Butler Magazine Spring 2019

MAGAZINE SPRING 2019

EXPLORING the UNANSWERED BUTLER’S UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH STORY

MAGAZINE

FROM the PRESIDENT

SPRING 2019 VICE PRESIDENT for STRATEGY and INNOVATION

As Butler University finishes its 164th year, progress is visible everywhere. I walk around campus and see advancements and innovations in how we teach, mentor, and conduct research; how we learn, both in the classroom and out in the “real world;” how we innovate to solve problems, and how we engage and contribute to our community.

You will find inspiring stories about all of those areas and more in this edition of Butler Magazine.

What we are seeing is our Butler 2020 strategy coming to fruition.

Our roadmap for Butler in the next year and beyond is both bold and practical. It calls for us to keep pace as a leader among regional universities while advancing our national reputation with best-in-class academics, top-tier faculty and staff, a thriving community, and state-of-the-art campus amenities that serve growing numbers of students. (Our Spring Commencement in May will be the largest to date, with more than 1,000 graduates).

As we move forward, we will hold tight to our proud, inclusive heritage while exploring progressive ideas for reaching new generations of students, both near and far.

And always, we will stand out and apart in our offerings for students. For instance, you’ll read in these pages how 14 of our undergraduate students are helping to solve a worldwide health crisis while gaining invaluable research experience. The students, led by Assistant Professor Christopher Stobart in a small laboratory at Gallahue Hall, are aiding the vaccine development efforts for a leading cause of infant deaths.

Unlike larger institutions where research is reserved for graduate students, our talented undergrads—first-year through seniors—are milling in and out of the laboratory as they work with viral pathogens and answer questions no one else is investigating.

Now, it’s up to all of us who lead at Butler to continue to enhance not only the facilities for learning but also the opportunities, partnerships, and programs for students to grow, to explore, and to be challenged far beyond their expectations.

Alumnus Matt White ’89 did all of that, with a fierce devotion to Butler and the Bulldogs. He died in February after a courageous 19-year battle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Soon—thanks to a generous gift in his memory—we will have a daily reminder of his grit and devotion. The practice court at Efroymson Family Gym will become the Matt White Court, preserving his legacy.

This is, quite simply, the Butler Way. We hope you will be inspired by the many examples shared in our spring magazine. And be sure to stay tuned for more signs of progress.

Melissa Beckwith ’00 ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT for MARKETING and COMMUNICATIONS

Stephanie Judge Cripe, MBA ’99 EDITOR

Nancy Lyzun EDITORIAL TEAM

Sherry Crabtree Emily Heck ’12 Kristi Lafree Meg Liffick Josie Seach Chloe Lyzun Starleaf ’14 Rachel Stotts Courtney Tuell ’99 ART AND DESIGN TEAM

David Downham Phil Eichacker (Art Director) Alisha Luckenbill Jana Plyley UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHER

Brent Smith CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Zach Bolinger Matthew Fleckenstein ’19 Chris Gannon Jeff Haynes Ben Hider CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Marc D. Allan, MFA ’18 Sarah Bahr Cindy Dashnaw Monica Holb ’09 Michael Kaltenmark ’02, MA ’16 Hayley Ross ’17 Jeff Stanich ’16 Rachel Stern Nancy Whitmore CLASS ACTS

Office of Alumni Relations and 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.

Appearing on our cover: Lynn Alsatie ’19, Qahir Lakha ’19, Andrew Jacob ’22, Jacob Mummert ’19, Courtney Rooker ’19, Heidi Kastenholz ’19, Julie Vaughan ’19.

IN NEW YORK 2

NEWS AND NOTES

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BEYOND YEAR ONE

Bulldogs “making it” there, page 5

ALUMNI NEWS AND PROFILES Sponsored by Elements Financial BRANDIN GAUDIN ’06 26

Vice President for University Advancement Looks Ahead

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EXPLORING THE UNANSWERED

JOHN DAVIES ’49 AND JENNIFER WILLIAMS ’98, MS ’00 30

Undergrads and Faculty Uncover Solutions Together

DEVELOPING for the COMMUNITY 14

EPICS Program Provides Real-Life Scenarios

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CLOSING THE GAP

CommonLit Reading Program Sets Global Strategy

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A LEGACY FULFILLED

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FOCUSING ON BEHAVIOR

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A LIFELONG ACTIVIST

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THE RISE OF ESPORTS

Butler Arts Center Names New Director A Career to be Honored

Butler First-Year Student Seizes the Day Competitive Videogaming Makes Its Mark at Butler

22 SHELVIN MACK’S HOMECOMING

Star of Hinkle Returns to Fullfill a Promise

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INSPIRING a NEW GENERATION THROUGH THE ARTS

Clowes Hall Celebrates Its Student Visitors

DOUG BOLES ’88 28

JORDAN THOMAS ’14 32 CLASS ACTS 34

VISIT BUTLER.EDU/MAGAZINE FOR EXCLUSIVE ONLINE CONTENT

On Our Cover From Gallahue to Fairbanks and beyond, undergraduate research is playing a significant role in the education of today’s Butler student. Our cover story explores how our faculty and students are teaming up to address real-world questions.

Our photo shoot with students and faculty involved in research at Butler offered several great options for the cover.

Because we could only choose one, we wanted to include other favorite photos here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

ALUMNI OUTSHINE MOST OTHERS. Seventy-eight percent of Butler grads say they are deeply interested in the work they do.

That compares with 73 percent of college graduates nationwide, according to the Gallop-Purdue Index.

DEEPLY INTERESTED IN THEIR WORK

73 %

SURVEY, BUTLER

74 %

The Indianapolis Business Journal reported on his algorithm-based machine learning tool that factors in home team popularity, Twitter followers, game day, home team winning percentage, and other variables to predict attendance.

IN NATIONAL

78 %

Lacy School of Business professor Barry King can accurately forecast NBA game attendance.

BUTLER UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITIES in INDIANA GPI NATIONAL

Are Indiana fans cursed?

From Paul George to Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck and Victor Oladipo, fans are starting to wonder. But College of Communication Professor Ryan Rogers tells the Indianapolis Star that these injuries can also add to a fan’s intrigue with a team—seeing a star player struggling and fighting back often serves to bolster fan loyalty.

“Hard to believe I graduated from @butleru nearly 4 years ago! I’m happy to give back to my alma mater who made my eventual future in psychiactric pharmacy/ academia possible.” #BUDayofGiving

—Kevin Bozymski ’15, Twitter

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“If you feel the system is set up in a way to disenfranchise people, and you feel that the wheels of government are turning in a way to make people less likely to participate, eventually you’re going to have less trust in the system. And ultimately, you’ll become less likely to participate.”

—Assistant Professor of Political Science Greg Shufeldt tells The New York Times in a story about electoral integrity.

To catch up on all Butler news, visit stories.butler.edu/newsroom.

THE MARC I KNOW

By Nancy Whitmore Professor of Journalism, Butler University

DEAN ENA SHELLEY TO RETIRE After 37 years of service to Butler University, College of Education Dean Ena Shelley will retire from Butler at the conclusion of the current academic year.

Throughout her career, Dean Shelley’s span of influence has been wide-ranging and impressive. She has impacted the lives and careers of colleagues across the University, more than three decades of COE students and graduates, and thousands of school children in the community.

A writer whose byline graced the pages of this magazine for 15 years is retiring.

While I have enjoyed his lively features and marveled at his ultra-concise emails, I am most grateful for the time this writer spends reading.

Most Bulldogs know Marc Allan as a writer, but he can have a profound impact on the career of a student—just by reading.

Marc has played a role in the careers of Butler students and graduates that few realize. For years, I’ve been sending students his way as he will literally read any student’s work. Alumni who are now themselves professional journalists and writers continue to reach out to him for advice. You see, they know the behind-the-scenes Marc. The Marc who serves as the go-to counselor for anyone interested in a career in journalism.

In this role, Marc draws from a deep well of experience. He worked as a reporter for 24 years, spending the last 16 years of his newsroom career at the Indianapolis Star where he covered the arts beat in Central Indiana.

Marc then joined the Marketing and Communications team at Butler in 2004, and has continued to write and report, maintaining a connection to journalism as a freelancer.

Given all his experience, it only made sense that the head of Butler’s Journalism program wanted Marc in the classroom. In 2005, Marc brought his expertise in writing and reporting to Butler students, and except for a brief two-year sabbatical to complete an MFA in Creative Writing, he has been an Adjunct Instructor of Journalism ever since.

BROOKE BARNETT NAMED NEW DEAN OF CCOM Brooke Barnett, a Professor and Associate Provost at Elon University, will be the new Dean of Butler University’s College of Communication (CCOM).

Barnett will join Butler on June 1, replacing Jay Howard, who has been serving as Acting Dean of CCOM and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since July 2017.

Marc loves working with students, especially those who have a passion for journalism but don’t necessarily know how to channel that passion into publishable work. And this is why he reads. And why he sends complimentary notes to students when they produce an exceptionally well reported and written story for The Butler Collegian—even if the story results in negative publicity for the University.

In a public editor’s column for The Collegian, Marc explained this relationship.

“Occasionally, I read The Collegian and wince,” he wrote, “because in my job, negative stories and commentary sometimes leave my department—and, often, me— answering for the University.

“But I say that with a smile, because I also teach journalism here as an adjunct, so I want to see young journalists doing their best work—even if that means more work for me.”

Marc ended this column by reminding us that student journalists are here to learn and we are here to teach. Even though he is retiring in May, I know that Marc will never stop teaching, advising, recommending, and most importantly … reading the work of those he so generously helped to educate. And for that and for all he has meant to Butler Journalism, I am so very grateful.

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BEYOND YEAR ONE

By Jeff Stanich ’16 In April 2018, Jonathan Purvis joined Butler University as Vice President for University Advancement. A respected leader in higher education advancement with 20 years of experience, Purvis came to Butler from Indiana University where he served as Vice President for Development and Regional Campuses. In a recent interview, he reflects on his first year with Butler and the challenges ahead.

Beyond the new academic buildings rising on campus, past the hallways filled with hammering sounds of renovations in Jordan Hall’s basement, Butler University’s future is unfolding in a single-window office with high ceilings.

There, Jonathan Purvis finishes up an email before the University breaks for the end of 2018, which has been the first year of what Purvis intends to be a long career as the Vice President for University Advancement.

Despite the years of experience that qualified him for this position, Purvis knew his role would entail challenges. As a whole, higher education in America faces the reality of rising costs and dwindling applicant pools, with a Midwestern, private university such as Butler facing even more of an uphill battle.

But Purvis is all smiles. He’s thinking five, 10 years down the road. He is making sure people get to know him while aligning

BUTLER MAGAZINE

his office’s goals with President Jim Danko’s vision for the University’s growth in the 21st century. And that all started by realizing just how significant Butler can become in the lives of those it touches—not just for the individuals he has met, but also for Purvis himself.

“The very first college campus I set foot on was Butler’s,” the Noblesville, Indiana, native says. “I was a little kid seeing my oldest brother on stage in a production of Godspell thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is what college does for you.’ It was transcendent. So that’s what higher education has always meant to me—transformation.”

“I see philanthropy as any way that people can express their appreciation and commitment to the Butler Way...”

“The minute this opportunity came up, there really wasn’t any discussion on it,” he says. “I wasn’t exactly looking for a new position, but it’s all upside here no matter what’s happening in higher education. Here, there’s tremendous loyalty with the alumni base, great engagement with the community, and an exceptional faculty. I feel very fortunate to be at Butler at this particular time.”

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Jonathan Purvis

That’s why Purvis has made it his mission to make that same transcendent experience possible for every person who comes to Butler.

So, when he speaks about the University to members of the community, he doesn’t just sell the importance of giving back in terms of dollars and cents. Giving of one’s time through mentorships can make even more of an impact.

“I see philanthropy as any way that people can express their appreciation and commitment to the Butler Way, to make sure that unique and critical experience continues to happen for our young people,” he says. “That is why the main focus of the Office moving forward will be to enhance what we at Butler already do so well.”

Only time will tell exactly how Butler fuels its future. But if his smile before the winter break was any indication, plans are coming sooner, not later. If you were thinking big, Purvis suggests you think bigger.

IN NEW YORK

You know what the song New York, New York says: If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.

And that sentiment is what motivates tens of thousands of people to pick up and move to New York City each year.

The potential of great risk, great reward is too tempting to pass up. We talked to four Bulldogs who’ve moved to NYC in the past decade or so—and are most certainly making it.

By Marc D. Allan, MFA ’18

A Matter of Time Joe Ziemer ’05 worked at Nuvo, Indianapolis’ alternative newspaper, and Clowes Memorial Hall for about a year after graduation. But by 2007, he was off to New York, where he’s been ever since.

“I knew it was inevitable,” he says. “It was just a matter of when.”

Ziemer had spent time in New York with his family growing up, and while at Butler he and classmate Steve Dumas ’05 did internships there rather than study abroad.

“We both took the view that if we were going to do a semester away, we wanted to do it in a place where we thought there was a likelihood that we would move to,” Ziemer says.

To get hired in New York, Ziemer borrowed a friend’s New York mailing address so he would look like a local

applicant. He landed his first job with TriplePoint, a boutique communications firm, where he wound up running the New York office for the San Francisco-based company.

After five and a half years, he moved to Betterment, an automated investment service. At the time, it was a small, unknown startup with 10 employees managing $50 million. Six years later, Betterment has 240 employees and manages $15 billion in investments.

