final challenge matched additional gifts dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 more. After all Day of Giving contributions were tallied, donors had given over $110,000 to the fund.
“We’re trying to create a legacy in her memory, and it helps to further something that she loved,” Jessup’s son, Jon, says. “It could make the difference for someone who might not be able to study in Spain otherwise. We reached out to friends, family, and our networks, and people saw that it was a good cause and responded.”
Along with her teaching responsibilities, Jessup served in numerous leadership roles during her time at Butler, including as Chair of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures from 1984 to 1991, and as Acting Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1989 to 1990. Jessup used her leadership at Butler to instigate gender pay equality and to establish the Modern Languages Center, which still exists at Butler today.
Butler Spanish Professor Dr. Linda Willem first met Jessup in 1987 and says she was a dear mentor and friend. Willem has led Butler’s Semester in Spain program seven times and says the fund is a perfect way to honor Jessup.
“While Florence was at Butler, our department didn’t
have its own study abroad program in Spain, so she had to send students there on programs from other universities,” Willem says. “But after she retired and moved to Madrid, she was absolutely delighted to meet with the group of Butler students I took on our first Semester in Spain program in 2003. I can still see her leading them through the streets of Madrid to her favorite café, where she treated everyone to copious samples of traditional Spanish dishes. Her generosity has now extended far beyond that day. I’m very pleased that her legacy lives on in this memorial fund.”
Day of Giving 2024:
As an endowed fund, the Jessup Memorial Fund will exist in perpetuity at Butler. With the help of Day of Giving contributions, the fund will generate around $8,000 to support students participating in the program next year. Jessup’s children hope the fund will continue to grow.
“We’ve heard from so many of her former students about what a valuable experience they had being in her classroom,” Liz says. “We’d be delighted if anybody who remembers her contributes. We want to keep going; we’re not done yet.”
Thank you to all of our 2024 Day of Giving donors! Your collective generosity is making a difference in the lives of our students every day.
This year we raised a total of $653,670 2,401 unique donors
This is nearly 800 more gifts than last year and an increase of more than $150K over last year!
• Alumni Donors: 789
• First-Time Donors: 588
• Gifts: 2,594 (you could think of this as “transactions”)
• Our first-time donors accounted for nearly $82K or 12.5% of our total dollars this year
• The most supported fund by dollars raised was The Butler Fund for Student Scholarship – $136,919
• The Cheerleading Gift Fund won the challenge for most athletic team funding raised with over $27k
• More than $18.5K was raised for the Fund to Support Student Mental Health and $12K for the Ayres Student Assistance Fund
Semester in Spain students in 2021
“Collier emphasized The Butler Way which featured team play. The whole of Collier’s teams was always greater than the sum of the parts, and that tradition was extended to the coaches that followed.”
—David Woods, in his book
The Butler Way
Barry Collier ’76 served Butler University for 28 years and was celebrated in Hinkle style at the March 6 home basketball game against Xavier, accompanied by his family.
Complete with a presentation of a Sagamore of the Wabash by the State of Indiana and a one-of-a-kind lifetime season ticket, the evening allowed both a crowd full of Bulldogs and Collier himself to demonstrate their mutual gratitude for a life and career dedicated to Butler.
Collier concluded his tenure as Vice President and Director of Athletics on April 30 with Grant Leiendecker ’11 succeeding him in the role.
Barry’s Best: Barry’s Best:
• 31 combined years at Butler (two as student-athlete, 11 as Head Coach, and 18 as Vice President and Athletic Director)
• Served as Butler’s Vice President and Director of Athletics since 2006
• Serves on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee; previously served on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and the NIT Committee
• Recognized with Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year honors in 2019 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA)
• As Head Coach, led the Bulldogs to six postseason campaigns (in 1997, mentored the Bulldogs to an NCAA Tournament appearance, the school’s first in 35 years)
• Led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournament appearances in his final four seasons as Coach
• Along with President James Danko, oversaw the school’s move to the BIG EAST Conference in 2013
• Butler student-athletes combined for a GPA of 3.3 and above in 10 consecutive semesters
• Men’s Basketball runs to the NCAA Final Four® in 2010 and 2011 most notable Athletics accomplishments during Colllier’s tenure.
• The highest finish for a women’s team in school history—placing third in the 2013 NCAA Cross-Country Championships.
“Throughout his time at Butler as a student-athlete, coach, administrator, and leader, Barry has personified our core values of dedication, spirit, and excellence. He has consistently demonstrated these qualities with utmost integrity and distinction.”
