She Couldn't Find The Book She Needed, So She Wrote Her Own
PUBLISHED ON Oct 09 2017
Ann Bilodeau wanted a book to explain to her then-5-year-old daughter why she didn’t believe in God, but such a book didn’t exist.
So Bilodeau wrote her own.
What Do You Believe, Mama? (Mascot Books), an illustrated children’s book, features a mother teaching her daughter lessons such as “Look for things that are true. Be open to ideas. Listen to your heart” and “You don’t have to believe in God to be good.”
“My daughter started asking questions,” said Bilodeau, a Speech-Language Pathologist and Director of Butler University’s Speech and Language Clinic. “All the kids around her asked her why she did not believe in God, and she would come home crying because they said she was going to hell. We have always been respectful of others and I wanted a book to help me share that message with her.”
Bilodeau, a secular humanist, said that growing up, she attended a Methodist church—mainly on the holidays and special occasions. She never felt connected to a higher being, but she appreciated the moral lessons found in various religious ideologies, particularly the Golden Rule.
That is the advice she imparts in the book.
“I believe in caring for people with RESPECT, KINDNESS, ACCEPTANCE, FAIRNESS, and LOVE,” she writes. “I believe in knowing right from wrong and making good choices.”
“I wanted to find ways to teach her these important lessons—but from a secular perspective,” Bilodeau said.
The book is illustrated by Stanley Burford, Bilodeau’s aunt and a Herron School of Art professor emeritus.
“No children’s book is any good without wonderful illustrations, and this is where my aunt comes in,” Bilodeau said. “She completed these when she was 80 (she’s now 82). She is an amazing woman and partnering with her on this project means the world to me.”
What Do You Believe, Mama? is available through amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Books-a-Million.
“If we sell some and get the book—and the message—out there, I will be over the moon,” Bilodeau said.
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822
Butler Board of Trustees Elects Seven New Members
PUBLISHED ON Oct 04 2017
The Butler University Board of Trustees has elected seven new members—six of whom are Butler alumni.
The new trustees are Alex Anglin, Jana Fuelberth, Chris Gahl, Robin Lauth, Tom Mathers, Bill Soards, and Brian Stemme.
The trustees, who meet three times a year, are charged with fiscal and strategic oversight and governance of Butler University.
More about each new member follows.
Alexander A. “Alex” Anglin ’10 is a Consultant within Eli Lilly and Company’s API Manufacturing Finance division. He joined the company in 2014 and has served as a Senior Analyst and Associate Consultant in Lilly’s Corporate Audit Services and Corporate Financial Planning functions.
He earned a B.S. in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant. While at Butler, Anglin was a member of the men’s basketball team under Coach Brad Stevens as well as a member of the Spring Sports Spectacular Executive Board, an organization raising funds and awareness for Special Olympics Indiana.
He has formally served on the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis Avondale Meadows Advisory Board. Currently, he serves on the Indiana CPA Society’s Diversity Initiatives Council and is an MBA Prep Class of 2018 Fellow with Management Leadership for Tomorrow, an organization that equips high-potential minority professionals with the skills necessary to lead organizations and communities worldwide.
His sister Kymbrielle Anglin ’08 is a Butler alumna. His wife, Lindsey ’11, is a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. She earned a B.A. in Electronic Media/Broadcast Journalism from Butler’s College of Communication in 2011 and obtained her JD from IU McKinney School of Law in 2014. While at Butler, she was a member of the women’s track and field team.
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Jana E. Fuelberth ’10 is President and Co-Founder of analytic.li, a human capital management analytics company that helps employers make data-driven people decisions by combining HR and business data. She is also the Co-Founder of HireCredit, an employer tax credit processor. Jana currently serves as Partner in Beyond Payroll.
She earned a B.S. in Marketing. She was a Butler Business Scholar, as well as a member of Kappa Alpha Theta and the Podium Expressions Program Board of the Student Government Association. She serves on the Young Alumni Board of Directors and is a current member of the Indianapolis Zoo Council.
Fuelberth has numerous family ties to Butler. Her brother, Ben Fuelberth, earned a B.S. in Marketing in 2008, and her sister-in-law Kate (Fuson) earned a B.S. in Elementary Education in 2008. Her late grandfather Robert “Bud” Laue (d. 1993) earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Butler in 1949.
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Chris Gahl ’00 earned a B.S. in Radio/TV. He has been Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications for Visit Indy, the marketing organization for the city of Indianapolis, since 2005. He is a former member of Butler’s Young Alumni Board of Directors and Alumni Board of Directors. He also has spoken at the University Convocation for the past few years.
A member of the 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee, Gahl helped spearhead promotion and media relations for Super Bowl XLVI. Previously, he was co-owner of a marketing firm in Hawaii, helping various tourism clients in the islands.
In 2013, Gahl was named a “40 Under 40” business leader by the Indianapolis Business Journal. In 2014, he was a member of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Class. In 2015, he co-chaired the city’s Plan 2020 Love Indy committee. In 2016, he helped launch the city’s Film Indy initiative, helping attract TV and film-related production to Indy.
Gahl serves on the St. Vincent Foundation Board of Directors and the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library Board of Directors. He and his wife, Catherine (Dunaway) ’99, have two sons.
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Robin S. (Robertson) Lauth ’77, MS ’82 earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Education. As an undergraduate, she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, the cheerleading squad, and was voted Homecoming Queen.
Lauth is President of the Lauth Family Foundation, Inc. She previously owned and managed the first three free-standing Vera Bradley retail stores and was an elementary school teacher at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. She is Vice President of the Lake Maxincuckee Association and a member of the Junior League.