Ziemer is Vice President.

“It was definitely a career risk to take the plunge to a small startup, but it’s gone incredibly well,” Ziemer says.

So has the move to New York. After nine years in Manhattan, he moved to Brooklyn and also bought a small house upstate with his wife and two dogs to be able to “recapture a little bit of fresh air and nature when needed.”

He’s found New York to be “incredibly welcoming.”

“Almost nobody is from here, which makes it a really attractive place to move,” he says. “They’re accepting of different cultures and ideologies.”

Joe Ziemer ’05

Photo by Ben Hider

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Photo by Ben Hider

An Overnight Success—14 Years in the Making On August 2, 2018, after 10 years in New York, Katie Hannigan ’08 got the kind of break that can catapult a standup comic’s career: She performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The result, she says, has been “a nice little bump” that included getting a Home Depot commercial and increasing her road bookings.

“It definitely is a huge career milestone for me,” she says. “This is something I’ve been working toward for years and years and years.”

Hannigan has been working toward her goal for at least 14 years, if you go back to her first year at Butler. After graduating from Warren Central High School in Indianapolis, where she was fascinated by experimental theater, Hannigan came to Butler as a Theatre major and immediately found herself cast in Top Girls, a play by unconventional writer Caryl Churchill. Everyone in the cast was older, and “I felt quite distinguished and honored to be able to do that show.”

In that production, she worked with director Constance Macy for the first time.

They teamed up again two years later on The Underpants, and she credits Macy, an Indianapolis actress and director who works frequently with Butler Theatre, with helping her develop a critical eye for comedic timing.

At Butler, Hannigan also worked at the Holcomb Observatory for two years, which “helped me develop my interests outside of performing, which is so important to be able to draw on.” (She’s now hosting a podcast called Apodcalypse about ends-ofdays scenarios in pop culture and religious legend.)

Hannigan moved to New York a week after graduating from Butler. She moved in with her former Butler roommate Leah Nanako Winkler ’06—who has also gone on to great success as the 2018 winner of the prestigious Yale Drama Series Prize— and they worked together in experimental theater.

“I felt that if I went to New York,” she says, “I would find exactly what I was interested in focusing on for a long period of time.”

Katie Hannigan ’08 But that took some time. Two years later, Hannigan started in comedy. She spent four years going to open-mic nights five to 10 times a week to hone her act. A couple of years in, she also took a job at a comedy club so she could get more stage time, and she began to hit the road to work at clubs and comedy festivals around the country. She also started posting jokes regularly on Twitter—and still does @katiehannigan.

She had other gigs, too, including preschool teacher (“the kids were teaching me … that I hate kids,” she says in her act) and New York City tour guide. She developed such an extensive knowledge of New York City that she’s appeared in episodes of The Travel Channel’s Mysteries at the Museum as an expert.

And even as her comedy schedule filled, she continued to act. During summer 2018, she shot two TV pilots, including one about city yuppies who decide they’re going to live off the land but find they’re woefully unprepared.

In the near term, she appreciates that standup comedy is the skill that’s bringing her the most attention.

“The weekend after I performed (for Colbert), it was quite a shock to my system to have accomplished that kind of goal,” she says. “I was feeling kind of overwhelmed as far as what do I do next. The Late Show is something that will help my career as a comedian, but I do have some big things ahead that I’m looking forward to.”

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Photo by Ben Hider

A Pretty Cool Place to Work Radley Haddad ’13 didn’t have a favorite baseball team growing up, but he sure has one now—the New York Yankees.

Since 2017, the former Butler Baseball player has been the bullpen catcher for the Yankees, and at the end of the 2018 season he signed a contract for another two years. (Also in 2018, he married Arielle Hemrick ’14, who’s now a dentist in Brooklyn.)

“Being in New York has been a great experience so far,” he says.

“Getting to be in Yankee Stadium every day is a pretty cool place to go to work.”

Haddad grew up in Carmel, Indiana, and transferred to Butler after two years at Western Carolina University for a chance to get more playing time. Then-Coach Steve Farley—“a really good molder of men”—helped Haddad get into a good summer league where he could play every day until he was eligible to play for Butler. And in 2012 and 2013, he started 93 games for the Bulldogs.

Haddad wasn’t selected in the Major League Baseball draft, but a week later the Yankees signed him to a free-agent contract.

He played four years in the minor leagues, getting as high as the Double-A Trenton Thunder. During spring training in 2017, the Yankees gave him a choice: Go back to the minor leagues again or come to work as a bullpen catcher.

Haddad was 26 at the time. The choice turned out to be easy.

“It was tough to walk away from the game as a player, but the transition was easy.”

His qualifications for the job were basic: “I have the skills to catch guys who throw hard and I’m a generally pleasant person to be around. Those are probably the two job requirements that I filled.”

His first season—being part of a team playing in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series—“was just surreal.”

Nine months earlier, he was “a grinding minor leaguer,” and here he was, warming up starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia.

“The path that your life can take in a short time is pretty remarkable,” he says.

Haddad still enjoys catching—“I get to see what Aroldis Chapman throws and all these guys who are probably future Hall of Famers”—and he also does some coaching, game planning, and analytics.

His plan is to “just continue to mold into the best version of myself and help the team win in any way possible, whether that’s as a bullpen catcher or coaching assistant or in baseball operations. Just continue to make the people around me better is my goal.”

Radley Haddad ’13

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Reading the Signs In his bio, Butler Theatre alumnus Aaron Simms ’98 describes himself as “a New Yorker from Cincinnati.”

He’s been in New York since 2003, after detours that took him from Butler to Wisconsin (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival), Ohio (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Human Race Theatre Company), and West Virginia (Theatre West Virginia).

“That’s what you do,” Simms says. “You gig. You go where the work is. That’s the job of a professional actor.”

That mindset motivated him to pursue his craft in New York with just enough money for two months of living expenses and the phone number of someone he knew in theater.

Simms called while he was getting off the plane, and his acquaintance said that his theater company was having auditions that day. Simms went to the audition and booked his first job in NYC. “That was kind of a sign that I should be here,” he says. “It’s strange for an artist, but the signs point you in the right direction. That was a strange and wonderful occurrence.”

That job led to others—“Work breeds work,” Simms says—and as his craft evolved, he began producing and general-managing shows.

He’s still doing that as General Manager of the York Theatre Company, which produces and develops new musicals and old gems from the past in Midtown Manhattan, and as founder and Executive Producer of Inwood Art Works in Upper Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood.

Simms says Inwood lacked galleries, theaters, cinemas, and other creative spaces, so he decided to create a cultural arts hub through programming showcasing artists who live in the neighborhood.

Aaron Simms ’98

Simms, who earned his Master of Fine Arts in Theater Management and Producing from Columbia University in 2015, says his career is an outgrowth of what he learned at Butler.

“You have to create your own path,” he says, “which is something the chair of our department, Dan Warrick, instilled in us. That’s something I’ve carried with me from Butler.”

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Photo by Ben Hider

EXPLORING the UNANSWERED Butler’s Undergraduate Research Story

by Rachel Stern In the depths of Gallahue Hall, 14 Butler University undergrads work to make the vaccines for a leading cause of infant mortality worldwide actually effective. But first, with the Backstreet Boys harmonizing about wanting it that way in the background, they need some really good ice.

The students are studying strains of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, for which there is no vaccine. There certainly are people looking for one, Assistant Professor of Biology Chris Stobart, also known as ‘Doc’ in this lab, explains. Lots of people. Major research universities and pharmaceutical companies alike are working to bring the first RSV vaccine to market. For them, Stobart says, the keys are to make sure their vaccine candidate is safe and effective. But these researchers are overlooking a major issue. Enter­—Butler University.

RSV breaks down even at refrigeration temperature. That matters because the vaccines needed for infants require a live virus. Those chasing an RSV vaccine, Stobart explains, are so caught up with being first, they aren’t so focused on making sure it will actually last once it leaves the factory.

“Everyone has their eyes on the prize—the vaccine,” Stobart says. “But the key question that underlies how vaccines work is being ignored. They have to be stable, safe, and immunogenic. You need all three things to make a vaccine work. Without the answers coming from our lab, you only have two elements.”

So, here we are, back to the ice, back to the basement in Gallahue, and back to the Backstreet Boys. The thing everyone is overlooking is this whole temperature thing.

And Stobart would know. He was one of the overlookers.

‘Doc’ used to be in the business of finding vaccines. That’s how he realized such an important question was being ignored. As a postdoctoral research fellow at Emory University, he was on the hunt for an RSV vaccine. While doing that research, he realized that no one was worrying about whether or not that vaccine would actually last more than a day. So, he started going against the grain and decided to use a different strain of RSV for his vaccine. He

From Left, clockwise: Andrew Jacob ’22, Dr. Chris Stobart, Katelyn Castiglia ’19, Jenna Nosek ’19

got lucky, he says, and the strain he chose ended up being more stable than the strain that everyone else is using. His vaccine, which should enter clinical trials next year, would last longer than the vaccines being developed by most other research labs.

Now, he and his army of Butler undergrads are digging deeper into the very questions Stobart stumbled upon: What makes some RSV strains more resistant than others, and what strain of RSV would make it least susceptible to temperature variations?

This is the work of the Stobart Lab. But it is hardly just a place where major scientific questions are being answered.

MCAT prep happens here. Trivia nights happen here. Ideas for other research projects happen here—five experiments are taking place right now. And, on occasion, naps take place here, thanks to a new couch on loan from a student’s family. First-year students through seniors mill in and out of the lab in the basement of Gallahue Hall on any given day or night. Just ask Jenna Nosek ’20, who storms in on a recent Tuesday afternoon.

“I have spent 19 hours in here the past few days: don’t test me, Sean [a fellow lab mate],” she jokes, and with that, she is out, the two lab mates laughing, as she makes her way out the door.

“I have told her to back off on the hours,” Stobart says. “But she is the expert in the lab right now on HPMV, another human respiratory virus we are researching. On her own, she brought this virus to Butler to study. She is essentially teaching us all, myself included, how this virus works and behaves.”

But at its core, this is research at Butler. Undergrads and faculty members teaming up to come up with, and then explore, the unanswered, overlooked questions that are vital to their field of study, but go ignored at larger, more research-focused institutions—where there is constant pressure to publish on hot topics, but not necessarily on the more nuanced, just as vital, questions.

“The primary goal of our research at Butler is to provide an environment for our undergrads to understand what science is, how it’s performed, and how it’s used in our world. We use science and research as a teaching tool,” Stobart says. “But the second goal, which is no less important, is to provide answers to the scientific community that still move the community forward. They don’t have to all be big answers, but they have to be answers nonetheless.

For Kate Morris, it’s really simple. Higher education boils down to two things: teaching, and the production of new knowledge. The way to produce new knowledge, according to Morris, Butler’s Provost since 2012, is through research.

And not just the traditional type of research that most people envision when they hear the word. It goes beyond beakers, test tubes, and chemicals. Research might be in a lab, of course, but it also takes the form of writing, literary analysis, anything that produces new information.

“The way I think about it is if we aren’t doing research, we aren’t doing our jobs as teachers,” Morris says. “Research is the production of new information that will be taught in tomorrow’s classrooms. We are always looking for faculty who are active scholars, furthering their disciplines, and who are furthering their disciplines while also teaching their undergrad students how to do that.”

But what makes Butler unique, she says, is the way it tackles each of these goals. At larger institutions, faculty tend to prioritize knowledge production, and teaching lags behind. Research is done with grad students, and it’s not a form of teaching, but rather a way to get recognition in major journals and move up within the institution and, subsequently, the field. Undergrads rarely get the opportunity to put their stamp on the project, she says.

At smaller institutions, Morris says, undergrads act like grad students. They have the chance to develop their own projects. But it’s much more than just a small school versus large school thing. Butler is unique in its offerings, she says.

While Stobart’s lab might be one of the largest on campus, it’s hardly the only research cooking.

Tara Lineweaver, Professor of Psychology, started a project in 2014 that looks at music’s impact on dementia patients.

Since its inception, 156 students across all disciplines have been involved.

Assistant Professor of Entertainment Media and Journalism Ryan Rogers started a Sports Media Research Group in fall 2018, along with Associate Professor of Entertainment Media and Journalism Lee Farquhar.

The point, Rogers says, was to look deeper into different facets of sports media. The group published a paper on the impact of sponsors on esports, and recently presented their findings in Las Vegas at the annual Broadcast Education Association convention.

And sometimes the researchers extend beyond the Butler campus. Butler senior Political Science and Criminology major Julio Trujillo ’19 is working on a research project with Political Science Professor Siobhan McEvoy-Levy and three high school students from the Butler-Tarkington community. The crew got together as part of Butler’s Desmond Tutu Peace Lab, which McEvoy-Levy directs, and the Lab’s dedication to undergrad research and dialogue. They’re studying perceptions of career barriers according to minority youth.

Then there’s the telescope. Since 2008, Professor of Physics and Astronomy Brian Murphy has teamed up with Professor of Physics and Astronomy Xianming Han to produce 65 journal publications. And 29 of those have student co-authors. Topics of study range from the shortand long-term behavior of astronomical phenomena, to the rotation periods of asteroids, to the pulsating variables of stars, to the eclipsing variables of stars. All of the scholarship was made possible by a gift in 2008 from Frank Levinson ’75 which enabled Butler to join the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy. Since then, Murphy says, research involvement in astronomy has ballooned.