-President James M. Danko
By Hailey Radakovitz ’21
Linda Calvin ’00 has always had a passion for helping others find belonging in their workplaces. As a 30-year veteran of the technology industry, her experiences have inspired her to pave a path for others, striving toward more inclusive workspaces, specifically for women and people of color in this space.
While pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Butler, Calvin worked full time at Dow AgroSciences, which was no easy feat. But with a determined mindset and make-ithappen attitude, she persevered and now looks back fondly on her time at the University.
ALUMNI PROFILES
Thank you to our credit union partner, Elements Financial, for their support.
“The professors understood my workload, and they were very supportive,” Calvin notes. “I knew it was going to be a challenge attending school and working full time, but I had a very enjoyable time at the University.”
Encouragement from professors (including Dr. Kwadwo Anokwa and Dr. Rose Campbell) was impactful throughout her undergraduate journey, and in 2000, Calvin graduated with a BA in Journalism with high honors. In addition, she was nominated for and won the Nicholas M. Cripe award for Public and Corporate Communications.
Calvin continued her quest for knowledge and earned a juris doctor from IU McKinney School of Law. She practiced law as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Indianapolis, but after a couple of years, realized she missed tech and returned to that sector. Later, positions at Stanley Black & Decker and Ivy Tech Community College allowed her to pair her passion for technology with her robust communication and leadership skills.
These opportunities gave Calvin a unique perspective on the importance of creating inclusive workplaces for individuals to thrive. During her time in the technology sector, she would sometimes find herself as the only Black woman working on a project. She took note of this gap, and has since been working tirelessly to address it.
In her current role, Calvin serves as the Chief Impact Officer at non-profit Reboot Representation, an organization that leads the effort to close the gender gap in tech for Black, Latina, and Native American women.
“My job is to work with companies that belong to our coalition to help them create and sustain inclusive cultures,” Calvin says. “There’s lots of research that has been done about women in tech, but one pivotal study has found that by age 35, 50 percent of women will leave tech due to non-inclusive cultures. My role was created to prevent that exodus.”
Calvin has also built Transcend Consulting, which allows her to partner directly with organizations to address talent gaps and attract more women and people of color into the tech ecosystem.
Calvin’s background and leadership experiences contribute to her success in these roles, but she also notes that her personal experience as a Black woman has provided perspective.
“I understand what it’s like to be the only Black woman on a team in tech,” Calvin notes. “I know that women from all backgrounds can thrive and be subject matter experts in the space, and we absolutely deserve a seat at the table. I feel that as a veteran in this industry, I need to help clear the path so that the women who come after me have a better pathway to success.”
To further support this work, Calvin has led the charge to establish Indiana Women IN Tech Week, a first-ofits-kind event. Taking place this September 15–22, Women IN Tech Week is a dedicated celebration aimed at sharing the stories and contributions of women who are bringing incredible value to the technology industry in Indiana.
“I want this event to be the pebble that causes the ripple that causes the wave of change—I want us to have honest conversations about women in the workplace and how they can be supported,” Calvin says. “Ideally, I hope women walk away from this event knowing that they belong in the tech arena and that they should feel confident and comfortable as experts in their field.”
Calvin will continue to make strides in Indy’s tech sector as a new Advisory Board member for Butler’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In this role, she hopes that she can shed light on the importance of attending college and obtaining a university degree.
“I believe college changed who I am. It allowed me to think about things differently. Going to Butler gave me exposure to new people with different backgrounds and experiences. It really changed how I perceived life, and it made me a better leader and a better human.”
OnRepeat
Dr.Beck Marsh, Dr. Penny Dimmeck, and Dr. Brian Weidner
By Nancy Lyzun
Each year, the Indiana Music Education Association recognizes individuals whose work has made a positive impact in music education in Indiana. The award recognizes educators in each of the four following areas: Elementary; Middle School/Junior High; High School; and College/University. These awards are presented to IMEA members who have exemplified outstanding achievement over multiple years of teaching and contributions to students as well as the music education profession.
Over the last four years, the award winners have all hailed from Butler University. In 2021, Dr. Matt Pivec, Director of Jazz Studies, was awarded Outstanding Indiana Music Educator in the Collegiate category.
In 2022, Dr. Becky Marsh received this award as did Dr. Brian Weidner in 2023. Marsh and Weidner are both Assistant Professors of Music Education. This year, the award of Collegiate Educator of Excellence was presented to Professor of Music Dr. Penny Dimmick.
