Twenty-five years. The Butler University Live Mascot Program has been around for a quarter of a century! It seems like just yesterday that Butler Blue made her debut on campus in fall 2000. (I’m guessing…I wasn’t born yet, obviously.)

Not to toot our own horns, but we Blues have accomplished a lot in 25 years. We have visited 24 states, surprised over 500 high school seniors, and amassed over 300,000 social media followers. Did you know that if a high school senior gets paid a visit by yours truly or one of my predecessors, they are four times more likely to attend Butler? Talk about being an influencer.

While our program has always stood for the same core beliefs and traditions, each of the four dogs who has donned the mantel of “Blue” has shaped the program in their own unique way.

Butler Blue I is our matriarch. The all-white female English bulldog and her handler, Kelli Walker ’91, paved the way by creating this program. Blue I was a fiercely loyal dog who was one of the first female live mascots in the country, joining the ranks of Texas A&M’s Reveille and Colorado’s Ralphie.

Butler Blue II, a fawn and white bulldog under his handler, Michael Kaltenmark ’02, ’16, etched his name as the gold standard of Butler Blues—calm, cool, and collected, but intensely determined. This played out especially well during our men’s basketball team’s back-to-back Final Four® runs, where Blue taught the world exactly what a Butler Bulldog is made of.

Butler Blue III, aka “Trip,” a red brindled pup, ushered us into the digital world by entertaining the masses with his opportunistic and mischievous spirit. Trip took hold of a rocket ship headed for the moon and took it to the stars. Capitalizing on the impact made by his predecessor, he became a strategic marketing asset like no other collegiate mascot had done before.

Then there’s me, Butler Blue IV, a red fawn bulldog with a knack for social media, if I do say so myself. Every day, I am appreciative of the foundation laid before me by these three iconic dogs. They each cleared the path that I continue to barrel through as I work to represent the greatest University in the world.

Long story short, in 25 years, we have become the industry standard for live mascot programs across the country. And while 25 years seems like a long time to me, in the mascot world, we are still in our infancy. (Yale’s Handsome Dan first appeared in 1889.) 

We are just getting started.

Here’s to another 25 years and the many great Butler Blues to come.