“In today’s world, coursework may give you the knowledge you need for a career, but coursework alone will only get you so far,” Murphy says. “Research gives those intangibles.

It can be described as flying by the seat of your pants, not SPRING 2019

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knowing what is around the next corner. And for that matter, trying to figure out how to get around the next corner. The problem-solving skills learned from doing original research can be transferred to any field.”

Look no further than Murphy’s former student, Katie Hannigan ’08. The former Theatre major got involved at the Holcomb Observatory on some projects and, Murphy says, gleaned different skills, like speaking in front of crowds, and presenting complex information, like research.

That explains the race for a vaccine. But it doesn’t explain the problems inherent in that race, Stobart says.

As teams all over the world work to be the first to bring a vaccine to market, he explains, to solve a very real clinical need, most are using the same strain of RSV in these vaccine preparations. There are 1,000s of different strains of RSV

Hannigan is now a standup comedian, and recently performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

(Read Hannigan’s story on Page 6.)

Marisa Miller ’19 understands firsthand why research matters.

She has no memory of the details—she was just three months old—but her mom reminds her often. It started as a cough in the middle of the night. But, quickly escalated, and soon she was struggling to breathe.

Miller ended up in a hospital for a week, diagnosed with RSV. She was quarantined to a tent within the hospital for three days. After those first few days, her parents were allowed to hold her, but they had to put on the same gear a surgeon wears. They were terrified, Miller says, that she wouldn’t make it to her first birthday.

“When I was growing up, it was just something that happened to me that I knew was very bad. But I don’t think I understood how bad it is, and how many people it impacts,” Miller says.

Now, she does. Her Butler roommate is Darby DeFord, one of the students in the Stobart Lab working on the RSV research, and a co-lead author on the paper the group has submitted to the Journal of General Virology.

RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization for children under age 1 in the United States. As Miller explains, it presents itself like the flu, or other common colds, but can be deadly for the elderly or the young. In the United States, RSV leads to more than 2 million outpatient visits, and about 60,000 hospitalizations every year for children under age 5, according to the CDC.

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circulating in nature, and each strain differs subtly. But the focus is just on creating a vaccine, not on all the different strains, how they behave, what makes them different, and which might make the best vaccine candidate, he says.

Enter the Stobart Lab. They are the first group to thoroughly focus their research on how different strains behave, Stobart says. The group of 10 undergrads who will all be co-authors on the journal paper found that the warmer it gets, the more quickly RSV breaks down. But, they also found that certain strains are more resilient to temperature than others. And the strain that is being used in many vaccine candidates currently is not the best candidate.

The popular strain, A2, used in many vaccine candidates, has a half-life of 17 hours. So after 17 hours, half the virus will be ineffective. The Butler students found that a different strain, A2-line19F, is much more resilient to temperature, and has a half-life of 135 hours.

“We’re talking about something that’s much more effective.

And what it suggests is there may be promise for finding an even better platform to use.” Stobart says.

Rusty Jones cannot decide where to begin. There are so many different options.

Jones is the Faculty Director of the Center for High Achievement and Scholarly Engagement (CHASE) at Butler. His office oversees many of the different options for undergrads to get involved in research at Butler. And Jones cannot decide where to begin.

There’s the Undergraduate Research Conference (URC).

It’s one of the largest and longest running undergraduate research conferences in the country, and Butler has played host for 31 years. Faculty serve as moderators, but it’s undergrad-focused, as well as interdisciplinary. Students from across the country flock to Indianapolis to present, Jones says.

Then there’s the Butler Summer Institute.

Students get a $4,500 stipend to work on a research project for nine weeks during the summer. The projects are guided by a faculty member, but the ideas are student-driven. It’s a competitive process, as a committee of faculty members select up to 30 participants from all the student applicants.

New this year, Jones explains, is the CHASE Scholars program. It is, essentially, the Butler Summer Institute, but the research occurs during the academic year. The program funds four participants across campus.

It’s nearly impossible to say how many students participate in research at Butler, Jones says, because not all do it through one of these programs. There are plenty of students who get involved in a more informal manner with one of their professors. But, he says, it’s safe to say the majority of students across all disciplines participate at some point during their college experience.

“The biggest thing about our programs is everyone has a faculty member working closely with them, as students dive into topics they are passionate about,” Jones says. “The strength of Butler comes from the opportunities students get to forge one-on-one working relationships with faculty, and that faculty are willing to take this on because they know how valuable it is to the educational experience.”

Coming into Butler as a first-year student, Darby DeFord ’19 had no idea what research even was. Now, as a senior, she is the first co-author on the RSV paper.

The senior Biology and Chemistry major has worked in the

Stobart Lab since she was a sophomore. Since then, she has presented on the team’s findings at several conferences, including the Butler URC, and in Maryland at the American Society for Virology Annual Meeting.

Next year, she will work in a lab at Washington University in St. Louis studying RSV. Looking at stability. And after that? She plans to pursue her MD/PhD. “Dr. Stobart connected me with the person I will be working for at Wash U. I was starting to look for jobs and I texted him for some help, and by the next day he’d sent my name to a bunch of his contacts. Within a few days, I was connected with Wash U,” DeFord says. “That’s Dr. Stobart. He’s so much more than just a professor. He’s a mentor, he’s someone who’s willing to help us with anything we need.”

Juniors Sean Callahan and Ben Nick have the MCAT in five weeks. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, as they run an experiment under the watchful eye of ‘Doc,’ they ask him for help with the reading comprehension section. Callahan is not too keen on that section.

The lab consists of a mix of seniors, juniors, sophomores, and first-year students. Some want to go to med school, some want to be dentists, some optometrists, some PhD tracks. But there is one common thread: most had no plans of getting involved in research before coming to Butler.

“I always thought I wanted to be a doctor,” explains Jenna Nosek, a junior Biology and Classical Studies major with a Chemistry minor. “Everyone comes to college with the same jobs in mind. But then, research opened my eyes to all the different opportunities available to me, and all the different things you can learn about. I realized you can study the most random things and that can be your life’s work. It can be your job to study something that you are really interested in, that is really impactful, and you can enjoy it more than a job. Research has been eye-opening.”

Nosek first met Stobart when she had him as a professor in her first semester genetics course. He told her to interview for his lab. So she went home for fall break, thought about it, and talked it over with some cousins.

They told her she would never get into a research lab. She was just an undergrad. Those spots were reserved for grad students, they told her.

Nosek interviewed anyway.

She was shocked when she got in, she says. Now she is an author on two papers, is regularly in the lab at 3:00 AM, has presented the findings at conferences in Maryland and Minnesota, and worked in a research lab last summer at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She was just accepted to a biomedical summer research program at Harvard University.

Oh, and she no longer wants to be a doctor.

“I realized you can be a professor and do research,” Nosek says. “There are so many different things you can study that aren’t explained to you until you get to school, get into the

lab, and see these things firsthand, and that’s exactly what happened to me. Now I realize I can do what I enjoy every single day as a profession.”

Which sounds eerily similar to what got everyone in this basement in the first place. You know, the place with the ice, and, yes, those Backstreet Boys.

THE HUNT

You see, ‘Doc’ was all set to be a, well, doctor. He was on the pre-med path, but then decided he wanted to teach and research. That is why he left his RSV vaccine candidate, and instead decided to answer those unanswered, overlooked questions he realized were being ignored.

So now he is surrounded by undergrads who call him ‘Doc,’ and ask him mid-experiment what is more filling, McDonalds or Taco Bell.

Kena (Woods) Swanson ’98 is OK with failure. That’s because she doesn’t really view it that way. Failing is really just getting closer to discovering the right answer.

That is the world of vaccine discovery. Decades of research, years of clinical trials, and, unfortunately, more often than not, failure. And that is Swanson’s world.

“This is certainly not for the faint of heart,” says Swanson, a Butler University Biology graduate who currently works at Pfizer as Director in Viral Vaccines and is the research lead for the RSV vaccine program. “It takes passion, drive, and a lot of persistence to really see where the light will be at the end of the tunnel.

But it’s also so worth it because you know you’re a small piece of the larger puzzle that will have so much impact beyond yourself.”

Swanson has spent the last five years working on finding an RSV vaccine at Pfizer’s Research and Development campus in Pearl River, New York. In her 10 years at Pfizer, she has also worked on finding vaccines for Chlamydia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Before that, Swanson went to graduate school at the Indiana University School of Medicine, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Chlamydia pathogenesis and vaccine antigen discovery research at Rocky Mountain Laboratories (part of the National Institutes of Health).

But it was at Butler that she really discovered her passion for science and research.

She remembers sitting in Professor Emeritus of Biology James Shellhaas’ immunology course as a junior. He was comparing a virus battling against one’s immune system,

“When I left Emory, I knew I wanted to pursue a career that involved both teaching and research,” Stobart says. “I always intended to be pre-med, but then I decided teaching was important to me. Butler fits the mold of a school I wanted because it has a research system that is amenable to undergrad research. I can’t do the stuff that is high-end, detailed research, because undergrads come in and don’t have the skills yet. They are new. They don’t have the science background yet. But I knew I wanted a system that would involve simple experimental assays, but still would have the impact and make meaningful contributions to the scientific community while teaching important lessons. I think we are doing that here.”

to a game of tug of war. And right there, in that classroom, Swanson knew she wanted to hunt for vaccines as a career.

“I was hooked,” she says. “I knew I wanted to keep chasing after this. It was a great class. There were only five students, so there was a ton of discussion back and forth.

Shellhaas made the connection that you need to know the biology of a pathogen and how it interacts, in order to make an effective vaccine. He opened my eyes to this dynamic, complex, interesting challenge and since then I have wanted to chase these answers.”

In between pitching for the Butler softball team— Swanson says there was a lot of studying in hotel hallways—she found time to present her research at the Butler Undergraduate Research Conference, take part in Butler Summer Institute, oh, and meet her husband, Wesley ’00—in the library, of course.

Her summer project for the Butler Summer Institute was teaming up with Shellhaas to research the immune response of macrophages when infected with various bacteria. It was her first experience handling research animals, and what sticks out is the patience of Shellhaas to teach her the basics of research—how to collect cells, grow bacteria, analyze it, tell a story, troubleshoot, and draw conclusions.

“These are all skills that are the foundation of a career in research,” Swanson says. “At Butler, you have the chance to do so much more than what is in the curriculum. There were so many different opportunities, by the time I was off to grad school, I already had an understanding of how to design an experiment, how to do research. But the thing is, it goes beyond these practical lab skills. I learned the analytical thinking that you need to be successful as a researcher. The skills to look at something one way, then realize, wait, there’s an alternative path out there in case you run into a road block, which you will.”

But a road block doesn’t mean failure. It just means getting closer to the right answer.

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DEVELOPING FOR THE COMMUNITY

By Marc D. Allan, MFA ’18 The Christian Healthcare Providers Organization needed an app to compile medical records from its mission trips to the Dominican Republic. Sycamore Services wanted a video game to help children with autism become more social. WFYI asked for a cataloging system that allowed the station to track videos it shot.

They all turned to EPICS, the Butler University Computer Science and Software Engineering class in which students work with local non-profit organizations to solve their computer software and information technology needs.

“I’m a strong believer that the value of software engineering education comes from relating it to real life,” says Computer Science and Software Engineering Professor Panos Linos, who was recruited to Butler in 2000 to help create the first software-engineering undergraduate degree program in Indiana. “If you want to get a degree in software engineering, you have to be exposed to real-life scenarios. EPICS is a great platform to give our students the opportunity to take all the skills they learned in our software engineering courses and use them in a real project with a real customer that is actively interested and has a concrete issue to deal with.”

In a typical EPICS class—the acronym stands for Engineering Projects in Community Service—upwards of 20 students gain experience and expertise not only in developing software but in working as a team, dealing directly with clients, and doing projects that make a difference. The students, who come to the class from all majors, typically work in groups of three to five, with Linos serving as coach/advisor. (More information is at epics.butler.edu.)

At the end of each semester, the students present their work to their peers and clients, explaining what they were 14

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asked to do and what they had been able to achieve. Some projects go on for years as different groups of EPICS students create and refine the work.

The Christian Health Providers Organization (CHPO) app has been an EPICS project for more than three years. The group, which works out of Butler’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, goes on an annual mission trip each May to offer medical services in the Dominican Republic. It needed a better way to compile and keep medical records as patients go through the clinic from check-in to examination to the pharmacy, and through community outreach.

“It’s very easy for anything that’s paper to get lost or confused,” says Butler senior Emily Lawson, president of CHPO. “There’s so many things that can go wrong with paper. And we don’t have the advantage of storing patient data over the course of years.”

The Electronic Medical Records (EMR) app the EPICS students built enables the mission students and doctors to avoid having to keep track of paper. With a few taps on an iPad, they can track the patients’ history as well as their medications and doses.

“The fill-in-the-blanks makes it so much easier,” Lawson says.

“And it’s all standardized.”

A three-member EPICS team worked to refine the app during the fall 2018 semester. Ryan Perkins ’20, Ugo Udeogu ’18, and Cisco Scaramuzza ’18 said they spent the first six to eight weeks of the course learning the technology they needed.

“When I got into the professional working world, I was really thankful for being exposed to that early on in EPICS,” Gibbens says.

Now he helps EPICS by being among a group of 15–20 alumni who serve as consultants to the program.