“That multiple members of the Butler University School of Music faculty have been recognized as Outstanding Music Educators comes as no surprise. These remarkable professors center our students at every turn, and their constant efforts to ensure that our Music Education majors are prepared for the challenges of today’s diverse school environments requires flexibility, compassion, and a sense of equity—the very traits that IMEA values.”
—Dr. Lisa Brooks, Dean, Jordan College of the Arts
In addition to these accolades to Butler faculty, junior Performance and Music Education major Jenna Small was named a 2024 Outstanding Future Music Educator.
“Jenna will hit the ground running when she graduates not only as an effective music teacher but a music educator who will quickly be a leader in our field,” says Professor Weidner.
Honorees are recognized each year at the annual IMEA Professional Development Conference.
Dr.Matt Pivec
By Kyle Stearns
On May 17, 1924, the University hosted a baseball game at what was then Fairview Park between Butler University and the University of Chicago. Coming into the game, Chicago was well known for its academics and athletics, along with being a founding member of the Big Ten Conference (1896–1946). The stakes on the field were even higher for bragging rights, as Chicago was the alma mater for Butler’s Athletic Director Pat Page and Coach Tony Hinkle. This important game would take place nearly four years before the opening of Butler Fieldhouse (Hinkle Fieldhouse) and Jordan Hall in 1928.
To drum up more interest for the game and the future campus of Butler, May 17, 1924, was designated Fairview Day and the Indianapolis community was invited to attend. To showcase the future campus to the community, blue and white pennants were placed on the grounds laying out the sites of the future buildings and boulevards. According to reports, over 3,000 individuals from
The game, which took place on a field located on the mall between what we now know as Jordan Hall and Irwin Library, did not disappoint the local fans. The blue and white squad of Butler played a tight contest against Chicago’s maroon and white squad, outlasting them and scoring an 8–6 victory. Coach Hinkle’s baseball squad would go on to finish the 1924 season with a 13–9 record, defeating well-known teams such as Chicago, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, Cincinnati, and Ohio State.
In 1976, the field on campus was dedicated with a historical home plate marker and can still be found resting comfortably on the lawn between Dugan Hall and Jordan Hall.
Fairview FIRST A
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first intercollegiate athletic contest at the present Butler University campus.
By Nancy Lyzun
Over the past several years, Hinkle Fieldhouse has played host to a new variety of athletic events—and not limited to Butler games. During the pandemic in 2021, Hinkle Fieldhouse had the distinction of hosting 16 NCAA Tournament games, including first, second, and Sweet 16® rounds. This year, the Fieldhouse was the site of the semifinals and championship games of the NIT and the inaugural WBIT games. It doesn’t end there. This July, Hinkle will be one of eight regional locations for the high stakes, open to all, TBT 2024. TBT (The Basketball Tournament) is a $1 million, winner-take-all, 64-team tournament that’s as much fun for the players as it is for the fans.
For the first time in the tournament’s 11-year history, Butler will not only be hosting games, but will be entering a team. The All Good Dawgs team is spearheaded by NBA veteran Shelvin Mack. Mack has enlisted former Bulldogs Sean McDermott ’20, Paul Jorgensen ’19, Bryce Nze ’21, Bo Hodges ’22, and Rotnei Clark ’13. A few gameday surprises will fill out the dream team.
McDermott was the first former Bulldog to sign on. “I’m elated that this opportunity has presented
itself. I can’t stop thinking about what it is going to feel like to play in Hinkle again. I can’t wait to put a Butler jersey on and represent the Dawgs in front of the Butler faithful.”
“For all of us, our last game at Hinkle is extremely bittersweet, but the TBT gives us an opportunity to re-live some of those great memories we have,” says Emerson Kampen ’13, who will be coaching the All Good Dawgs team. “It’s going to be a lot of fun to coach and bring together guys who have worn the Butler jersey but who have never been teammates until now.”
“The TBT provides us with the opportunity to reconnect our fans with some of their favorite Bulldogs of the last decade,” says Grant Leiendecker ’11, Butler’s Vice President and Director of Athletics. “There’s nothing better than experiencing basketball at Hinkle, and to be able to showcase the Fieldhouse to new fans and a national television audience during the summer is a huge win for Butler.”
The Tournament runs July 19–August 4. Ticket, schedule, and team information is available at thetournament.com/tbt.
NBA veteran and former Bulldog Shelvin Mack and Sean McDermott ’20 lead the TBT All Good Dawgs team.
CLASS ACTS
the ’40s
A book by Angelo Angelopolous ’40, Vukovich: The Man Who Wouldn’t Lift, tells the story of Bill Vukovich, winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1953 and 1954.
