PUBLISHED ON Dec 16 2017
See yourselves as pioneers with big ideas and as a generation with transcendent vision, 2017 Winter Commencement speaker Kanwal Prakash (KP) Singh advised Butler University’s 150 newest alumni.
“You already know that many of you will travel to destinations outside the familiar,” Singh, a prolific Indianapolis-based artist who came to the United States from India 50 years ago, said during the December 16 ceremony at Clowes Memorial Hall. “You will be facing an increasingly interconnected and intensely competitive world. Immersing yourselves and understanding cultural and civic frameworks in place will be an important first step to unlocking your first doors. Know that there is much to learn from other struggles and experiences.”
Singh, who was awarded an honorary doctorate, said he and his family were among the millions who faced life and death challenges at the time of the Partition of India in 1947 and during their escape to safety in the new India. His goal since then has been to radiate a spirit of “Charhdikala” (positive optimism) in all seasons “and dedicate my life to ideas that make a difference.”
He recommended that the graduates “be a willing shoulder and positive force for others,” and that they shape a future that best reflects our collective gifts and universal hopes.
Singh also said the graduates should leave behind unfounded stereotypes of faiths, cultures, and communities different from their own.
“In today’s multicultural society with a wide spectrum of backgrounds, lifestyles, and perspectives, it is critical to adopt and exercise the art and spirit of mutual respect; be a trusted team player; and as a leader, to tap all talents for the tasks at hand,” he said.
The December 2017 graduates included 50 students from the Lacy School of Business, 44 from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 32 from the College of Education, nine from the Jordan College of the Arts, eight from the College of Communication, and seven from the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
Former Trustee Robert Postlethwait and his wife, Kathi, also received honorary degrees. President James M. Danko praised the Postlethwaits as “exemplars in their dedication to serving others.”
Robert Postlethwait advised the graduates to “take care of your brain, feed the hungry, and routinely evaluate the impact you’re having on people and issues you care deeply about.”
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822
PUBLISHED ON Apr 23 2018
The Alumni Association has announced Butler University's Top 100 Outstanding Students, honoring the top juniors and seniors for the 2017–2018 academic year.
The list is below. Top 15 students have an asterisk next to their name.
The students honored each year continue the tradition of dedication and service to Butler. They reflect outstanding character, scholarship, engaged citizenship, leadership, and commitment to fostering diversity.To be considered a Top 100 student at Butler University, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and may not be on conduct probation during the application process or the announcement for Top 100 and Top 15.
The Top 100 students are determined by the Top 100 Selection Committee composed of representatives of each of the six colleges, student affairs, academic affairs, and alumni. Each candidate is judged against the core values of the program on a numeric scale. At the end of the judging period, all scores are tabulated, and the Top 100 students are selected.
Visit the Top 100 website to view guidelines for the program.
The Alumni Association in conjunction with the Office of Student Affairs conducts the Outstanding Student Recognition program. The program is in its 57th year.
The full list of honorees, majors, and hometowns:
Lynn Alsatie, International Studies and French, Carmel, Indiana
Siena Amodeo, International Business and Marketing, Powell, Ohio
Deborah Arehart, Middle/Secondary Education and French, Dayton, Ohio
Thomas Baldwin, Biochemistry, Carmel, Indiana
*Adam Bantz, Strategic Communication, Marketing, Muncie, Indiana
Alex Bartlow, Accounting and Spanish, Bloomfield, Indiana
Leah Basford, International Business, Chinese minor, Centerville, Indiana
Brianna Borri, Psychology, Ada, Michigan
Lauren Briskey, Actuarial Science, Statistics, Avon, Indiana
Amy Brown, Accounting, Saint Charles, Missouri
Rachel Burke, Mathematics, Software Engineering, Mount Vernon, Indiana
Jeremy Caylor, Biology, Chemistry, Tipton, Indiana
*Parker Chalmers, Finance/Risk Management & Insurance, Wyoming, Ohio
Lauren Ciulla, Biology, Carmel, Indiana
Brooklyn Cohen, Elementary Education, Glenview, Illinois
Hannah Coleman, Pharmacy, Danville, Indiana