Gibbens says Linos recognized that many of the EPICS projects were something a professional software developer would take on—and that could be daunting for students. So having consultants— people actually in the field—was a good idea.

“It’s a fairly hefty piece of software,” Perkins says, “and yet we’re coming into it with rudimentary knowledge of app development.

That was one of the struggles we ran into, but it was a good challenge to help us in the industry.”

“Having a project that’s been worked on for three and a half years, it’s like having experience in the real world,” Udeogu says. “In the real world, a lot of things are already written. So, on the job you have to learn the application, learn the language, and then implement the new functionalities.”

EPICS alumni say the course has been invaluable. Chris Hoffman ’04, who was in one of the earliest EPICS classes and is now an engineer with Raytheon, says what he learned in EPICS helped in his career. Hoffman worked on a project that helped Butler’s annual Undergraduate Research Conference create a database to help register participants and track the submission of information connected with their projects.

He says EPICS replicates a working environment more accurately than any classroom project.

“We learned pretty quickly that dealing with a customer is not necessarily straightforward,” he says. “Even though our customer was a group of college professors, they were treating it like a project that they were invested in and not like a classroom project. Dealing with the customer was very realistic. “ Sean Gibbens ’15, now a software engineer for Emplify, a startup in Fishers, Indiana, was part of a team that worked on an accessibility app to help students at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired navigate the campus. During his senior year, he led an EPICS team that worked to revamp the website of The Social of Greenwood, a provider of programs and activities for those in the community who are over 50.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to teach what I’m actually using every day at work, and it’s definitely good for the students to get a taste of a professional project while being guided by someone who is working full-time on similar technologies,” he says.

In creating EPICS, Linos was ahead of the curve not only in giving students professional experience but in community service. EPICS predates the Indianapolis Community Requirement, which mandates that all Butler students take one course in any part of the University that involves active engagement with the Indianapolis community.

“We did what we felt was a win-win scenario for everybody,” says Linos, whose innovative program was rewarded with a $35,000 endowment gift from the Sallie Mae Fund in 2003 for its potential to attract female and other minority students to Butler.

Chris Bowman, the Internet Projects Manager for WFYI public radio and television in Indianapolis, would agree with that. In 2009, Richard Miles ’91, then WFYI’s Vice President of Audio Services and TV Programming, told him about EPICS and wondered if they could work with the students to develop a cataloging system to track what videos were being shot on tapes, on what days, and where they could be found at the station.

That was a four-plus semester project for EPICS. In 2013, Bowman again worked with an EPICS team, this time to improve the search algorithm for WFYI.org, their main website.

“It’s been an excellent learning experience to be able to interact with people developing managerial skills and communication skills, and it’s been rewarding to offer mentorship opportunities at times,” Bowman says. “And being a non-profit, WFYI appreciates that schools offer these kinds of programs. A lot of times, we don’t have the monetary resources that a commercial entity would either to hire staff or pay outside vendors. So having this kind of resource is just invaluable.”

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Michelle (Skinner) Brown ’09

Photography by Glass River Media

CLOSING THE GAP

By Hayley Ross ’17 When Michelle (Skinner) Brown ’09 created CommonLit, Inc. she saw it as just a teacher website.

That was in 2014. Today, with the help of a $3.9 million grant from the United States Department of Education and another $3.5 million grant from Google, the online reading program for grades 3-12 is reaching over 8.3 million users, and averaging 21,000 new users every day.

In fact, Brown says, “CommonLit has grown so big that it’s rare that I meet an English teacher today who hasn’t heard of it. It’s pretty crazy.”

The path to its creation was not a traditional one, however.

Brown came to Butler University from New Braunfels, Texas to study classical ballet. However, one of her professors, Dr. Marshall Gregory, inspired her to change her major to English.

“His classes made me believe in the power of literature to

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After graduating from Butler, Brown taught for two years at a school in a highly impoverished and extremely rural part of the Mississippi Delta. It was there that she got the “teaching bug.”

“Ultimately, what I am doing now directly correlates to teaching there,” she says. “CommonLit was born out of my experience in the classroom.”

“We pick a handful of best practices that have been shown, through research, to move the needle in reading achievement.”

Brown created CommonLit to be a completely free, online compilation of literary and teaching resources.

Professional, high-performing teachers create all of the lessons on the site, which include new articles, poems, short stories, and historical documents. The works themselves are donated by authors and publishers that support CommonLit’s mission of improving literacy for vulnerable populations.

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change people’s minds. In fact, Dr. G ended up writing my letter of recommendation for Teach for America, which is what brought me to the education sector.”

Brown followed up her time in Mississippi with a Master’s in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University. It was upon completion of this program that CommonLit was born.

In the five years since its inception, the nonprofit has done so well, in part, because of something Brown calls “best practices.”

“Our theory of action is that if we give teachers high-quality resources and help change teacher practices, we can nudge them toward practices that support students who are struggling in reading,” Brown says.

“We pick a handful of best practices that have been shown, through research, to move the needle in reading achievement— particularly for students who are struggling.”

For example, a best practice would be for a student who is an English language learner to explicitly be learning high-leverage words—words that you might see over and over again, no matter what class you’re in throughout the school day. This

ensures students have strong foundational knowledge from which to build.

“Reading and writing is a predictor of life’s outcomes, of student earnings,” she says. “It really is the ticket to the middle class. Our mission is to close that gap.”

With the new multimillion-dollar grant, the company will aim to close the gap internationally as well, starting with a pilot in Mexico.

“We are actually writing original Spanish content, getting really great local stories, and building a curriculum that is more localized for Mexico,” Brown says. “Then we are trying to see over the next two years how we can build student achievement there.”

CommonLit currently has a three-person team in Mexico City that is working with the Ministry of Education as well as other

to internet. So, that is something we will be pursuing in 2019 and 2020: How can we make an interactive version of CommonLit that actually works offline.” partners who are local to the region and understand the unique context there.

“Literature and text selection are so localized and very cultural and are how people are socialized in their country,” Brown says.

“We aren’t just saying we are making a CommonLit for the U.S. and then lumping the rest of the world together. We’re thinking ‘what’s our global strategy,’ and thinking country by country.”

The under-resourced schools her team is working with in Mexico City just recently gained access to computers and broadband internet. Through its latest grant, CommonLit will be working on offline solutions as well.

“Our mission is to serve students who are in low-income areas and who are underserved,” she says. “And in international context, that usually means they don’t have consistent access

CommonLit has grown exponentially and impressively over the past two years, but Brown says it’s the individual stories that have the most impact. She shares the story of a high school teacher in New York whose student had recently immigrated to the United States. In order to graduate with a high school diploma, he had to pass his New York State Regents exams— but he spoke no English.

“This teacher used CommonLit basically every day with him in English and Spanish, and the result was that he exceeded the average on the English exam at the end of the year,” Brown says.

“He used the Spanish and English resources and started to understand the structure of the text and it was a total success...

It’s moments like that when you realize that you’re really making a big impact.”

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A LEGACY FULFILLED

By Rachel Stern Aaron Hurt ’08 was named Executive Director of the Butler Arts Center on January 1, 2019 after serving as Interim Executive Director since August 2018. But this is a role that, in many ways, Hurt has been working toward since he was a little boy, and a role that means so much to so many in his extended family.

To know Aaron Hurt is to understand the way he proposed handling his office décor. After moving into his new space tucked away in a corner on the third floor of Clowes Memorial Hall, he was stuck on figuring out ways to dismantle the bigscreen television fixed to his wall and mount it on a rolling device that the entire Butler Arts Center staff could benefit from. He hypothesized different ways to turn the space into a conference room, saying it was much too large for just himself.

And he was concerned that the colors weren’t welcoming enough. In the end, none of these changes were made.

But Aaron did insist on one request.

He came across a 1963 art deco painting of opening night at Clowes. He loves art deco work, but it was about much more than just the style. Aaron’s grandfather was there that night in 1963. Donald Hurt was a member of the projectionist union, and when Clowes was ready to open, he was called to help get the stage ready. He hung the original main curtain and worked the first few shows.

“It’s really bonkers,” Aaron says, as he looks up at the painting on his office wall. “To think that my grandfather was hanging the curtain that night, and now I am sitting in this office working here. It’s really not something I take for granted.”

Three years after Aaron’s grandfather hung the first curtain at Clowes Hall, his father, Daniel, hopped on his moped at age 16 and headed from the east side of Indianapolis to Clowes for his first ever job, sweeping the floors and holding ladders.

Aaron was born into a family of projectionists. He was exposed to film, the arts, and theater from a young age, and often went with his father to work. But he first remembers Clowes Hall when he saw his sister, an opera singer, perform there.

“Butler has been a part of our lives for years and for Aaron, this is a scene he has been around since he was in diapers,” Daniel 18

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Aaron Hurt ’08 says. “Aaron would come with us to his sister’s performances and practices. It is pretty amazing when you think about it because the connection goes all the way back to my father hanging that curtain. Aaron grew up on this. We are all tied to Butler and Clowes.”

Aaron wanted to run a venue for as long as he can remember, he says. As an Arts Administration major at Butler, he learned that he could make a career out of running the programming and operations of a place. After graduating in 2008, Aaron worked for the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, the Chicago Children’s Choir, and then made his way back to Butler in 2013, as parttime manager of the Schrott Center. He became full-time later that year, serving as the Operations Manager. In 2016, after the Butler Arts Center was established, Aaron was promoted to Director of Operations.

He took over as Interim Executive Director of the Butler Arts Center in August 2018. When President Jim Danko was evaluating what to do about the permanent Executive Director position, the positive feedback about Aaron was overwhelming.

“Aaron’s passion and enthusiasm for this type of role, coupled with the extraordinary esteem he is held in made him far and away the optimal choice for this position,” Danko says. “I am very excited about him and his potential. It is like an NFL team looking for that young coach who will be a star in 20 years.”

Aaron has four major focuses—find new ways to make money, form better partnerships, engage more with the Indianapolis market, and create improved University programming. But, he says, it really does come down to one thing.

“I want us to be known as open and inviting. I want people to leave happy and to have experienced something they couldn’t have experienced anywhere else in the city,” Aaron says. “That is what Clowes originally was when it started.”

And Aaron would know. He grew up learning about Clowes and hearing about Clowes from a grandfather and father who were there from the beginning. Now, Aaron is ready to take Clowes back to that original model—collaborative and inviting. Just the way he likes his office décor.

FOCUSING on BEHAVIOR Dr. Craig A. Anderson ’76 has been on the leading edge of research about aggression for over 40 years. In February, his efforts were recognized with the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology.

The award honors a scholar who has made distinctively valuable research contributions across his or her career that bridge personality and social psychology or bridge personality or social psychology with another field (i.e., law, education, organizations, or medicine).

“Dr. Anderson’s work is remarkable not only for its sheer quantity and quality but also for its breadth,” says Distinguished Scholar Award selection committee member and University of Texas at Austin Psychology Professor Sam Gosling. “His research spans a wide range of areas, including judgment and decision-making; depression, loneliness, and shyness; personality theory and measurement; attribution theory; and human aggression.

“His work is also particularly notable for its applied implications well beyond the realms of academia; this feature is perhaps best illustrated by his groundbreaking work looking at the effects of media violence on behavior.”

He traces his interest in aggression to his childhood.

“I was a fairly angry child,” says Anderson, who grew up on a farm in Northern Indiana. “I was always one of the smallest in my class, getting picked on. I distinctly recall a point at 15 or 16 when I realized being angry wasn’t satisfying or productive.”

Not long after this epiphany, Anderson nearly got an up-closeand-personal look at aggression in its most institutionalized form. Attending the University of Notre Dame during the Vietnam War, he felt safe from joining the fight—at least until graduation. Suddenly, in 1971, President Richard Nixon cancelled student deferments, making undergraduates like Anderson subject to the draft.

“It was clear I was going to be drafted while still in college, and they were sending everyone to Vietnam,” he says. “So, I voluntarily joined an Army Reserve unit.”

Anderson attended basic training and vehicle mechanic school at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, then tank mechanic school at Fort Knox.

Dr. Craig A. Anderson ’76

Photo by Chris Gannon

Once he knew he could fulfill his reservist duties primarily on the weekends, Anderson turned back to his studies. He accepted a scholarship to Butler.

From the time he got to Butler—where his senior research project examined whether a researcher’s gender could influence the outcomes of a study—Anderson has been intrigued by the motivations behind people’s behavior.

“I’ve always been interested in what influences the way people think,” Anderson says. “How humans interpret the world underlies all my research.”

He says the Psychology Department at Butler helped his life’s work get off to a good start.

During those years, he also met and dated Dona Caprice (“Cappi”) Odom ’77, who was attending Butler’s School of Pharmacy.

They spent a lot of time together in the Psychology Department. Then one day, he recalls, one of his professors, Dr. J. William Hepler, took him aside and said, “‘Anderson, you’ve got to marry this girl. Not only can she can cook, but she can earn a living, and you’re not going to be able to make any money!’ So, I did.”

They just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. (Their daughter Caitlin graduated from Butler in 2012 with a degree in Psychology.)

After Anderson graduated from Butler, he went on to earn his master’s and doctorate from Stanford University. He taught at Rice University, Ohio State, and University of MissouriColumbia before joining the Iowa State University faculty in 1999 as Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology.