The handwritten manuscript was unearthed 61 years after Angelo’s death and has been edited and published by veteran Indiana sportswriter Mark Montieth. Angelo was a Navy pilot in World War II, flying over bombing sites in Japan. He worked most of his career for The Indianapolis News but also was nationally prominent as a freelancer.
the ’60s
Willard Mays ’69 was elected to the Executive Committee of the National Coalition on Mental Health and Aging, which he formerly chaired and includes over 80 national organizations, governmental agencies, and state coalitions. He was named a Legacy Advisor to the American Society on Aging and selected as the 2024 American Society on Aging (ASA) Hall of Fame Award recipient. Additionally, Willard served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Mental Health Workforce for Geriatric Populations and on the Board of Directors of Mental Health America Indiana after his “official” retirement.
the ’70s
Sheryl Anne Hobbs ’70 has published her second book, Mac: The Wind Beneath My Wings. This WWII/Pacific War book won the ABB award for Best Biography 2023. She and her husband,
Mike Hobbs ’76, welcomed their first great-grandchild, Coa Carter Hobbs.
Cassandra Crowley ’78 retired as Artistic and Executive Director of Canton Ballet after 42 years at the helm.
the ’80s
Leslie Odom ’81 retired from the University of Florida after 33 years in December 2022. Dr. Odom taught Oboe and Music Theory and served as Graduate Coordinator for the School of Music. Her CD is available on Spotify. She and her family now live in northern Florida.
Kevin Wachtel ’82 earned a Doctorate in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University in December 2023. He is the Executive Director of Partnership Development for IWU.
Lizabeth (Libby)
Marks-Shepard ’83 retired as Program Director from Therapeion Therapeutic Riding Center, the PATH International program for persons with disabilities, in 2007. She retired from pharmacy in 2014 after 30 years of primarily hospital pharmacy. Libby and her husband own and run a horse boarding stable near West Lafayette, Indiana.
Angela Bies ’88 was appointed Director of the PhD Program in Public Policy at the University of Maryland, School of Public Policy. Also, she was appointed to the Board of Councilors of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan, by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2020, and recently, in 2023, she was elected Executive Councilor of this governing body.
Brent McPike ’88 has been performing recently with the Terre Haute Symphony
Orchestra and on that orchestra’s Chamber Series with his duo partner and three-time National Champion mandolinist Solly Burton and the WorldRenowned trio Choro Das Tres of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
the ’90s
Theresa Coffini Juday ’90, Executive Director of Product Innovation for CVS Health, was recently named to the National Board of Directors for the Lupus Foundation of America. Theresa was diagnosed with lupus herself in 1997.
Karen DeToro ’92 was named President of the Worksite Division of CNO Financial Group, effective January 1, 2024. Karen previously served as CNO’s Chief Actuary and has nearly 30 years of experience in strategy, individual and group insurance product management, technology enablement, actuarial, and finance.
Todd McDorman ’92 has been named Dean of the College at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. A rhetoric professor at Wabash since 1998, Todd is now serving as the College’s Chief Academic Officer.
Roni Jenkins ’93 recently completed her Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Regent University.
Wade Wingler ’93 was named President and CEO of Noble, Inc. (The Arc of Greater Indianapolis), a 70-year-old non-profit organization serving individuals with intellectual/ developmental disabilities and their families.
Christiane Sola ’96 celebrated her fifth anniversary of founding the Chicago School of Musical Arts. This afterschool program organization impacts lives through the power of musical arts, movement, and enrichment education, filling a great need in the after-school program space.
Amanda (Bailey) Jamison ’97 accepted the role of Senior Program
Officer at Foellinger Foundation in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Lucy (Cetin) Dollens ’98 was named an Indianapolis Business Journal Woman of Influence for 2023.
Aaron Simms ’98 will lead as the Managing and Producing Director of Shakespeare On The Sound in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company will produce Romeo & Juliet this summer.
Jennifer (Kimpel) Hare ’99, Courtney (Caress) O’Neil ’99, and Kappa Alpha Theta will celebrate 15 years of business together in 2024. They founded Whale of a Sale when their children were young (2009), and it has since grown into Indiana’s largest kids’ consignment event. The massive sale is held each spring and fall at Grand Park Sports Campus with 850 sellers and thousands of shoppers.
the ’00s
Kellie (Veit) Beumer ’00 recently accepted the role of Director of Education for the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.
LaTisha Kates ’00 graduated in May 2024 from Indiana University School of Social Work with her Master of Social Work, a concentration in Mental Health and Addictions.