Dana Connor, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Tallahassee, Florida
Vickie Cook, Chemistry, Woodburn, Indiana
Meredith Coughlin, Human Communication and Organizational Leadership, Tipp City, Ohio
*Ryan Cultice, Accounting and Finance, Warsaw, Indiana
Ashley Dale, Physics, Electrical Engineering, New Palestine, Indiana
Erin Dark, Pharmacy, West Lafayette, Indiana
Darby DeFord, Biology and Chemistry, Spencer, Indiana
Matt Del Busto, English creative writing and Spanish, Carmel, Indiana
David Dunham, Human Movement and Health Sciences Education, Zionsville, Indiana
Suzanne Dwyer, Pharmacy, Tinley Park, Illinois
Shelby Jo Eaton, Psychology and Sociology, Indianapolis
Ashlyn Edwards, Philosophy, Critical Communication, and French, New Albany, Indiana
*Katie Edwards, Marketing and Finance, Libertyville, Illinois
Sarah Elam, International Studies and Spanish, Indianapolis
John Evans, Accounting and Finance, Indianapolis
Hannah Faccio, Psychology, Belmont, Michigan
Megan Farny, Pre-PA, Evansville, Indiana
Megan Fitzgerald, Elementary Education and Religion, Dublin, Ohio
Annie Foster, Spanish and Chemistry minor, Westfield, Indiana
Jacklyn Gries, Pharmacy, Evansville, Indiana
Hannah Hartzell, Strategic Communication and Spanish, Powell, Ohio
Patrick Holden, PharmD/MBA, Brownsburg, Indiana
Jonny Hollar, Finance and Marketing, Warsaw, Indiana
Kate Holtz, Risk Management and Insurance, Finance, Godfrey, Illinois
*Nick Huang, Finance and Marketing, Geneva, Illinois
Karla Jeggle, Actuarial Science, Upper Arlington, Ohio
Nathan Jent, Health Sciences/Pre-PA, Crawfordsville, Indiana
Drew Johnson, Pharmacy, Noblesville, Indiana
Jakob Jozwiakowski, Chemistry, Boston, Massachusetts
Colton Junod, Biology and Biochemistry, Vincennes, Indiana
Libby Kaufman, Elementary Education, Chanhassen, Minnesota
*Nida Khan, Pharmacy/Pre-Med, Noblesville, Indiana
Rachel Koehler, International Studies and French, Franklin, Tennessee
*Caroline Kuremsky, Elementary Education with a Mild Intervention Minor, Cincinnati, Ohio
Carly Large, Accounting, Bloomington, Illinois
*Emily Lawson, Chemistry and Mathematics (Pre-Med), Fort Wayne, Indiana
Becca Lewis, Biology and Chemistry, Danville, Illinois
Rachael Lewis, Marketing, Spanish, and International Business, Danville, Illinois
Kayla Long, Critical Communications and Media Studies, Digital Media Production, Spanish, Evanston, Illinois
Kelsey McDougall, Biology, Canton, Michigan
Kirsten McGrew, Pharmacy, Louisville, Kentucky
Kasey Meeks, Health Sciences and Chemistry, Robinson, Illinois
Rachel Metz, Health Science, Ferdinand, Indiana
Joshua Murdock, Pharmacy, Grand Junction, Colorado
*Kelly Murphy, Human Communication and Organizational Leadership, Dublin, Ohio
Emily Nettesheim, Health Sciences and Spanish, Lafayette, Indiana
Alexis Neyman, Biochemistry, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Olivia Nilsen, Communication of Sciences and Disorders, Neuroscience minor, Ballwin, Missouri
Gehrig Parker, Sports Media, Park Ridge, Illinois
Justin Poythress, Accounting and Finance, Geneva, Illinois
*Tori Puhl, Actuarial Science, Mequon, Wisconsin
*Salman Qureshi, Biology, Fishers, Indiana
*Courtney Raab, Health Sciences, Highland, Indiana
Jordan Rauh, Pharmacy, Wabash, Indiana
Allison Reitz, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Newburgh, Indiana
Kate Richards, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Effingham, Illinois
Sophie Robertson, Dance Arts Administration and Journalism, Gig Harbor, Washington
*Abdul Saltagi, Biology, Fishers, Indiana
Kaitlyn Sawin, Marketing, Appleton, Wisconsin
Olivia Schwan, Marketing and Spanish, Kalamazoo, Michigan
*Abby Sikorcin, Health Sciences, Lisle, Illinois
Sundeep Singh, Biology and Political Science, Fishers, Indiana
Maree Smith, Spanish and Marketing, Monticello, Minnesota
Lilli Southern, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Solsberry, Indiana
Madison Stefanski, Elementary Education and seeking licensure in Special Education with minors in Reading, Frankfort, Michigan
Isaiah Strong, Strategic Communication/Recording Industry Studies, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
Natalie Van Ochten, Biology and Biochemistry, Shorewood, Minnesota
Alexander Waddell, Accounting, Greenwood, Indiana
Skyler Walker, Pharmacy, Racine, Wisconsin
Kathryn Warma, Science, Technology, and Sociology, Carlinville, Illinois
Riley Wildemann, Pharmacy, Plainfield, Indiana
Alexander Wright, Chemistry, Fishers, Indiana
Heather Wright, Music, Greentown, Indiana
Jill Yager, Biology, Rushville, Indiana
Due to a tie in scoring, more than 100 students are being honored for the 2017–2018 academic year. All honorees were recognized at the Outstanding Student Banquet on April 13, where the Top 15 Most Outstanding Students were announced.