“He is undeniably the most well-known, accomplished alumnus of the Psychology Department at Butler, and he’s very important as a social psychologist and a psychologist in general,” says Provost and Professor of Psychology Kate Morris. “His work is compelling and impactful—he’s testified before Congress. We’re obviously proud to have him as an alumnus.”

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A LIFELONG ACTIVIST Maria De Leon ’22

By Sarah Bahr Butler admission counselor Whitney Ramsay’s phone buzzed with a text one morning last winter.

Will getting arrested keep me from attending Butler?

Maria De Leon ’22, then a senior in high school, was planning to participate in a sit-in protest in Washington, DC in January 2018 to lobby senators to approve a “clean” Dream Act, or one that creates a pathway to citizenship for immigrants without adding additional stipulations.

Would being arrested for civil disobedience, she wanted to know, affect her eligibility to attend Butler—and her Lilly scholarship?

Ramsay talked to her supervisor: De Leon’s admission decision wouldn’t automatically be rescinded, but any disciplinary infraction would be reviewed by a committee. (Butler later issued a statement reading: “Applicants to Butler University who respectfully engage in meaningful and authentic discourse regarding important issues within our society will not be penalized in the admission process.”)

“I told her to be safe, smart, and listen to her gut,” Ramsay says.

De Leon ultimately decided to stop short of being arrested— though some of her fellow protesters were.

De Leon’s passion for civic engagement started at Crispus Attucks High School on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

She was a community ambassador for the Central Indiana Community Foundation, researching Indianapolis’ Hispanic and Latino communities to discover their biggest challenges.

She interviewed student DACA recipients, as well as police officers who worked in the Hispanic community.

She also volunteered with the Domestic Violence Youth Network and became a leader of Crispus Attucks’ NO MORE Club, which raises awareness of teen dating violence and sexual assault.

But De Leon wanted to do more than just join a club. Why, she wondered, did Indianapolis Public Schools not have a teen dating violence prevention and response policy? Inspired to act, De Leon worked with Lindsay Stawick, the Youth Program Manager at the Domestic Violence Network, and three other students to draft a policy. It took eight months.

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When the policy was enacted at IPS schools in fall 2018, it was the first teen dating violence prevention and response policy in Indianapolis, Stawick says. It holds school staff accountable for preventing abusive behavior and punishes students who participate in it. It also mandates training for teachers and places a teen dating abuse advocate in every IPS school.

That policy was possibly De Leon’s most significant achievement at Crispus Attucks, but she didn’t wait until her senior year to get involved with organizations she was passionate about.

She began volunteering at TeenWorks, an Indianapolis collegeand-career readiness and youth employment nonprofit serving at-risk Marion County teens, her freshman year of high school.

TeenWorks President and CEO Tammie Barney says De Leon can reach the students in a way the adult volunteers can’t.

“It’s rare to see that level of boldness and leadership in such a young person,” Barney says. “She seizes the day to get the most out of every opportunity.”

Her go-getter attitude is one the reasons De Leon says Butler has been a perfect fit.

The Political Science and Critical Communication & Media Studies double major recently established a Latino chapter of Butler’s Leading Women of Tomorrow initiative, a group focused on empowering women to seek public service careers.

She applied to be Vice President or Secretary.

She was asked to serve as President.

And De Leon continues to volunteer with the organizations that triggered her passion for activism four years ago.

She’s a mentor with the Domestic Violence Youth Network, where she volunteers twice per month and during breaks, and she plans to continue to help with TeenWorks events this summer, from conducting mock interviews to providing resume advice.

De Leon’s goal is to work in politics after she graduates in 2022.

She’d love to be the president of a youth-focused non-profit organization like TeenWorks, but she’s also considering a run for Mayor of Indianapolis.

“I’ve learned that Indy is a city where if an opportunity isn’t there, you can create it,” she says.

THE RISE OF ESPORTS

By Michael Kaltenmark ’02, MA ’16 As stereotypes go, it’s said that too much time with videogames leads to such things as poor social skills and long-term accommodations in the parents’ basement. However, the reality at Butler University is quite the contrary. Sophomore Luke Renchik and fellow members of the Butler Esports team represent a new generation of college students who are rapidly debunking these myths.

While Renchik and teammates might spend upwards of four to eight hours a day honing their gaming craft, they do so while successfully balancing the demands of a Butler education.

“Playing a game at a high level and success in school go hand-inhand,” Renchik says. “Your ability to problem-solve and learn effectively are important skills that can help improve your gaming.”

An Economics and Finance major from Clarkston, Michigan, Renchik is not only a member of Butler’s relatively new Esports team, but also a member of Butler’s quickly growing Esports Club, which now boasts more than 200 members in just two years. The rise in club membership is a microcosm of a broader national trend among Renchik’s peers with videogame prowess who are looking to supplement their college pursuits with gaming competition.

And with real money at stake, it’s no wonder why students like Renchik are making their college choice with gaming in mind.

Forbes reports that esports industry revenues will exceed $1 billion in 2019, and higher education is piggybacking on that growth. Some schools are now offering esports scholarships to recruit students, and once on campus, esports competitors are playing for lucrative prize monies being offered by gaming companies.

Butler’s growing, yet modest, Esports team maintains affiliation with the BIG EAST Conference, where they’re holding their own against counterparts from other member schools. Teams are playing popular gaming titles such as League of Legends (Renchik’s specialty), Rocket League, Call of Duty, Riot Games, and more. Meanwhile, fall and spring seasons feature different game championships, complete with live action broadcasts on Twitch and YouTube.

“We’re definitely very good for the size of our school,” Renchik notes. “It’s fun to be a part of it all at the ground level and to have that underdog mentality going into tournaments. There aren’t a lot of people expecting you to do well so it makes it especially exciting when we do win.”

So, what’s the next level for Butler’s esports scene? Hopefully more marquee wins like last fall’s BIG EAST Invitational victory for the Rocket League squad, engaging content for curious online spectators, perhaps a new academic curriculum, and even a dedicated physical space for this virtual enterprise.

Currently, team members compete on their own custombuilt hardware from the confines of their rooms in campus residence halls. The dream for Renchik and his peers is a campus gaming center to foster community, competition, practice, and course instruction.

For now, these gaming pioneers will be feverishly wrapping up homework so they can hop online and practice for the next competition, all while redefining the perception of what it means to be a videogamer.

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SHELVIN MACK’S HOMECOMING

By Rachel Stern Emerson Kampen ’13 will never forget Shelvin Mack’s bachelor party in Las Vegas. But before any assumptions are made, Kampen wasn’t even there.

He called his former Butler University roommate and basketball teammate one morning, East Coast time, which must have been, “like 6:00 AM or 7:00 AM Vegas time,” Kampen says, shock still audible in his voice, and Mack picked up.

“I’m in Vegas at my bachelor party,” Mack told Kampen. “I have this paper to do. I’m trying to knock it out this morning.”

And that is when Kampen knew his friend was serious about completing his Butler degree.

“Shel is as motivated as anybody, as self-driven as anybody I have ever met,” says Kampen, who is now an Assistant Coach on the Butler Men’s Basketball team. “When he says he will get something done, he will, and that attitude carries over to all areas of his life.

When he said he was going to make the NBA, he did. When he said he was going to finish his degree, despite the demands of an NBA schedule, I knew he would do it.

Mack, who left Butler after his junior year in 2011 to enter the NBA Draft, has played for seven teams, and most recently signed a deal with the Charlotte Hornets.

Those same traits that turned him into an 8-year NBA veteran have motivated him to complete his Butler degree in Digital Media Production, he says. As he sees his sisters graduate, and all his friends—as well as his wife—flaunt their Butler degrees, his competitive juices kick in. But it is also more than that—a love of Butler, a desire to better himself, and a promise he made to his mom.

THE RECRUIT

Brad Stevens remembers meeting Victoria Guy, Shelvin’s mom, for the first time. He was in Lexington, Kentucky, visiting Shelvin at his home.

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Let’s just say Mack and his mom had slightly different questions as they sat in their living room with Stevens.

“She didn’t care about playing time, or TV games, or what kind of gym we were going to be playing in,” Stevens says. “She wanted Shelvin to get his college degree and work hard in the classroom. She asked about graduation rates and class sizes.”

Stevens had answers. A big part of the presentation at the time focused beyond what the team accomplished on the court, Stevens says.

The answers mattered. At the last second, the University of Kentucky swooped in, Guy says, and Mack was torn. He asked his mom for advice. She wanted the decision to be her son’s, but the only thing she did share with him was the value of a smaller, tight-knit campus.

“He stuck with Butler and it worked out perfectly,” Guy says.

So, last summer, when Mack told Stevens he was going to finish his degree, he wasn’t that surprised.

“Shelvin is very, very driven and usually that is hard to turn off. When you have an ambitious kid, they will usually be ambitious in everything they do and he certainly is that,” Stevens says.

LIFE AT BUTLER

Kampen and Mack first met in 2008, two freshmen on the Men’s Basketball team headed to their team physicals.

Kampen learned quickly that Mack was determined to make it to the NBA. But, he says, he and others didn’t really see it.

“We all should have known when he says he will get something done, he will do it,” Kampen says.

Mack’s work ethic was always on display. He spent more time in the gym than anyone else on the team. They would be playing videogames and Mack would have a 30-pound weight in his hands, doing curls while the game was loading. He was always working.

advisor. “In times when the larger world is questioning the value of a degree from a four-year institution, I always find it really gratifying that people like Shelvin still place such a high value on education.”

FUTURE PROMISES

As the NBA season rolls on, Mack is crisscrossing the United States on planes, playing in back-to-back games, and squeezing in time to read his textbooks. He continues to take online courses, hoping to complete his degree in three years. But most importantly, before his youngest sister, Keionna, graduates.

“I know the degree isn’t everything, but it opens a lot of doors that won’t otherwise be there for you,” Guy says. “He could break a leg today and basketball could be over.”

Image courtesy of Shelvin Mack.

LIFE IN THE NBA

When Mack decided to leave school early, his mom fully supported him, but said he had five years to finish his degree.

As the years marched on, she kept checking on him.

“It was something I always wanted to do, but I could never find the time,” Mack says. “I wasn’t great with time management, I was adjusting to NBA life, and probably not spending my time as wisely as I could have.”

Once Mack had his daughter, things changed, he says. He was on a strict schedule, going to bed early, waking up early, working out, taking care of her. Then, he realized, he could work school in. His daughter helped him manage his time, and he wanted to make sure he set a good example for her when it came to education.

“For Shelvin, this has been part of the process of his development as a person and what kind of individual he wants to be,” says Christine Taylor, Associate Professor of Entertainment Media and Journalism, and Mack’s academic

Mack says he would like a career in broadcast after his playing days are over. But coaching interests him, too. He looks forward to the day when he can walk in the house and show his wife, a Butler grad and former hoops player, his degree.

Asked how she will feel when her son officially graduates from Butler, Guy is quiet for a moment.

“Oh my god. I will be super excited. Super excited. He will be the first male in his generation to have a college degree. I need him to be better than average and I know he expects that out of himself, too.”

But there is one thing that is bothering her. Mack pursuing his degree has motivated his mom to finish her degree.

“After two years of college, I had my son, and he was my number one priority, so I am going to go back after all of this and get my degree in business management,” Guy says.

Her son has given her a three-year window.

IMPROVING THE FIELDHOUSE, CONTINUED Last fall, in the midst of Hinkle Fieldhouse’s 50th season, Butler University announced a fundraising initiative to support a second phase of enhancements for the facility. The proposed upgrades to the iconic venue, estimated to cost $10.5 million in total, include a complete renovation of the Efroymson Family Gym, air-conditioning all public areas of the Fieldhouse, and extensive work to the Men’s Soccer locker room.

With the majority of the funds secured, work is set to begin in May 2019 with the goal of quickly completing the project by this fall.

EXPOSING THE ARTS TO A NEW GENERATION INSPIRING A NEW GENERATION THROUGH THE ARTS

By Marc D. Allan, MFA ’18 This spring, the Butler Arts Center—Clowes Memorial Hall, the Schrott Center for the Arts, the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall, and Lilly Hall Studio Theatre—welcomed the millionth visitor to its series devoted to school children.

Over 27 years and 858 performances, the Clowes Education Matinee Series has provided students in kindergarten through 12th grade with the opportunity to see live theater—many for the first time. That could mean anything from daytime performances by Butler groups such as Butler Ballet, the Percussion Ensemble, and the Jazz Ensemble to national touring productions featuring favorite children’s stories like the Junie B. Jones books, The Magic School Bus, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar coming to life onstage.

Clowes Hall Education Manager Donna Rund has been part of the matinee series for nearly 20 years and has seen more than 800,000 of the 1 million visitors come through the doors. She

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was thrilled when she realized the millionth visitor was going to happen in this school year’s season.

“As a former teacher, I knew opportunities to learn outside the classroom were educational and memorable for my students, and to know that other teachers feel that way as well is why the matinee series has sustained its significance in the community,” she says. “The kids in Central Indiana can come to Clowes Hall to experience live theatre, and it can be life-giving and lifechanging. The arts have the power to do that.”

Rund has witnessed exponential growth in education programming, which began in earnest in 1991 when the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, selected six sites across the nation to begin an arts education program called Partners in Education.

That program connects arts organizations, school districts, and the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center provides resources such as professional-development workshops, demonstration

teaching and coaching sessions, and study group opportunities that enable arts organizations and school districts to work together to strengthen the curriculum and, ultimately, the students’ engagement level when learning.