Her husband, Bob, is Chairman of Lauth Group, Inc., a national real estate development construction company based in Carmel, Indiana.
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Thomas “Tom” Mathers is the Founder and Chairman of Déclion Holdings, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to Déclion, Tom was the President and CEO of CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which focused on the development of lasmiditan for the acute treatment of migraine headaches. Eli Lilly and Company acquired CoLucid in March 2017 for $960 million.
Prior to joining CoLucid, Mathers was President and CEO of Peptimmune, Inc.; President and CEO of Cell Based Delivery, Inc.; Vice President and General Manager of Cardion AG; and Vice President of Strategic Development at Genzyme. For nine years, he has served on the Board of Directors for the Biotechnology Industry Organization where he is active in the policy areas of capital formation, bioethics, intellectual property, and regulatory policy.
Mathers earned a B.S. in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1988. He went on to serve as a Captain in the United States Army and received several medals for his service as an AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot during the Gulf War.
Mathers and his wife, Michele, have two children, Savannah ‘20 (COPHS) and Tucker. Savannah is in Butler’s new Healthcare and Business degree program and is a member of Butler’s cheerleading squad and Delta Gamma sorority. Tucker graduated from Tufts with a degree in International Security and Arabic, and was the captain of the men’s lacrosse team, winning two NCAA National Championships.
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Bill Soards II ’96 has been President of AT&T Indiana since October 2013. In this role, he is responsible for external affairs for AT&T in the state, including state and local government relations, community affairs, regulatory and legislative activities, and initiatives before the Indiana General Assembly and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
He earned a B.S. in Telecommunications from Butler’s Jordan College of the Arts. He was awarded the Hilton U. Brown Alumni Achievement Award in 2004 and was also named to Butler’s “50 Under 50” list that same year. As a student, he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He is also a past member of the Young Alumni Council and the Alumni Engagement Sub-Committee.
Soards’ family ties to Butler run deep. His mother, Mary Lu Schroeder Pennington, earned both a B.S. and M.S. in Education from Butler’s College of Education in 1990 and 1994 respectively; she is associated with the class of 1967. His stepfather, Kenneth Pennington, also earned his B.S. and M.S. from Butler’s College of Education. Pennington played basketball for Butler under Coach Tony Hinkle and is a member of the BU Athletic Hall of Fame. His wife, Ann (Fulkerson) ’95, earned a B.A. in Journalism.
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Brian A. Stemme ’91 is the Project Director for BioCrossroads, , a non-profit organization which stimulates the continued growth of Indiana’s life sciences industry by investing in life sciences businesses and public-private partnerships, connecting local companies with resources and building awareness of the industry. As Project Director, Stemme works to identify and develop opportunities for growth within Indiana’s sector, evaluate early-stage companies for BioCrossroads’ venture capital fund and support the State’s efforts to attract and grow life sciences companies. He is a Board member of biotechnology companies Algaeon and Allinaire, and a co-founder of Indy Science Connect. Prior to BioCrossroads, he worked for Eli Lilly and Company and Arthur Andersen.
Stemme earned his B.S. in Accounting with Honors from Butler and was selected for the Top 100 Outstanding Students Program and a member of President Bannister’s inaugural Council on Presidential Affairs. He was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He is a past Trustee and a former Alumni Board President.
Stemme’s wife, Britt, is a domestic relations mediator. Brian and Britt have four children: Kathryn, a junior at the University of Louisville; Mark and Rachel, twins who are seniors in high school; and Frances, an eighth-grader.
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822
Butler Board of Trustees Elects Seven New Members
The Butler University Board of Trustees has elected seven new members—six of whom are Butler alumni.
The Butler University Board of Trustees has elected seven new members—six of whom are Butler alumni.
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.
PUBLISHED ON Oct 02 2017
One wall gets a new look — a painting depicting the front of Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Butler Director of Recreation Scott Peden was running on the track in the Health and Recreation Center (HRC) when he noticed the number of blank walls.
“I saw this particular wall,” Peden said, referring to the north entrance, “and thought: ‘We need to put something there.’”
So he turned to Chris Blice and John Edwards, who painted the mural in the Robertson Hall Johnson Boardroom as well as the historical mural in the Wildman Room in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Peden proposed a medium-sized painting.
But Blice and Edwards were thinking big picture.
“They came back to me with a vision that was 10 times what I’d thought of,” said Peden. “They wanted to make the entire wall a mural.”
Blice and Edwards proposed creating a massive rendering of Hinkle Fieldhouse from the outside looking in. A glimpse of the Hinkle magic.
“We didn’t want the colors to be overpowering or realistic, though,” Edwards said. “It needed to blend in with the room.”
The room, Peden said, is somewhere students often come to study or relax. He thinks the mural will enhance the soft space even further.
The new mural will hold special significance for the graduating class of 2010, which helped fund it. According to Peden, when the 2010 graduates couldn’t decide what to do with their class gift money, they gave it to the HRC.
“The HRC meant so much,” Peden said. “They were the first class to have use of it for four full years. They really valued it, and they also valued Hinkle.”
When he contacted the 2010 class president and shared the idea, she was “extremely excited.” The class gave its blessing and the Hinkle mural got the green light.
Blice and Edward began work on Monday, September 11, and they were still working on it as this story was being written.
In the meantime, they’re discussing where they want to paint their next Butler mural. “It’s very special,” Blice said of the experience. “This is our neighborhood college and we love Butler.”
“For me, it’s nostalgic,” Edwards said. “I grew up here. I’ve known Butler forever.”
In The HRC, A Blank Wall Becomes a Canvas
One wall gets a new look — a painting depicting the front of Hinkle Fieldhouse
One wall gets a new look — a painting depicting the front of Hinkle Fieldhouse