This list includes all students who opted to post their names.
In the photo:
Front row: Emily Lawson, Nida Khan, Nicholas Huang, Caitlyn Foye, Katie Edwards, Adam Bantz, Kelly Murphy
Back row: Abby Sikocin, Abdul Saltagi, Courtney Raab, President Danko, Salman Qureshi, Tori Puhl, Ryan Cultice
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822
Butler Honors Top 100 Students
This is the 57th year to recognize the Top 100 students' dedication and service to Butler.
This is the 57th year to recognize the Top 100 students' dedication and service to Butler.
Butler Introduces The New York City Learning Semester
PUBLISHED ON Nov 29 2017
Students will spend a semester interning and learning in Manhattan.
For more than a decade, Butler University has been offering students a chance to spend a semester interning and taking classes in Washington DC. Beginning in fall 2018, students will have that same opportunity in New York City.
Rusty Jones, Faculty Director of the Center for High Achievement and Scholarly Engagement, said the New York City Learning Semester will be offered to juniors and seniors of all majors with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average.
Butler will offer six credits of internships and nine credits of electives related to New York. The University is arranging for housing, either in the city or Brooklyn Heights.
“I think the experience provides the opportunity for significant personal and professional growth,” Jones said. “Our students will live and work in the nation’s largest city, developing valuable work experience, while also learning from the diverse, multi-cultural population in Manhattan.”
The New York program will be similar to DC in that students will work as interns Monday through Thursday for 30 hours. Two, three-credit courses will be offered during the semester in subjects such as City as Text and Public Art and Architecture. A New York offering might include an Intro to Wall Street course, Jones said.
Those classes will meet Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
In addition, three, one-credit courses will be offered on various weekends. In Washington, for example, Political Science Professor Terri Jett is scheduled to teach a Black History course that includes a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Sociology Professor Antonio Menendez has taught a class on immigration.
“Most of the students in DC choose to take all the classes,” Jones said. “I think they find them fun and they leave DC as real experts in that area.”
Jones said after students are accepted to the program, he will meet with them individually to help them line up an internship in New York. He also will be checking with Butler alumni in New York to see if they have internship opportunities.
“Butler people tend to be very loyal,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ll be excited to have Butler students come and intern with them.”
Claire Jacobi, a Sports Media and Strategic Communications major from Batavia, Illinois, spent a semester in Washington interning at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She said she strongly encourages Butler students to study in a different city, whether it be across the country or across the world.
“I loved my experience in Washington DC,” she said. “It was eye-opening, fun, and allowed me to take a huge step out of my comfort zone. It gave me real-life experiences and I feel it helped prepare me for life after college.”
Students have until February to apply for the New York trip, and Jones said he doesn’t expect to limit the number of students who can participate.
“There’s plenty of time for students to work with their advisers and figure out if this is a fit,” he said. “I want anybody who participates to make sure they stay on track with their graduation plan, and if it does fit their professional goals and their academic goals, I’d love to see them in the program.”
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822
Butler Introduces The New York City Learning Semester
For more than a decade, Butler University has been offering students a chance to spend a semester interning and taking classes in Washington DC. Beginning in fall 2018, students will have that same opportunity in New York City.
For more than a decade, Butler University has been offering students a chance to spend a semester interning and taking classes in Washington DC. Beginning in fall 2018, students will have that same opportunity in New York City.
Visiting Writing Series Announces Spring Speakers
PUBLISHED ON Dec 04 2017
Series begins February 1 with Kazim Ali.
Novelist/biographer Edmund White and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louise Glück will be among the speakers this spring in Butler University’s Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series.
The series begins February 1 with poet/novelist Kazim Ali and continues with novelist Ali Eteraz (February 15), poet Danez Smith (March 22), White (April 3), and Glück (April 18). Times and locations are below.
All events in the spring 2018 series are free and open to the public without tickets. For more information, call 317-940-9861.
More information about each speaker follows.
Kazim Ali
Thursday, February 1, 7:30 PM
Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall
Kazim Ali’s books include several volumes of poetry, including Sky Ward, winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; The Fortieth Day; All One’s Blue; and the cross-genre text Bright Felon. He has received an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, and his poetry has been featured in Best American Poetry. His novels include The Secret Room: A String Quartet, and among his books of essays is Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice.