“The students thought the show was fun and funny, and it definitely got them interested in reading more,” Zingraf says.

She recommends the experience to other teachers—especially teachers who work in lower-income schools.

“Teaching doesn’t just happen in the classroom; it happens outside the classroom too,” Rund says. “We can shape and mold and help build new perspectives through the performance arts of theater, music, and dance to help people see in new ways and discover new things.”

“Our students don’t have these opportunities other than going on field trips,” she says, “and I think this is something my kids are going to remember for the rest of their lives—being able to go with their whole class to a big auditorium to see actors and actresses onstage acting out one of their favorite stories.”

In 2018, Claire Zingraf brought her kindergarteners and first-graders from the James Russell Lowell School 51 in Indianapolis to Clowes Hall to see a show based on the Skippyjon Jones books about a cat who thinks he’s a Chihuahua.

The students loved the stories, and Zingraf thought they would enjoy a live presentation.

She was right.

“Sitting in the audience with my kids, every time I looked at them, they just had giant smiles on their faces, especially during the songs and dances,” she says. Watching them smile through the entire performance was a really great moment as a teacher.”

Visit butler.edu/magazine to read about the “1 Millionth” Celebration.

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THE PLAYERS AREN’T THE ONLY ONES PRACTICING A sports broadcaster gets an early jump on career experience

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Brandon Gaudin ’06

ALUMNI PROFILES

“As cliché as it sounds, I try to enjoy the steps of the journey and not worry about tomorrow.”

By Monica Holb ’09 Luck is a word that Butler University graduate and play-by-play sportscaster Brandon Gaudin ’06 just can’t stop saying.

“I’m lucky, and I realize that,” he says, reflecting on the adventure that began when he was young. “No one has had bigger cheerleaders, bigger mentors, and better friends throughout this entire walk.”

His walk started at age 7 on October 24, 1991—the day his parents took the family to World Series Game 5, Braves vs.

Twins.

“When I walked into Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, that is when I fell in love with sports.”

And he fell fast, and hard. Gaudin devoured the Atlanta Braves’ 1992 season at home in Evansville, Indiana, on TBS, constructing a bat and ball from the cardboard of a paper towel roll and a wadded-up balloon and making an outfield fence with pillows. He mimicked Braves announcer Skip Caray and hoped to follow in his footsteps.

And he has—as a play-by-play announcer for FOX and BTN and the voice of the Madden NFL videogame for EA Sports.

Thank you to our credit union partner, Elements Financial, for their support.

That journey led him to serve as the play-by-play voice of Butler Basketball, where he could allow his pride for the Bulldogs to shine through. He moved on in 2013 to become the voice of Georgia Tech’s football and basketball programs, and eventually to the national stage he’s on now.

Along the way, he’s been on the mic for a few special endings, like the University of Michigan’s buzzer-beating win over the University of Houston in the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament.

It’s the same call he made thousands of times years ago in his living room.

“When those moments have happened, my mind always travels back to acting them out as a child all those years ago in Evansville.”

Today, as a national television and radio broadcaster, he is still practicing. Like the little kid listening to Skip Caray, Gaudin as an adult admires the three gold standards of the industry: Jim Nantz, Al Michaels, and Joe Buck.

Photo by Zach Bolinger

Gaudin has always known what he wanted to do, and when he first visited Butler, he realized the University could provide a foundation for his future success.

“What I saw in Butler was potential,” he says. “I knew at Butler that I would be an individual. Butler would provide me a chance to get a lot of hands-on experience earlier than I might have been able to at a bigger school.”

And experience, he got: During his years on campus, Gaudin took on two majors and two minors, interned at ESPN, and was named a Top 10 Male Student.

After graduating, he went right to work, putting in time broadcasting Single-A baseball south of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Though not a glamorous start, Gaudin says, “I had no grand expectations of graduating from college and being on national television within six months, and I wouldn’t have wanted that. I feel very fortunate for the journey I’ve had.”

“Those are individuals I’m always trying to glean something from. So when I was asked to voice the Madden video-game, one of the many things that was so special was that Jim Nantz did it before I did.”

If Gaudin is lucky to be where he is today, it is because he ensures preparation meets opportunity. He works hard to blend the art and science of calling games. The groundwork of gathering statistics is a science. The art comes into play when he turns on the microphone to tell a story.

“You have a ton of stuff committed to memory, but if Kamar Baldwin is up at the free-throw line and I want to tell a story about him, I can look down at all the notes I have and weave them into the broadcast.”

For Gaudin, “what’s next” is more easily answered by what game is coming up or what flight number he’s packing for. (He logged over 200 flights in 2018.)

“I love what I am doing now and wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he says. “As cliché as it sounds, I try to enjoy the steps of the journey and not worry about tomorrow. I feel blessed to do what I do today. I am one of the luckiest people, and I realize that.”

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ON

By Marc D. Allan, MFA ’18

Doug Boles ’88 is right where he belongs—in the corner office at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with windows that look out on the back side of turn 1 and the entry to the short chute on the south end.

Doug Boles ’88

“It’s not the greatest view in the world,” the Speedway President says with a smile. “But it’s not the worst view, either.”

A lifelong auto-racing fanatic, Boles is a guy who chose Butler University in part because of its proximity to the track.

Still, Boles was preparing to attend DePauw University when Butler swim coach Bob Waymouth offered a partial scholarship.

. . . Who, when he would hear cars testing their engines, would finish his classes, grab a burger, head to the track and do his homework in the Speedway museum parking lot.

He joined Lambda Chi, the closest fraternity to Hinkle Fieldhouse (“With those 5:00 AM swim practices, you could sleep in five minutes longer”), worked as a campus tour guide, and majored in Journalism. An internship on the Indianapolis Star obituary desk convinced him that “I’m not sure this is for me,” so he followed his other love—politics—into a job doing public relations for the Indiana House Republicans.

. . . Who created a Motorsports Task Force when he worked for Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith. . . . Who helped start a racing team, Panther Racing, which won 15 races and two championships while he was part of it. . . . Who cares so much about the Speedway that—well, we’ll let three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser tell you that one.

“I’ve seen him on what they call the Coke Lot and he’s down there picking up trash,” Unser says. “I could not believe this. Not with a stick, not with some guy who works for him following him. No, just doing it himself. He’s that way. He’ll stop and talk to you. He wants to know how you are. Who would ever, ever, ever do that? This guy’s the boss, and he isn’t doing it to impress somebody. He’s doing it because it’s his track to run. I thought that was more than amazing. Nobody’s like Doug Boles.”

Boles traces his influences to a home where auto racing and Butler University were the cultural touchstones. His parents, Jeff and Susie, and a great aunt are Butler alumni. So are most of his parents’ friends. Both of his sisters went to Butler, as did their husbands.

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Boles went from the Statehouse to the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, where he worked as Director of Governmental and Corporate Affairs, and on the side managed the Indianapolis Motorsports Task Force. In that role, he met ESPN producer Terry Lingner, who hired Boles to be a producer’s spotter on the weekends for ESPN Racing.

Through that job, Boles met a mechanic named John Barnes, who proposed the idea of starting a team.

After help from attorney Jack Swarbrick (now Athletic Director at University of Notre Dame) pitching Pennzoil sponsorship, Boles

TRACK became part of a team along with Barnes, Lingner, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh, and auto dealer Gary Pedigo.

Boles spent 10 years with the team—and earned his law degree from Indiana University in 2000—but the travel and constant workload began taking its toll. He sold his interest in Panther Racing to spend more time with his wife, Beth, and family. He worked as a consultant for three years, then joined the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2010 as Director of Communications.

That role expanded to Director of Communications and Vice President of Communications for all of Hulman & Company— the Speedway, the IndyCar Series, and Clabber Girl. In 2013, he became Chief Operating Officer (COO), and that summer he was named President—a job that typically had gone to ownership or family.

It seems like the culmination of a lifelong dream, but as Boles tells people, “You couldn’t dream about this job because you never would have thought it would be an opportunity.”

It’s worked out well for him, the Speedway, and Butler. Danny Kibble, Butler’s Executive Director of Alumni and Engagement Programs, says the University is “fortunate that someone such as Doug, who has achieved such incredible international success, continues to remain involved with Butler University.”

Looking back at his achievements at the Speedway so far, Boles is most proud of his team’s effort to sell out the 100th running of the 500 in 2016 (a crowd of 350,000-plus), bringing in the Rolling Stones for a July 4, 2015 concert that attracted 55,000 fans, and spending roughly $120 million on grandstand upgrades and infrastructure improvements.

He keeps reminders of the renovations in his office, including a rusty beam that had collapsed into the grandstand and a “core sample” of the track that includes an original brick along with all the layers of pavement that had been added over the years.

The thing looks like a bricks-and-mortar lasagna.

Beyond racing, for the past three years now, the Speedway has presented Lights at the Brickyard, an event that lets cars drive around the 2.5-mile track and look at some 3 million holiday lights. More than 150,000 people took the opportunity in its first year, 2016—and about half of those had never been to the track.

Boles’ efforts have earned the admiration of his peers.

“Doug’s passion and energy around motorsports is infectious,” says Chip Wile, President of the Daytona International Speedway. “He is always thinking about ways to be innovative at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and create an exciting environment for fans when they visit his iconic track.”

Boles says that’s the challenge he faces—to stay relevant, grow new audiences, and make sure the IMS is active beyond the month of May when the Indianapolis 500 takes over.

“We’re the Hinkle Fieldhouse of racetracks,” he says. “The question is: How do you take what is essential to your DNA and promote that? You can make subtle changes,” Boles says, “but you can’t walk away from who you are.”

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SO STRONG A BOND

By Jeff Stanich ’16 As you glanced around at Butler University’s Homecoming tailgate, alumni donning their Bulldog gear stretched as far as you could see in all directions in a sea of blue.

Yet there was something that stood out about one pair walking arm-in-arm at the autumn gathering in 2018. Though it’s not the many years of age that he has on her, nor the inches in height she has on him.

It’s their beaming faces. Because whenever John Davies ’49 and Jennifer Williams ’98, MS ’00 are together, it’s clear they are enjoying the kind of bond you wish to have with your favorite family member: caring, enthusiastic, with every moment treasured.

And it all started with a scholarship letter more than 20 years ago.

“One day it was just in my mailbox at ResCo. I had no idea what The John Davies Family Scholarship even was,” Williams says, recalling the moment from her junior year at Butler. “Now, Butler is not cheap and my parents and I were working hard to keep me enrolled. That’s why it was such a blessing.”

Presented with an option to reply, Jennifer chose to write back.

To directly thank John Davies and his wife, Margie.

Davies, not expecting a response, was delighted.

“We had no idea what would happen, we just knew we wanted to give back to Butler and help a few people get a great education there like I did,” he says. “But there weren’t any guidelines on how to proceed, so Margie and I just decided to write back again.”

That’s how it all began. Two individuals, states away from one another, corresponding on the basis of both loving Butler.

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John Davies ’49 and Jennifer Williams ’98, MS ’00

“I knew I was going to respond because that’s how my parents raised me. But it was so exciting because they just kept on writing back. Neither one of us knew what was going to happen,” Williams says. “Now I know them so well that members of my family will ask about them. ‘Oh, John? Margie? How’re they doing?’ They’re family. My angels.”

That bond was built gradually and naturally with a simple routine. Several times each year, the Davies would call and let Williams know when they’d be back in Indianapolis from Florida. She would clear her schedule and pick them up for lunch, with the conversation always carrying on long after the plates were cleared.

Davies, in the wake of the loss, remains incredibly grateful for the moments they all shared together.

To him, every memory is very much alive, still bringing him joy in the moment—his voice sparkles through the phone as he looks back.

“I remember—back in 2002, I think, but don’t quote me, I’m old—I was put up for an alumni recognition award. Williams was elected to provide the introduction, which was written for her. But she went off script and left us stunned,” Davies says. “She spoke of the love, laughter, and friendship we share. She’s the reason we kept on giving through the scholarship.”

That ceremony was just one of many moments that Williams intends to keep holding on to with Davies.

“I don’t know how much longer he’ll be able to travel up here alone, so our chats now are especially cherished. I cancel any plans I have standing in the way when he comes to town,” Williams says. “Who knew that choosing to come to Butler would be the start of a bridge that connected two unlikely sources for a lifelong friendship?”

Photo by Matthew Fleckenstein ’19

Since then, she’s stayed at their home in Florida, accompanied them to Butler basketball games where they talk basketball strategy—“she knows a whole lot more than me,” Davies happily admits—and have maintained the lunch routine for more than two decades.

The friendship is still growing. When hearing them actively sift through the significance of their bond, it’s clear that their trust in one another means more now than it ever has.

“We lost Margie a few years ago, and that was devastating,” Williams says after pausing to reflect. “I guess I thought they would last forever because I knew that my love for them would.”

That’s why Williams is giving back now. In every facet of life, and especially as a Guidance Counselor at North Central High School in Indianapolis. Whether it’s giving money or time, she is more aware than most of the kind of impact that mentorship can have on a young person, even if the pairing is odd to begin with. And it’s why she scoffs at anyone who wouldn’t choose to write back.

“Those people have no idea what they’re missing.

No matter what you put in, it can grow 20, 50, or a hundredfold,” Williams says. “Their love and life story has become mine.”

