Butler University’s Speakers Lab will continue to exist under new leadership next year, despite the death of Paul Sandin, the lab’s former director.

“There has never been someone in the back of our mind, but any of the faculty in the communications department would be awesome,” said Marci Kolb, a sophomore public relations major and the Speakers Lab tutor recruiter. “It’s a wait-and-see process for all of us right now.”

Shelby Long, a junior public relations and communications major and the Speakers Lab manager, said she and other lab managers will be meeting with College of Communication Interim Dean Bill Neher to discuss specifically who will be in charge of the lab, but no matter who is in the role she said she does not expect the lab’s presence to diminish.

“I think it’ll be kind of the same as it was, because it was established so well by Professor Sandin,” Long said.

Kolb said the lab has grown since Sandin helped create it in 1996.

“They had four tutors (in 1996), and then they had like six tutors,” Kolb said. “When they (former tutors) heard we had 26 tutors,  I thought they were going to fall over.”

Kolb said the lab had more than 2,000 appointments this semester and will use between 26 and 30 tutors to meet next semester’s demand.

Long said students from many fields of study use the lab now, and even more may use it next fall if the lab proceeds with plans to add foreign language tutors.

Kolb said all incoming tutors will take a class in the fall about how to be a tutor and shadow an experienced tutor.

Despite such plans for the future, Long said moving forward will be difficult without the presence of Sandin.

“He was kind of my everything,” Long said. “He was my first professor at Butler, he’s my adviser, he’s my boss, so it’s been hard to be professional and carry on with lab while trying to mourn, but we’re trying to do what he would do.”

New residence hall, science building also possibilities for campus construction.

Butler University’s current and future construction plans may provide campus with a facelift.

The most notable recent change to Butler is the construction of the Howard L. Schrott Center, a new 450-seat theater adjacent to Clowes Memorial Hall.

Howard Schrott, Board of Trustees member and namesake of the center, said building it is important to him because the plans have been in the works since he was a student.

“Suddenly the drawings are becoming 3-D, and it’s been really exciting,” Schrott said. “I hope it’s been exciting for students too.”

Craig Hardee, Butler’s general construction maintenance manager, said the building is currently scheduled to open in January 2013 and will serve more than just fine arts students.

“It will be a nice venue for the visiting writer series, or lecture series, or when a college needs to get their folks all together,” Hardee said.

Hardee said the Schrott Center was not the only project Butler has been looking at taking on.

The 2010 Master plan outlined that the sciences and residence life were the top two priorities, Hardee said.

“Those two are still high priorities, and they need to be addressed,” he said.

Vice President for Finance Bruce Arick said Butler has recently shifted its priorities.

“We’re going to have to do something with parking before we do the other two (the sciences and residence life),” Arick said.

Gerald Carlson, director of maintenance services at Butler, said the change in priorities was the result of external pressure.

“It’s been brought to the forefront because the city of Indianapolis and the [Butler-Tarkington] neighborhood have asked us to add the additional parking before we build any new buildings,” Carlson said.

Carlson said President Jim Danko’s cabinet and Butler’s Board of Trustees will be meeting in May to discuss the potential parking structure, additional space for the sciences and the new residence hall.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Jay Howard said he believes a plan to remodel Hinkle Fieldhouse will be completed before additional space for the sciences is created.

“We’re currently in the midst of at least the silent phase of a campaign for Hinkle, and so the science building is sort of in line behind Hinkle,” Howard said. “The way these fundraising campaigns work is you have a silent phase where you raise money without publicly announcing it.”

The disappearance of the Ruth Lilly Science Library with the creation of a science building is a possibility that has been made public by The Collegian in the past.

Incoming Butler Dean of Libraries Julie Miller said she understood that no final decisions had been made and she would evaluate the situation once she arrives on campus.

“The library belongs to everyone, so everybody gets emotional at the thought of major changes,” Miller said. “I appreciate when people feel attached to the library and the library staff.”

Some Butler students may be living in a new residence hall in addition to studying in a new library in the future.

Arick said the proposed residence hall would be located north of Schwitzer Hall, and Carlson said the new hall would mirror Schwitzer and create a courtyard.

Hardee said he thought the new hall would include approximately 400 beds, of which 200 to 300 would be taken out of Ross Hall and Schwitzer so necessary renovations could be made.

“I think what it will do is relieve some of the pressure off the existing Ross and Schwitzer and open up some of the study space in those residence halls,” Carlson said.

Arick said he believes the new residence hall and science building could be built within five years.

“For those of us waiting in line, sooner is better,” Howard said.

Butler University is holding its first diversity summit at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the Ford Salon at Robertson Hall.

The event, cosponsored by R.E.A.C.H. and Council on Presidential Affairs, will seek to explain the definition of diversity, discuss how diversity will fit into plans for Butler’s future and develop an assessment of the current state of diversity at Butler.

CPA Chair Mike Tirman said this event will be important for the future of Butler.

“For us to take on a more prominent national role, diversity’s going to play a big part in that for Butler,” Tirman said.

Tirman said he hopes to be able to provide the Campus Climate Advisory Committee with a list of goals and ideas that came from students who attend the event. Tirman said he thought the inclusion of a question about a students’ sexual orientation could be one such idea.

Mike Keller, the Student Government Association President-elect who has been invited to the event, said he understands the benefits that people could see coming from such a question but would caution against such an idea.

“I always think we do better when we try not to categorize people as much,” Keller said. “I think that…helps us build a more integrated and better community.”

Keller said he’s looking forward to listening to people with different perspectives of Butler.

“Sometimes people are just ignorant to the diverse issues, but I think that’s OK,” UnoBlessed Coons, the SGA vice president of diversity programming, said. “This is where you should be learning about those things— college.”

Coons said the summit is important, because the open forum provides students with different perspectives.

“I think that [the open forum] is the most important part,” Meg Haggerty, the associate director of student affairs, said. “You can’t come to a table with only one perspective. You have to be able to see it from multiple different angles.”

Haggerty said she will be attending because of her role as adviser to the Campus Climate Advisory Committee.

The event will include students and faculty who have been invited because of their involvement in relevant student organizations or because of their known ability to contribute to the conversation.

Students who have not been invited can contact Tirman or Coons to secure a place at the event.