Csilla Ludanyi ’00 accepted a job as Chief Financial Officer for the City of Galveston, Texas, in April 2023. Csilla was a Political Science major at Butler and earned her Master of Public Administration from the University of Houston in 2009.
Jeremy Cobb ’01 was promoted to Partner at Arnold & Porter LLC.
Marra Carson Honeywell ’01 is the new West Lafayette Public Library Director. With nearly two decades of library experience, she is grateful to return home to her childhood library in this new role.
Jonathan Manning ’02 earned his Certified Risk Management Professional (CRMP) certification from the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS).
Darnell Archey ’03 was named to the 2024 Men’s Silver Anniversary Team in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
Ronald Gilliam ’03 started a new role as SVP, IT Chief of Staff at iQor, an award-winning BPO company.
Brendan Healy ’03 recently accepted the role of President and CEO of Riverview Federal Credit Union.
Justin Campbell ’05 will work with a crew to produce his inaugural documentary based on his first book, The New Complete You, Life Between the Lines.
Brian Daniels ’06 received his National Board teacher certification for high school English language arts.
Samuel Culli ’07 was promoted to Director of the AMES (Adult Medicine, Emergency, and Surgery) Pharmacy at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Emily (Acklin) Garrett ’08 was named Director of Public Relations for the Indianapolis Zoo. She, her husband Justin, and boys Conor and Patrick live in the Geist area.
Brittany (Heustis) Gravatte ’08 accepted the Associate Vice President of Marketing Data Platforms role at Humana Company in Louisville, Kentucky.
the ’10s
Andrea (Melcher) Corbito ’11 accepted the Director of Communications & Brand role at Fish & Richardson, a premier intellectual property law firm.
Thomas Benoist ’13 has been named a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) by CFRE International. He joins
over 7,700 professionals around the world who hold the CFRE designation.
Rob Fenton ’15 and his wife, Molly Gene Crain, opened their consulting firm, Kestrel Consulting, in Lexington, Kentucky. They offer public policy research, strategy, and public relations services to various organizations throughout Kentucky and surrounding areas.
the ’20s
Kenzith Andrew ’21 has been promoted to Officer of the Hendricks County Bank and Trust Company in Brownsburg, Indiana.
Anthony Gary MBA ’21 was named a Mitch Daniels Leadership Foundation Class VII Fellow. This program continues to create a statewide network of change agents who bridge the gap between Indiana’s current and future leaders.
Kelly Schwantes ’21 joined the Wisconsin Center District in April 2023 as an Event Services Manager. She was recently recognized in Milwaukee’s BizTimes Notable Women Series for her contributions to hospitality in her city.
WEDDINGS
Alex Bandick ’21 and Maddie Bandick ’21 on June 17, 2023 (1)
Alyssia Boecker ’15 and Mark Mattingly ’15 on April 9, 2022
Aaron Burns ’19 and Erica (Bernstein) Burns ’19 on August 18, 2023 (2)
Julissa Ashby Collazo ’21 and Cole McNamara ’21 on July 8, 2023
Emily Farrer ’17 and Micah Brame ’19 on July 13, 2023 (3)
Rob Fenton ’15 and Molly Gene Crain on September 16, 2023 (4)
Tabitha (Webster) Holliday ’15 and Coby Holliday on September 23, 2023 (5) (2)
INCLUDE YOUR NEWS IN THE NEXT CLASS ACTS
Your fellow alumni are interested in your professional accomplishments, including a job change, a promotion, or retirement; community and volunteer activities; a recent marriage or addition to your family; or any other news you would like to share.
Submit your updates at www.butler.edu/alumni/stay-connected
Due to space limitations, submitted photographs and/or Class Acts may not always be published.
