When Cybil Stillson ’26 was deciding where to go to college, she had three important criteria in mind: staying in her home state of Indiana; pursuing a degree that would prepare her for a career in sports media; and competing in the sport she loves against the top players in the country. Though Butler wasn’t originally on her radar, a serendipitous drive through campus in the spring of 2021, as Butler was hosting March Madness tournament games at Hinkle Fieldhouse, changed her life.
“We saw teams getting off their buses and walking into Hinkle Fieldhouse to compete, and you could just feel the energy and the tradition and the magic,” Stillson says.
She quickly got in touch with the Butler Women’s Golf coaching staff and learned the College of Communication has a Sports Media major. With the help of an athletic scholarship, Stillson has pursued her academic goals at Butler while competing against the nation’s top Division I golfers as a member of the Women’s Golf team.
“Having that support from Butler keeps me motivated and makes me want to be the best student and teammate I can be,” she says.
Despite media headlines focused on revenue sharing and high-stakes recruiting in college athletics, those stories are largely the exception. Like Stillson, the majority of Butler’s more than 500 student-athletes aren’t chasing NIL deals or transfer portal millions; they are here to earn a degree while playing the sport they love.
Collective Ambition
While the student-athlete experience is unique, it is also part of a much larger tapestry that pulls in a massive cross-section of the student body. From the roar of the Dawg Pound to the precision of the Athletic Bands to the student managers on the sidelines, the ripple effect of a thriving Athletics program fosters a vibrant campus for everyone. This culture of collective ambition creates an environment where the energy of the arena extends into the classroom, raising the bar for every student.
“The students that go to Butler have very high standards for themselves, and that’s something that I’ve really appreciated about my time here,” Stillson says. “My teammates and classmates are always pushing me to keep setting higher goals for myself and doing my best.”
The numbers prove Stillson’s point. Last fall, Butler student-athletes combined for a 3.527 GPA, marking the 14th consecutive semester student-athletes have combined for a GPA of 3.3 or higher.
“I think people wonder if the idea of the ‘student-athlete’ is real anymore. But Butler is a unique school that maintains that standard—we are still students. We are going to class and being pushed to do our best academically and athletically because that’s the expectation our coaches have set. That’s something our school should be really proud of,” Stillson says.
Sustaining The Butler Way
Reagan Andrew ’26, quarterback on the Butler Football team, says the Athletics Department sets clear expectations for student-athletes from the start of their time at Butler, but also provides the support to meet those expectations.
“Football teaches you so many life lessons in general, but when you’re playing at the collegiate level, time management, in particular, is a big one. At Butler, Sonya Hopkins [Associate Athletic Director of Academics] makes it clear what is expected of us as student-athletes, but she’s also there to provide that support and help us figure out how to manage school while still giving our best to our team and developing as a player.”
Mila Navarro ’27, a member of the Women’s Lacrosse team, says that while use of the transfer portal has increased during her years at Butler, the values of The Butler Way are clearly communicated to new recruits right from the start.
“We’ve had changes in the makeup of the team over the years, but our team culture has been very steady,” she says.
Stillson says the magic she felt the first time she visited campus and saw student-athletes walking into Hinkle Fieldhouse has only grown stronger after four years of representing Butler on the golf course.
“There is such a strong community here at Butler, and I think Athletics adds so much to a campus. It brings that sense of pride and school spirit. Golf is a sport that could get lost in the shuffle because we practice off campus, but what’s neat about Butler is when I walk through Hinkle, no matter who I pass, they know where our next tournament is or they are asking how practice is going. Everyone is so supportive of each other. We all want to do our best to compete and win, but we want to win in the right way, and we want to do it together.”
Butler Athletics by the Numbers
- 20 NCAA Division I Teams
- 12% Undergraduate students directly participating in Athletics, Cheer, or Dance
- 900+ Dawg Pound members cheering on their classmates
- ~150 Students in the Butler Athletic Bands and Color Guard
- ~200 Students supporting the department as team managers, ticketing and hospitality staff, statisticians, and more
- 3.527 Combined GPA for student-athletes last fall—the 14th consecutive semester above a 3.3