Ali is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Comparative Literature at Oberlin College. His new book of poems, Inquisition, and a new hybrid memoir, Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies, are scheduled for release in 2018.
Ali Eteraz
Thursday, February 15, 7:30 PM
Atherton Union, Reilly Room
Ali Eteraz is the author of the debut novel Native Believer, a New York TimesBook Review Editors’ Choice selection. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed memoir Children of Dust, which was selected as a New Statesman Book of the Year, won the Nautilus Book Award Gold, and was featured on PBS with Tavis Smiley, NPR with Terry Gross, C-SPAN2, and numerous international outlets. O, The Oprah Magazine, called it “a picaresque journey” and the book was long-listed for the Asian American Writers Workshop Award.
Previously, he wrote the short story collection Falsipedies and Fibsiennes. Other short stories have appeared in The Adirondack Review, storySouth, Chicago Quarterly Review, and Forge Journal.
Eteraz is an accomplished essayist and has been spotlighted by Time Magazine and Pageturner, the literary blog of The New Yorker.
Danez Smith
Thursday, March 22, 7:30 PM
Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall
Danez Smith is the author of Don’t Call Us Dead (2017), finalist for the National Book Award in poetry; [insert] Boy (2014), winner of the Lambda Literary Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award; and the chapbook hands on ya knees. Their writing has appeared in many magazines and journals, such as Poetry, Ploughshares, Beloit Poetry Journal, and Kinfolks. Smith is a 2011 Individual World Poetry Slam finalist and the reigning two-time Rustbelt Individual Champion and was on the 2014 championship team Sad Boy Supper Club.
In 2014, they were the festival director for the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam and were awarded a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry fellowship from the Poetry Foundation.
Edmund White
Tuesday, April 3, 7:30 PM
Atherton Union, Reilly Room
Edmund White is America’s preeminent gay writer. In biography, social history, travel writing, journalism, the short story, and the novel, this prolific and versatile author has chronicled the gay experience in the United States from the closeted 1950s through the AIDS crisis and beyond.
His first novel, Forgetting Elena, published in 1973, is the story of an amnesia victim, set at a stylish resort reminiscent of Fire Island. With the classic coming-of-age tale A Boy’s Own Story, White cemented a place for himself—and for gay fiction—in the cultural consciousness. His celebrated fiction also includes Nocturnes for the King of Naples, Caracole, The Beautiful Room Is Empty (winner of the 1988 Lambda Literary Award), The Farewell Symphony, The Married Man, Fanny: A Fiction, Hotel de Dream, and Jack Holmes and His Friend. His latest is Our Young Man.
White has been involved in the gay rights movement since the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969 and has acted as one of its canniest observers. His pioneering The Joy of Gay Sex: An Intimate Guide for Gay Men to the Pleasures of a Gay Lifestyle was published in 1977 and served as a national coming-out announcement for the entire gay community.
White has also made his mark as a highly accomplished biographer. Genet: A Biography is recognized as a definitive work on writer and playwright Jean Genet, and in 1993 it won both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Lambda Literary Award. White also authored the well-received Marcel Proust and Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel. His memoir Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris recounts the fifteen years he spent living there—one of the most productive and creative phases in his career.
White is a regular contributor to The Times Literary Supplement, The New York Times Book Review, and Vanity Fair, and is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Louise Glück
Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 PM
Atherton Union, Reilly Room
Louise Glück is the author of twelve books of poetry and served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2003-2004. In 1993 Glück won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection The Wild Iris. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations and from the National Endowment for the Arts. Other honors include the Academy of American Poets Prize, the William Carlos Williams Award, the Bobbitt National Poetry Prize, the Ambassador Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and her most recent book of poems Faithful and Virtuous Nightxs received the 2014 National Book Award. Her book of essays Proofs and Theories: Essays on Poetry (1994) was awarded the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction, and her book Vita Nova (2001) won the first New YorkerReaders Award. In 2001 Yale University recognized her lifetime achievement by awarding her its Bollingen Prize for Poetry.
Glück is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and currently serves as the Rosenkranz Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English at Yale University.
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822
Visiting Writing Series Announces Spring Speakers
The series begins February 1 with poet/novelist Kazim Ali and continues with novelist Ali Eteraz (February 15), Barry (March 1), poet Danez Smith (March 22), White (April 3), and Glück (April 18). Times and locations are below.
The series begins February 1 with poet/novelist Kazim Ali and continues with novelist Ali Eteraz (February 15), Barry (March 1), poet Danez Smith (March 22), White (April 3), and Glück (April 18). Times and locations are below.