Kim Koehler ’13 and Shawn Rohdenburg on September 16, 2023
Christine (Connell) Landis ’16 to George Landis on June 10, 2023 (6)
Brittany Liljestrand ’20 and Ian Liljestrand on September 30, 2023 (7)
Vincent Metz ’11 and Kaitlin Leitschuh ’12 on May 14, 2021 (8)
Nick Morton ’16 and Paige Morton ’17 on November 10, 2023 (9)
Annie Przybylski PharmD ’18 and Dan Przybylski PharmD ’18 on June 3, 2023 (10)
Jeffrey Roth ’05 and Joe Martinez on October 14, 2023 (11)
NEW ARRIVALS
Chad Baughman ’04 and Brian Sedam ’04 welcomed baby Oliver in July (1)
Katie Binger ’17 and Kevin Kniery ’17 welcomed Grahm in March (2)
Mariah Bocketti ’17 and Brad Bocketti ’17 welcomed Hudson Bocketti in April 2023 (3)
Kailey Meadows Colee ’16 and Jacob Colee welcomed Salem Asher Colee (5)
Andrea Corbito ’12 and Robert Corbito welcomed Ruben Dale Corbito in April (6)
Ottavio Dattolo ’18 and Taylor (Watkins) Dattolo ’18 welcomed Leonardo Antonio Dattolo in September 2023 (7)
Shelbi Gabbard ’18 and William Gabbard welcomed Margaux in October (8)
Jonathan Klimek ’09 and Kate Klimek ’10 welcomed Rhys Ryan Klimek in June 2023 (9)
Shanna Saubert ’08 and Barrett Madison welcomed Alex in July 2022
Mary Kate Smith ’14 and Lance Smith ’15 welcomed Savannah Mae in April 2023 (10)
Joseph Thomas ’15 and Mollie Thomas ’15 welcomed Ruby Morgan Thomas in July 2023 (11)
Sarah (Gronowski) Webber ’15 and Mason Webber ’16 welcomed Knox Raymond Webber in January 2023 (12)
Caroline (Kowal) Wojciechowski ’15 and Ryan Wojciechowski ’15 welcomed Brooks Louis Wojciechowski in October 2023 (13)
FAREWELLS
The end of this academic year brought with it the retirement of College of Communication professors Dr. Christine Taylor, Dr. Rose Campbell, and Dr. Scott Bridge ’82, MS ’91. With a combined 86 years of teaching at Butler, hundreds of students’ lives and educations were impacted by their guidance not only during their years on campus but their careers beyond.
Please check you email for more information or go to butleru.my.site.com/askbutler/s/article/ What-happens-to-my-account-when-I-graduate for more information.
BUTLER UNIVERSITY
IN MEMORIAM
Charlene A. Green
Donn E. Nicewander ’34
Mary (Hull) Mosson ’40
Leon M. Liverett ’43
Josephine (Forrest) Wright
Mary (Johnson) Stammel
John W. Lambert ’45, MA ’46
Paul A. Brown ’46
Nancy Ostrander ’47
Charlotte A. (Lovejoy) Parr ’47
Albert S. Tavenor MS ’48
E. Elaine (Gray) Coppock ’49
Martha (Lancet) Fishback ’49
Virginia E. (Rodman) Luzader ’49, MS ’53
Eileen T. (O’Brien) Wallace ’49
Millard H. Arnold ’50
Chase E. Furnas ’50
James C. LeTourneau ’50
James R. McConnell ’50
Gerald N. Quinn ’50
Janet L. (Gormley) Rauch ’50
Lucille (Cassel) Rose ’50
Mae Ellen (Church) Gale
Lawrence L. Schultheis
Russell L. Abel MS ’51
Bonnie (Myers) Harvey ’51
Donald G. Sloo ’51
William S. Zintel ’51
H. John Phillips
Mary (Nicholas) Batrich ’52
Patricia (Campbell) Emerson ’52
Barbara (Jackson) Kendall ’52, MS ’68
Thomas E. Schlotz ’52
Donn A. Leach ’53, MA ’54
Samuel P. Campbell
Patsy (Wright) Jones
Martha (Metcalf) Pearson ’54
Barbara L. (Knotts) Timmerman ’54
Mary M. (Reis) Zaleski ’54
Barbara J. (Essex) Andrews ’55
Leslie B. Gerlach ’55
Claire (Anderson) Jensen ’55
Helen (Letsinger) Morgan ’55
Edna M. (Howard) Peetz ’55
Andrievs J. Dzenitis ’56
Marjorie E. Heinekamp ’56
Shirley H. Judkins ’56, MS ’63
Manert H. Kennedy ’56
Sharon L. (Billing) King ’56
Robert L. Leonard ’56
Robert J. Beggs ’57
Raymond F. Riley ’57, MS ’63
Joyce K. Slorp Jacobson ’57
Ann White ’57
Herbert P. Brandt ’58
Diane A. (Roberts) De Kuyper ’58
Leo Fang ’58
Michael E. Kinney ’58
Nancy A. (Neale) Moore ’58
John C. Vondracek, Jr. ’58
Rev. Alan R. Good ’59
Walter A. Hap ’59