Last September, upon his induction into the Butler Carillon Society, John Davies wrote a letter expressing why he chooses to give to Butler. Visit butler.edu/magazine to read his inspiring message.

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Photo by Jeff Haynes

MASTERING RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE

By Cindy Dashnaw “I’m nearing the five-year mark in my industry, and the opportunities I’ve been given at such a young age have been extraordinary.”

That’s how Jordan Thomas ’14 sums up the value of his Butler Risk Management and Insurance (RMI) undergraduate degree— and why he joined the first-ever cohort in the University’s new Master of Science in Risk and Insurance (MSRI) degree program.

“This industry will see a big need for talent very soon,” Thomas says. “People like me could be in management in just a few years if we have the training. Butler’s master’s program is the answer to that need.”

A ‘FIRST-CLASS’ FIRST COHORT

This two-year learning opportunity prepares individuals for advanced roles in corporate risk management and for new roles within the growing insurance field. Other than two In-Residence Experiences, all classes are online with no set schedule, accessible at each student’s convenience. The degree is administered by the Lacy School of Business through its Davey Risk Management and Insurance Program (RMI).

Thomas serves on the Davey board, working closely with faculty to bring professionals into the classroom. He’s been impressed not just with the accredited curriculum, but with how eager faculty were to teach it.

One of those faculty is Davey Chair Dr. Victor Puleo, one of the people most instrumental in creating the MSRI program. He says the breadth of talent within this first cohort is “exhilarating and a little intimidating,” with over 200 years of combined experience in the group.

“We have a Fortune 500 company’s risk manager, a vice president of a multinational insurance company, and leaders from some of the largest insurance carriers in the country,” Puleo says. “With all that knowledge, we’ll be able to have collaborative learning at very high levels. This is a first-class group.”

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Jordan Thomas ’14

DEEP CURRICULUM FILLS KNOWLEDGE GAPS

Butler’s Student-Run Captive Insurance Company will further deepen students’ learning by exploring alternative risk financing and a side of the industry few graduates elsewhere study: dealing with a foreign country’s regulatory requirements.

Moreover, the curriculum includes courses from the Butler MBA program, strengthened with content specific to this industry.

“Butler is filling the vacuum between nitty-gritty insurance classes and what we need to be the next generation of managers,” Thomas says. “For example, beyond being able to do a firm’s accounting, I’ll learn how to increase profitability using its vast warehouses of data. That kind of knowledge will boost my ability to be recognized for higher positions within the company.”

Because the program has “phenomenal flexibility,” Thomas says, he will take classes while keeping his full-time job as Associate Manager with Everest Insurance in Chicago.

“I am absolutely excited about Butler’s MSRI program. The industry is growing every day, and Butler is doing something truly special,” he says. “The program has the industry buzzing with excitement, too, and we’re making headlines across the nation.

Personally, I’m proud to be an alumnus and proud to be part of the first cohort. This degree will do nothing but help my career move forward.”

For more information on the MSRI program, visit butler.edu/msri.

CLASS ACTS June 2, 2018 through December 1, 2018

THE ’60s Joan Kunsch ’64 celebrated 54 years of teaching classical ballet, 30 years of that being with The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory.

John A. Schmid ’68, MM ’69 this year celebrates 48 years of professional voice teaching, 25 years as Director of Music–Fairview Presbyterian, and 35 seasons as Chorus Master of Indianapolis Opera.

THE ’70s Frank Jozsa Jr., MBA ’71 recently wrote Student Athletes: Merging Academics and Sports published by World Scientific.

Kathryn Raasch, MS ’83 was recently named a 2018 National Distinguished Principal by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

J. Benjamin Campbell ’83 announced his retirement as Executive Vice President of Commerical Banking at STAR Financial Bank.

Julia Carpenter ’85 was named Chief Diversity Officer at Krieg DeVault.

Jay Lesandrini ’87 was appointed Director of Communications and Marketing at IUPUC. Gary Butkus ’88 was named Chairman of Newfields’ new Board of Governors.

Kirby Lehman, MS ’71 was inducted into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.

Brad Phelps ’88, MS ’97 was recognized for his 30 years of service in Central Indiana education including 19 years in Washington Township and 11 years in Lawrence Township.

Jack Serafin ’71 recently competed in his first open-water ocean swim by completing the Arron Vaughn Frogman Swim in Jensen Beach, Florida.

Andy Knoop, MS ’89 was promoted to the rank of Clinical Professor in the Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri.

Marianne Glick ’73, MS ’74 recently received the 2018 Charles L. Whistler Award from the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee.

THE ’90s

Kay (Evritt) Pruitt ’75 recently self-published Take Nothing for Granted.

Todd Lickliter ’79 joined the Evansville Purple Aces staff as Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach.

Jane Magnus-Stinson ’79 was inducted to the Indiana Academy for lifetime achievements in the State of Indiana.

Also, she was recently listed as No. 20 on the World’s 25 most influential Hoosiers by the Indianapolis Star.

THE ’80s Lori Norris ’81 was appointed as the fundraising consultant for Christel House International’s “Passport to Prosperity” event.

Julie (Nason) Vincent ’81 was recently elected President of the Indiana Utility Shareholders Association Board of Directors.

Mark LeClerc ’84 was hired as Executive Creative Director for Hirons. (1) Richard Orr ’84 was recently named to the Communications Advisory Committee for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and to the Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania Board of Directors. (2)

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James Due, MBA ’90 was recently elected onto the Franklin College Board of Trustees. (3) Michael Beresford, MS ’91 was recently named Superintendent of Carmel Clay Schools.

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Celesta Bates ’92, MBA ’97 earned her PhD in Organizational Leadership at Indiana Wesleyan University.

Angela Clendening, MS ’93 was a finalist for the 2019 Indiana Teacher of the Year award.

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Amy (Bezek) Lepore ’94 is now Director of Fundraising at The ChadTough Foundation.

Renee Nicholson ’94 was recently named the Director of the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop at the University of West Virginia. (4)

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Capt. Bryan Sherlock, MM ’95 was recently appointed Assistant Director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.

David Nelson ’96 was named among the first cohort (100 teachers across America) of U.S. LEGO Education Master Educators.

Raquel Richardson ’96 joined Centric Consulting as a Senior Manager.

SPRING 2019

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CLASS ACTS Mark Olsen ’03 purchased Lehman’s Terms, a Zionsville-based CPA firm, effective July 2018.

Jennifer (Wilkerson) Axsom ’98 joined the senior leadership team of Sawyer Business Group where she serves as Director of Marketing. (5)

Christopher Cavanaugh, MA ’04 received the 2018 Teacher of the Year Award from the American Lawyers Alliance.

Matthew Graves ’98, MS ’03 joined the Evansville Purple Aces staff as Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach.

Lindsay Faulkenberg ’04 was recently promoted to President/ CEO of Kids’ Voice of Indiana.

Drew Johnson ’98 received Sigma Nu Fraternity’s Alpha Alumni Chapter Affiliate Award for the 2017–2018 academic year.

Leslie Hoggatt ’04 was appointed Director of Individual Giving and Donor Services for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Opal Leeman Bartzis ’99, MA ’07 recently accepted the position of Executive Director of International Studies and Programs at Michigan State University.

Jeffrey Roth ’05 joined The Damien Center as Vice President and Chief Development Officer.

Brian Daniels ’06 accepted a position as an English teacher at Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls, Washington.

Rachael Friesen ’99 qualified for Team Isagenix, an elite group of athletes representing Isagenix.

Justin Nichols ’06 was hired as Director of Catering and Events at the Conrad Indianapolis.

Nanette Kelley ’99, MBA ’05 was recently named a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Aaron Robinson ’06 released his second album titled, Love Struggle.

Amber Robinson ’99 recently wrote the book Piano Lessons for Kids, a No. 1 Amazon new release in two categories.

Jennifer Nuest ’07 was named Women in Trucking’s Top Woman to Watch in Transportation.

THE ’00s

Leslie Tarble ’08 was named Chief Administrative Officer at LDI Ltd.

Kristen (Herbert) Rampe ’00 recently launched Slide Deck Improv, aimed at helping professionals sharpen their business presentation and communication skills. (6)

Jason Gergely ’09 earned Certified Financial Planning Practitioner status. (7)

Hilari Sautbine ’00 has been named the State Registrar for the Indiana State Department of Health.

THE ’10s

Lynne Tagge ’00 has been named Vice President of Finance for Digital Check Corp.

Jonathan Allinson ’10 was promoted to Head of Strategy for Pivot Marketing in Indianapolis.

Travis Markley ’01 has been named Senior Vice President and CIO of Hoosier Hills Credit Union.

Alexander Anglin ’10 has been accepted into the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Brian Clarke ’02, MS ’08 was named to the 2018 40 Under 40 list of coaches by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.

Patrick Martin ’02 was named to the 2018 Forbes Magazine Top Next Generation Wealth Advisors list.

Keny Craig ’11 and Michaela Craig ’11, MPAS ’12 announced their new venture as travel advisors through Cruise Planners. (8)

Brett Williamson ’02 was voted as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers in Illinois for the fourth straight year.

Sam Hyer ’11 joined the Office of Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb as Senior Operations Director of Public Safety.

Josh Clickenbeard ’03 was nominated as Teacher of the Year for the Northwest Allen County School district for the 2017– 2018 school year.

Molly Kruger ’11 joined Well Done Marketing as Director of Sales and Marketing. (9)

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Amy Flodder-Ertel, MS ’10 was named a finalist for the 2019 Indiana Teacher of the Year award.

BUTLER MAGAZINE

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WHO WAS YOUR COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER?

Graduation Day can be a whirlwind of activity and emotion as you bid farewell to your years as a Butler student. Perhaps you recall the nervous feeling as you processed into the crowded room, hoping you were in the right spot. Maybe it’s the pride you felt as you switched the tassel on your cap from right to left that’s stayed with you. Or the anticipation as the reading of the graduates’ names inched closer to yours.

What you may not recall, however, is the name of that prominent person who delivered your Commencement Address. Here are the last 50 years’ Spring Commencement speakers to help refresh your memory.

2018, David Brooks, political and cultural commentator

2001, Dr. Bertice Berry, sociologist, author, lecturer, and educator.

1984, James T. Watt, Associate Professor of English

2017, Dr. John C. Lechleiter, Chairman of the United Way Board Worldwide

2000, Dr. Geoffrey Bannister, President, Butler University

1983, John G. Johnson, President, Butler University

2016, Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD, CEO, My Stroke of Insight, Inc.,

1999, Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, first woman ordained a rabbi in Reconstructionist Judaism

1982, John G. Johnson, President, Butler University

2015, Eva Kor, Holocaust survivor, founder of the CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center 2014, Brad Stevens, Head Coach, Boston Celtics 2013, John Green, author, vlogger, producer, and educator 2012, Richard Stengel, Managing Editor, Time Magazine 2011, Dr. Bobby Fong, President, Butler University 2010, Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, General minister and president of the Christian Church

1998, Randall L. Tobias, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Eli Lilly and Company 1997, Frank O’Bannon, Governor of Indiana 1996, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., American author 1995, Dr. James A. Thom ’60, historical author 1994, Raymond Leppart, Music Director and Conductor, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra 1993, Evan Bayh, Governor of Indiana 1992, William Warfield, renowned baritone and actor

1981, John G. Johnson, President, Butler University 1980, Hugh S. Sidey, Washington Contributing Editor, TIME Magazine 1979, Dr. Russell W. Peterson, President and CEO, National Audubon Society 1978, Norman Cousins, American journalist 1977, Philip Handler, President, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC 1976, Kenneth E. Boulding, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado 1975, The Honorable Barry M. Goldwater, U.S. Senator

1991, Stephen A. Briganti ’64, President and COO, Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation

1974, Lt. Gen. Felix M. Rogers, Commander, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base

1990, Arpad Goncz, playwright; member, Hungarian Parliament

1973, Dr. Loren C. Eiseley, Professor of Anthropology and History of Science

2006, James McBride, author and composer

1989, Dr. Geoffrey Bannister, President, Butler University

2005, Dr. Robert Funk ’47, MA ’51, Director of the Westar Institute

1988, Ulric Haynes, Jr., Former U.S. Ambassador to Algeria

1972, Neil A. Armstrong, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Cincinnati

2004, Mari Evans, poet, writer, and dramatist

1987, Sarah Evans Barker, Judge, United States District Court

2003, Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator, Indiana

1986, John Beversluis, Professor of Philosophy, Butler University

2009, Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana 2008, Dr. Susan Solomon, Atmospheric chemist 2007, Dr. Eugene White, Superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools

2002, The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa

1985, Richard G. Lugar, U.S. Senator from Indiana

1971, William D. Ruckelshaus, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency 1970, Victor Borge, musician 1969, The Honorable John A. Volpe, Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation *Profession listed is at time of event.

ATTENTION BULLDOGS!

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CLASS ACTS Terri Lee ’11 was named a finalist for the 2018 Indy’s Best and Brightest Awards by Junior Achievement of Central Indiana.

Matthew Goff ’18 recently joined BKD CPAs & Advisors in Indianapolis as an Audit Associate.

Jarron Lincoln ’11, MPAS ’12 graduated from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and began practicing family medicine in Indianapolis.

Rose Knight ’18 accepted a position as a Script Clearance Administrator at CBS Television Studios in Los Angeles, California.

Kelsey (Labrum) Toombs ’11 moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, to build Coyote Logistics’ global brand.