Sue C. (Pribble) Jontz ’59, MS ’66
Carol H. (Housefield) Linville ’59
Dorothy J. (Lineback) Nix ’59
Orville W. Rees, Jr. MS ’59
David L. Royalty, Jr. ’59
Robert C. Tellman ’59
John K. Bass ’60
Charles H. Belch ’60
Richard G. Bennett
Paul R. Brink
Meredith L. Carter ’60, MS ’64
Judith K. (Gentry) Clifton ’60
Joseph O. Kramer ’60
Richard F. Massini ’60
Robert E. Murray ’60
John A. Sales ’60
Janet L. (Graver) West ’60
James K. Barrick
Cary Blair ’61
Jerry D. Butler ’61, MS ’65
Dee Ann (Doub) Davidson ’61
Douglas D. McLean ’61, MS ’64
Thurman C. Noel ’61
Mary Kay (Handy) Snyder ’61
Joan (Wilcox) Carey ’62
Robert A. Day
John L. Dwenger MS ’62
Margaret Kuehrmann ’62
William Levy ’62
Janice E. (Moran) McFerran ’62
Jerome F. Palma ’62
Donn C. Richardson ’62
Judith L. (Gill) Rutherford ’62
Howard W. Venners ’62
Paul W. Wenning ’62
William A. Dowden ’63
James J. Edwards ’63
William J. Haskett ’63
Nancy A. (Blacklidge) Hunt MS ’63
Allan L. Litz MS ’63
June Ann Roberts ’63
Joyce (Cones) Rogers MS ’63
Peter B. Stewart ’63
Virginia (Nizamoff) Surso ’63
Douglas A. Burdette ’64
Geraldine (Carver) Carpenter MS ’64
Armine “Tina” (Vart) Leaman ’64
John M. Oberhelman ’64
Patricia (McCain) Roadruck ’64
Thomas J. Taaffe ’64
Jerry Williams ’64
Suzanne (Fulton) Carey MA ’65
John L. Crose ’65
Kathryn (Murray) Kelley
Nancy J. (Eagleson) Klemme MS ’65
Judith A. Whiteman MS ’65
Doris I. Hunter
Jerry Armstrong ’66, MS ’68, MBA ’75
Thomas W. Austin ’66
Judith (Pomianowski) Paprocki MS ’66
John R. Shumar ’66
Carolyn (Phares) Haas ’67
Carol S. Hertz MS ’67
Shirley J. (Newnum) Marshall ’67
Susan L. (Vetters) Schumacher ’67
Philip W. Turley MS ’67
Julia (Beck) Wichser ’67
Samuel K. Fultz ’68
Christina E. (Brown) Jones MS ’68
Peter M. Kambiss ’68
Virginia A. (Martin) Chasteen MS ’69
Keith Jackson ’69
Patricia (Brown) Mack MS ’69
B. Bergin White MM ’69
Martin L. Hodapp ’70
Susan L. (Vaughn) Miller ’70
Helen S. Rayles
Ryan M. Knight ’71
Richard W. Toney ’71
Julia A. (Schwartz) Speckman MS ’71
Patricia (McCord) Villas MS ’71
Darrell E. Morris
Johannah (Buck) Dawson ’72
Alan M. Eiler MS ’72
William T. Mitsos ’72
Karen A. (Rueffer) Pellico ’72
Morris R. Stewart MS ’72
Louis M. Watson ’72
Michaleen (Kendall) Bean MS ’73
Roberta Graham MM ’73
Paul V. Lake MS ’73
Frances M. Leonard MS ’73
Mary Medley MS ’73
C. Ray Prible ’73
Patricia (Noga) Wray ’73
David R. Andress
Janet Hendricks Carter ’74
Suzanne (Grove) Flowers-Blair MS ’74
Marilyn A. Jones MS ’74
Margaret (Schremser) Joss MS ’74
Louise (Cobb) Kant MS ’74
Edward H. Keiley ’74
James W. Locke, II ’74
David L. Tatum
Rosalind K. (Burgess) Brown MS ’75
Kenneth W. Cleveland ’75
Anita L. Donaldson MS ’75
Karen L. (O’Brien) Fanning ’75
Walter E. Morris ’75
Kathleen (Gundy) Rayburn MS ’75
Phyllis J. (Norris) Schoonover ’75, MM ’81
Gisela J. Toller ’75
Karen D. Brosius ’76
Diane M. (Foster) Lessing MS ’76
Mark D. Myers MS ’76
Norma A. Truesdel MS ’76
Kathleen M. (Casey) Secoges ’77
Beth Ann Thomas ’77
Beth A. (Loveless) Comley MS ’78
Carol (Franklin) Holliday ’78
Aubrey R. Kelley, Jr. MS ’78
Anne (Noecker) Sering MS ’78
Ronald L. Maze Jr. ’79
Myron D. Newland
Jane E. Vawter
Jane A. Comerford MA ’80
Tamara L. (Altvater)
Kalbaugh-Becker ’80
C. Elizabeth Sargent ’80
Ellen Miller MBA ’81
Susan K. Andrews MS ’82
Janet M. (Reed) Rice MA ’82
Joanne H. Black MS ’83
Eric A. Hart ’83
Melinda K. Palmer ’83
Mashariki (Nefertari) Jywanza ’84
Judith M. Resnick ’84
David N. Craig ’85
Donald F. Briscoe ’86
Michael D. Logan ’86
Mark C. Meredith ’86
Thomas D. Weiss ’86
Michael R. Hartley ’87
Goldie A. Plant ’87
Michael C. Moyer ’88
Scott C. Musser ’89
Craig R. Hess ’90
Jacqueline C. (Daoust) Harty MM ’92
Barbara S. Provus MS ’92
Dan F. McCune ’94
Matthew A. Cole ’95
James E. Morrison MS ’95
Anita S. Tiemeyer MM ’95
Cindy S. (Allgeier) Thomas ’99
Katharine M. Janssen ’02
Alison M. (Hagenbach) Stevens
PharmD ’04
Maralee C. Muscato ’06
Zachary G. Domrese ’15
Matthew S. Merlina ’19
Dylan H. Duggan ’24
Former Trustee
Herbert P. Dixon ’54, MS ’56, Former-Trustee, Alumni
Faculty-Emeritus
Robert F. Hessong, Faculty-Emeritus
Daniel P. Bolin ’70, MM ’75, Alumni, Faculty-Emeritus
Butler University is an amazing place where students, faculty, and staff all have the opportunity to grow and forge their own paths. But their time at Butler is just that, their own. While there are many shared experiences, each Bulldog’s experience is unique to them.
However, there is one constant to all Bulldogs whether you are a Dance student, Chemistry professor, or run a social media account for a dog—Butler Blue.
On April 6, 2024, my friend, mentor, and our Mascot Emeritus, Butler Blue III—aka “Trip”—passed away after a brief illness, surrounded by family. He was 12 years old.
All Butler Blues past and present have proudly represented our campus since 2000. They are a common bond that ties us all together.
Trip did that well. Just like all Butler Bulldogs, Trip was strong, Trip was intelligent, and Trip was a great friend.
Trip was strong both mentally and physically. My Dad, who was lucky to spend a lot of time with Trip, tells the story of when Trip once worked 8 hours straight in Washington, DC on the Big Dawgs Tour. When he got back to the hotel, you would think he would go straight to sleep. (I know I would.) Instead, he continued to cause his signature ruckus around the hotel room.
Mentally, he showed resilience when he tore his CCL in 2016. When I tore mine in 2023, I was able to take the lessons he learned to make my recovery easier.
Trip was remarkably intelligent. Quite often he would use that intelligence to get himself into trouble, but he was always just looking to have a little fun—like the time he learned to move a giant barrier to escape his office and beg his coworkers for their lunches.
Finally, Trip was the definition of a great friend. It was impossible to have a bad day when you were around him. If his goofy grin didn’t light up your face, then he would plop himself onto your lap until it did.
Trip meant a lot to a lot of people. He meant a lot to me, he meant a lot to his family and to mine, and I know he meant a lot to you.
Thank you for everything, Trip. It is an honor to carry on your legacy.
PRESIDENT, BUTLER UNIVERSITY
James M. Danko
VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING & BRAND MANAGEMENT
Sherrylyn Wallace
CO-EDITORS
Nancy Lyzun and Rachel Stotts
EDITORIAL TEAM
Josie Drake
Kristi Lafree
Courtney Tuell ’99
ART AND DESIGN TEAM
David Downham
Phil Eichacker (Art Director)
Alisha Luckenbill
UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHER
Zach Bolinger
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Marc Allan MFA ’18
Francesca Jarosz Brady
Jennifer Gunnels
Cindy Dashnaw Jackson
Victoria Ochs
Hailey Radakovitz ’21
Elle Rotter ’27
Kyle Stearns and Butler Blue IV
CLASS ACTS
Office of Butler Community Engagement
ClassActs@butler.edu
Butler Magazine is published for alumni, parents, supporters, and friends of Butler University. Share Butler Magazine story ideas and comments via email at butlermagazine@butler.edu or by phone at 317-940-9946.
“As an alumnus, I’m very proud to be back, and I’m really looking forward to contributing to our future and hopefully return something that I know I gained from Butler University.”
—Barry Collier ’76, on being named Butler’s Head Basketball Coach, April 1989.
As printed in the Butler Collegian, April 12, 1989