Ronald Nored ’12 was named Assistant Coach of the Charlotte Hornets.

Jessica Strong ’13 recently became the International Recruitment Coordinator at University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign.

Loren Williams ’13 started her second year on staff as a ballet teacher at the Ballet Memphis School.

Luke Bunting ’14 accepted a position as the Communications Director for Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas’ 5th District.

Meredith Schaar ’14 was named a finalist for the 2019 Indiana Teacher of the Year award.

Hilary Welter ’14 was recently hired as Marketing Manager for Elkhart Plastics. (10) Sean Caron ’16 received the lead role of Cervantes in Man of La Mancha at Chicago’s Skokie Theatre.

Sara Midura ’16 was named a finalist for the 2019 Indiana Teacher of the Year award.

WEDDINGS Cristen (Navolio) Brutzkus ’05 and Joshua Brutzkus on April 2, 2017.

Zach Wright ’10 and Alyssa Vahala ’12, MPAS ’13 on September 29, 2018.

Jarron Lincoln ’11, MPAS ’12 and Tyler Garner in December 2017 Andrew Kazmierczak ’13 and Sarah (Martin) Kazmierczak ’13 in June 2018. (11) Courtney (Hickman) Labetti ’14 and Joesph Labetti on September 1, 2018. (12) Mollie (Bates) Walton ’14 and Kyle Walton on May 19, 2018.

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Brian Bates ’15 and Molly (Steinkamp) Bates ’18 in June 2018.

(14)

Stephen Pavlick ’15 and Catherine (Jue) Pavlick ’15 in July 2018. (15) Jackson Richey ’15 and Ashley Blatsioris on April 29, 2018. (16)

Clark Collier ’17 was named Assistant Director of Development for Meals on Wheels of Central Indiana.

Jared Schuerman ’15 and Jill (Petnuch) Schuerman ’15 on August 5, 2017.

Ellis Cupit ’17 was recently admitted into the JD-MBA program at Tulane University Law School.

Andrew Wilson ’16 and Haley Horner ’15 on June 2, 2018. (17)

Abigail Cutler ’17 completed the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist program through the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

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 to ClassActs@butler.edu.

Tyler Lewis ’17 was named the Video Coordinator at East Carolina University.

Jordan Zickert ’17 joined BKD CPAs & Advisors in Indianapolis as a Tax Associate.

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Due to space limitations submitted photographs and/or Class Acts may not always be published.

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SIX INDIVIDUALS, ONE TEAM

By John Dedman ’03 Five former student-athletes, one team, and a long-time supporter of the athletics program were inducted into the Butler University Athletics Hall of Fame in October.

and a team, all of which inspired the Butler community during their time on campus and in their days since as tremendous representatives of The Butler Way.”

Selected as Butler’s 28th Hall of Fame Class are former student-athletes Brett Atkin (men’s golf, 1991–1995), Nick Batalis (football, 1995–1998), Darren Fowlkes (men’s basketball, 1986–1989), Cory Kahoun (men’s lacrosse, 1995–1999), Pat Neshek (baseball, 2000–2002), the 1997 Men’s Basketball team, and Special Service Award recipient Ralph Reiff.

The Butler Hall of Fame was created in 1991 to provide a forum in which those who have brought honor and respect to Butler University and its athletic program could be acknowledged and permanently enshrined in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Inductees have made exceptional contributions to the prestige of the University in the field of athletics, and continued to demonstrate in their lives the values imparted by athletics. The 2018 Class will bring the membership of the Butler Hall of Fame to 213 individuals and 12 teams.

“We are proud to welcome the Class of 2018 inductees into the Butler University Athletics Hall of Fame,” says Barry Collier, Butler Vice President/Director of Athletics.

“This is another collection of accomplished individuals

NEW ARRIVALS

Learn more about the 2018 inductees at butler.edu/magazine.

Amanda (DiMaio) Livarchik ’08 and Daniel Livarchik Lucas Charles Livarchik on September 13, 2018. (21)

Amanda (Robertson) Hess ’01 and John Hess

Megan (Shaw) Stanage ’08 and Broc Stanage

Ellen Joyce Hess on July 24, 2017.

Rhett Stephen Stanage on October 3, 2018. (22)

Eric Foerg ’02 and Caitlin Bair

Michelle (Tucker) Poss ’09 and Jeffery Poss ’11 (23)

Luka Foerg on September 8, 2018.

Miles Poss on August 8, 2018.

Cristen (Navolio) Brutzkus ’05 and Joshua Brutzkus

Miranda (Britsch) Lynch ’10 and Daniel Lynch ’11 (24)

Bella Victoria Brutzkus on March 27, 2018. (18)

Sophia Lynch on September 7, 2018.

Krista (Chernausky) Ruud ’05 and Collin Ruud ’04

Nancy (Hall) Burke ’12 and William Burke ’13

Coraline Mae Ruud on May 31, 2018. (19)

William Francis Burke on March 10, 2018.

Taryn (Schmidt) Moser ’07 and Gregory Moser ’07 William and Greyson Moser on April 30, 2017. (20) Morgan N. Snyder ’07 and Loren Snyder ’08

Molly (Bates) Walton ’14 and Kyle Walton Oliver Bates Walton on August 25, 2018.

Coleman Snyder on Labor Day weekend 2018.

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SPRING 2019

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IN MEMORIAM June 2, 2018 through December 1, 2018

Dorothemay (Lawrence) Robb ’33, who was in the second class to attend and graduate from Butler’s Fairview campus, died on February 11. She was 107. At Butler, she earned her bachelor’s degree in French and was active in Alpha Delta Theta (she was president of the Butler chapter in 1932), the Women’s League, and the YWCA. Robb served as a Sunday school teacher and also hosted a children’s bible class in her home. She enjoyed sewing and quilting and was proud to have survived cancer twice. Survivors include her son Hank ’76, who said, “My mother was a proud Bulldog all her life.”

Paul Billhymer ’40 Sally (Hunt) Wright ’40 Marjorie (Glass) Conly ’41 Carol (Sherman) Ryerson ’41 Robert Holdeman ’42 Irma (Wilson) Hunter ’42 Floyd Davis ’43 Chet Robinson ’43 Francis Salb ’43 Walter Dreyfus ’44 Judith (Redwine) Woods ’44 Robert Benjamin ’45 Marjorie (Yelvington) Early ’47 June (Goodrich) Ellis ’47 Elizabeth (Hearne) Ezell ’47 Dorotha (Beck) Ledman ’47 Carrel Mayfield ’47 Paul Robey ’47 Irma (Piel) Stickle ’47 Barbara (Bailey) Dennison ’48 Margaret (Shacklock) Robbins ’48 Joseph Workman ’48 Kenneth Black ’49 William Lange ’49 Kenneth Tirmenstein ’49 Paul Weakley ’49

Velma (Davis) Wortman ’50, MS ’60 Mary (Browder) Brink ’51 William Gardner ’51 Mary Alice (Kennedy) Burget ’51 Francis Kish ’51 Dean McKean ’51, MS ’69 Bruce Miller ’51, MA ’56 Charles Stoner ’51 Lois (Pritchard) Tilford ’51 Ethel Trice-Sanders ’51 Richard Brown ’52 Roberta (Hoffner) Hopkins ’52 Jack Leer ’52 William Shimer ’52 Paul Stafford ’52 Harold Stickle ’52 Susan (Schloot) Benjamin ’53 Marvin Bercovitz ’53 Robert Cohee ’53 Nancy (Hastings) Engledow ’53 Barbara (Davis) Erickson ’53 Lillian (Bander) Hehr ’53 Merritt Jaggar ’53 Jane (Aspinall) McCormick ’53 Angelo Oliva ’53

Ralph “Buckshot” O’Brien ’50, the first Butler basketball player to play in the NBA, died August 22 at home in Clearwater Beach, Florida. He was 90. From 1951–1953, O’Brien played in 119 games for the Indianapolis Olympians, Fort Wayne Pistons, and Baltimore Bullets, averaging 7.1 points. O’Brien, who grew up on the west side of Indianapolis, got his nickname from a storekeeper who said O’Brien “would never be bigger than a buckshot.” He wound up 5-foot-9, a skilled ball-handler and master of the two-hand set shot, according to the Indianapolis Star. O’Brien was the first Butler player to exceed 1,000 points, and he averaged 18.3 in 1949-1950, his All-American season. After basketball, he became a successful insurance agent, selling more than $1 million in policies each year for about 30 years. In the words of Tony Hinkle, O’Brien was “a small boy who made it in a big man’s game, and he was poor boy who made himself wealthy.”

Robert Mount ’50 Max Shanklin ’50 Robert Warne ’50

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Russell Greenberg ’54 Richard Hahn ’54 Joseph Plis ’54 William Salzmann ’54, MM ’58

Janet (Lowe) Joesten ’55 Eugene Miller ’55 Nancy (Turner) Andrews ’56 Kenneth Gray ’56 Leon Nicholsen ’56 Garry Scheuer ’56 Constance (Foote) Smithwood ’56 Carol (Wood) Montgomery ’57, MS ’60 Monte O’Connor ’57 Richard Richmond ’57 Tom Rohrabaugh ’57 Melvin Seitz ’57 Linda (Weaver) Hays ’58 William Kirkman ’58 Thomas Payne ’58, MA ’63 Richard Ahrendts ’59 Esther (Long) Bowman ’59 Esther Fuller ’59 David McCormick ’59 Robert Ceder ’60, MA ’60 Betty Jo (Miller) Chaleff ’60 Richard Hanley ’60 James Wittig ’60 Judith (Wood) Garvey ’61, MS ’65 Earlene (Fuller) Gavin ’61 Jimmy Lumpkin ’61 Thomas Pentecost ’61 Linda (Jefry) Mericle ’62 Rose Wooden ’62, MS ’62 Elizabeth (Jackson) Austen ’63, MM ’69 Rhea (Lowder) Combs ’63 Nancy (Stevens) Keen ’63 David Norton, MBA ’63 Jean Prichard, MS ’63 Douglas Robinson ’63 William Baars ’64 Kenneth Brelsfoard ’64 Geoffrey Hanson ’64 Rosanne (Linville) Jones Davis ’64 Thomas Osmon ’64 Lucille (Taplin) Smith ’64 John Dean, MS ’65 Paul Dodson, MBA ’65 Edwin Gilliatt ’65 Thomas Krasin ’65 Sharon (Walton) Paulus ’65 Betty Shackelford ’65 Philip Blaze ’66 Newell Easley ’66 Clarena Huffington MS ’66 Geraldine (Williams) Latham, MS ’66 Lonnie McIntyre MS ’66 Richard Canada ’67

James Eppert ’67 Marion (Wingerning) Jarrett’67, MS ’71 Ethel (James) Spacke, MS ’67 Sandra (McClelland) Grimes, MS ’68 John May, MS ’69 Linda (Shackelford) Boone ’70, MS ’75 Nan (Getchell) DeLucia ’70 Clarence Harper ’70 Charles McKinley, MS ’70 Bonnie Britton ’71 John Mandabach, MBA ’71 Larry Wilms ’71 Mary Christie, MS ’72 Barry Fromm ’72 Gail (Webb) Johnson ’72 William Stanforth ’72 Theresa (Evans) Hornbacher ’73 Glen Tuel, MS ’73 Patricia Worrell ’74 Nancy (Falconbury) Bennett, MS ’75 Phyllis (Schuh) Craig, MS ’75 Roy Roberts, MBA ’75 Randall Doerr ’76 James Wehmeyer ’76 Patricia (Barry) Gullick, MS ’77 Stephan Hoffman ’77 Helen (Schwenk) Klem, MS ’77 Rick Sexson ’77 Yvonne (Arnold) Gray, MS ’78 Deana (Nelson) Slater ’78 Lisa Lingle, MS ’79 Deborah (Willson) Brooks, MS ’80 James Schulze ’80 Jeffrey Sullivan ’80 Cheryl (Geer) Alexander ’81 Oscar Jones, MS ’81 Dorothy Dugan ’83 Craig Horter ’83 Bryan Hacker ’84 Wyvonna McClelland, MS ’84 Laura (Nowakowski) Murphy ’84 Jeffrey Saldutti ’84 Kenneth Glaser ’86 Frank Pottorff ’87 Mark Uchida ’88, MBA ’96 George Wilkins ’95 Jamie Harris ’97 Former faculty/staff members Willard Barger J. William Hepler Theodore Shane Willard Yates

“The fun of university life is undiminished and unforgettable to this day. I have often wondered how life might have been different had I attended a university with a faculty less interested in students and individuals seeking a quality education.”

–John Davies, Class of 1949

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TRIP TALES

Just a flip through the pages of this edition of the Butler Magazine, and it’s quite evident that people with Butler ties are doing big things in the world. Of course, that’s no surprise to me, that’s just what happens when you unleash a Bulldog.

After all, the inherent determination of a Butler Bulldog is to make an impact at every opportunity: from students conducting meaningful research here on campus, to graduates leading the way in our own backyard—and those making a name for themselves in the Big Apple— others being broadcasted on TV sets around the globe, and even Dawgs in esports competing in Butler’s name all across the World Wide Web.

Those profiled within these pages, and the thousands more they represent, are Bulldogs known for scratching at new ideas, chasing down action, uncovering solutions, shaking complacency, and unwavering in passion. And I’ve never been prouder to represent the Butler breed.

GO DAWGS!