So many things divide Butler University’s student body, whether it be graduation year, major, Greek affiliation—or lack thereof—political ideals, or even favorite color.

But on Friday, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event at the Health and Recreation Complex brought participants together in a way that I have not seen before on this campus.

Cancer doesn’t care what year people are, what Greek house they’re in, how much money they’re going to make after graduation or how many people love and care about them.

Cancer is a disease that is universal, and it has touched the lives of each Butler student, including those who have lost loved ones to the disease and those who have not.

I was truly moved by the togetherness as I walked around the track at the HRC and saw men and women of different affiliations and groups crying and consoling one another.

Relay for Life, or Dance Marathon earlier in the year and Butler sports, are events that we, the Butler community, can all rally behind.

We must use these moments to remind us that there is more that unites us than separates us.  We are all Bulldogs, Americans and humans.

The nearly $54,000 that Butler’s Relay for Life raised to fight cancer is an astonishing amount that should make everyone who participated in the event proud.

Two of the main speakers  turned the event from just another function where students could hang out into an emotionally charged affair.

Cancer survivors Heather Banks and Jim Wesp, father of Butler student Sarah Wesp, spoke at Relay for Life about their fights with the disease.

They talked about how their battles with the disease have made them stronger people, made them appreciate life more and taught them that there are things worth fighting tooth and nail for.

These ideas of community and togetherness are best described in the words of author J.K. Rowling. “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” Rowling wrote, “Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.”

I believe that we have seen some great things happen to Butler.

We’ve seen streng and unity in our community from the back-to-back national title game runs by the men’s basketball team.

More recent events include Dance Marathon, Relay for Life and the Butler Palooza concert on the mall on Saturday.

It would be foolish to think that there will be a point when all in the Butler community can get along perfectly.

But I hope that, in the coming years, we as a community can work on respecting our differences and find ways to work together to improve our school and our society.

A resolution to allow tax deductible contributions for non-profit, non-university-owned housing will be voted on today in Student Government Association assembly.

The resolution is the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act. If passed, SGA would throw its support behind this federal policy proposal.

Senior Ginnye Cubel brought up the resolution last week as new business.

Cubel is part of a student lobbying program that is going to Washington, D.C., at the end of the month to meet with congressional leaders. When she heard about this resolution, she decided it needed to be discussed with university leaders.

Non-university housing includes Greek houses, co-ops and religious group housing.

Cubel said that the act gives people incentive to donate to these non-profit housing options.

“[The funds coming in] can go toward rewiring, fire sprinklers and other safety measures that may not have been updated in a few years,” she said.

Also, the housing could drop in cost if more funds and donations come in.

“Who doesn’t love low-cost things?” Cubel said.

A lot of people have come to Cubel with questions about the act since the document is written in formal language.

She said that once she has explained the concept, people seem pretty interested in it.

If SGA passes the resolution today, Cubel will take Butler’s vote with her to D.C. at the end of the month to show the congressional leaders that students are behind this act.

Jill McCarter | News Editor | jmccarte@butler.edu

A look at the past, present and future of black students’ experiences and enrollment at Butler University.

Walking down the sidewalks of Butler University before her freshman year during an admissions tour, Kazmyn Perry realized that if she chose to attend, she would be in the minority.

Still, when the time came to enroll, Perry weighed the options, and decided that Butler would provide her with valuable degrees in psychology and Spanish.

When Perry started classes in the fall of 2008, she was one of 37 black students in her class.

Among four-year, private, not-for-profit institutions, black students make up 16.7 percent of the total enrollment.

At Butler, 136 students—less than 4 percent of the total population of full-time students—identify themselves as black.

IPS and Butler

During her first two years of high school at Arsenal Technical High School on the east side of Indianapolis, Perry said she never heard about Butler. The school was never brought up in discussions with friends and she said she never saw admissions counselors visit the predominantly black school.

“I’d lived in Indianapolis for a long enough time that I thought I would have heard about it,” Perry said. “I just never knew.”

During her junior year, Perry moved to Franklin Central High School—a predominantly white high school. Within months, Perry started hearing people talking about Butler.

Throughout its history, the university has not had many students coming in from the predominantly black Indianapolis Public Schools system.

When Tom Weede, vice president for enrollment management, took office in 2007, he collaborated with then-President Bobby Fong to encourage and nurture a relationship with IPS.

Since then, Weede says that university officials visit the seven IPS high schools and find a way to make Butler a financial possibility for students.

“We really take our relationship with the community seriously and this is one of the ways to build that relationship,” Weede said.

Weede said that in the past three years, there has been a significant increase in the number of applicants from the school corporation.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Weede said. “I’m hopeful that things will get better so there isn’t that stigma out there that we’re not trying. We have been, and we will continue to do so.”

Black Greek Organizations

Butler Student Ambassadors tell the story of seven black women who gathered on a predominantly white campus and created a black sorority.

Sigma Gamma Rho, founded at Butler in 1922, is the only black Greek organization ever created on a predominantly white campus.

Now the organization is struggling to recruit members and earn funding.

A university policy implemented in 2007 requires that an organization must have at least four members to be recognized by the university.

Recognition means that an organization can publish in the Butler Connection, fundraise on campus, apply for Student Government Association grants and vote in SGA assembly.

Right now, there are three members of Sigma Gamma Rho.

Perry, the president of the sorority, said that it’s important for the chapter to exist because of its historical significance.

“Since we’re the first chapter, I feel like a lot of the other chapters look to us to lead,” Perry said. “If we’re not even recognized by our own university, how can we really lead and set an example that is effective?”

Director of Greek life Becky Druetzler said the policy makes sense and has seen the effects it has had on organizations.

“I realize why this could present a problem in some respects, and it has created some issues with more of our organizations geared at diversity,” Druetzler said. “But I don’t see how it could impact the organization’s ability to recruit members.”

Butler’s History

Butler was one of the first universities to allow women and all races to enroll when the university first opened its doors in 1855 as North Western Christian University.

“Butler was extremely radical when it first opened its doors,” Sally Childs-Helton, special collections and rare books librarian, said.

Butler administrators have looked to regain some ground on minority enrollment since troubles in the 1920s seemed to have damaged the community’s perception of the university.

The early 1920s in Indiana marked the fruition of the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and its powers became evident at the university.

“It didn’t take long for people to realize what kind of control the Klan had on nearly every aspect of the city,” Childs-Helton said.

D.C. Stephenson, who had just been named to the Klan’s highest ranking found a new home in Indianapolis.

His home—modeled after the KKK’s national headquarters in Alabama—could be seen from the campus library.

“Black students were discouraged from coming to Butler,” Childs-Helton said. “It was just too big of a risk.”

In 1923, then-president Robert Aley declined to make an official endorsement of an anti-Klan union. Board minutes do not include conversations, but the public perceived this move as Aley’s—and thus Butler’s—indifference on or support of the Klan.

“There’s no smoking gun to point to why he did or didn’t do it,” Childs-Helton said. “But I’m confident in saying that it made people wonder.”

In 1927, a policy that would only allow 10 black students admittance each year was passed by the Board of Trustees.

“It does sound horrible, but there were other places that were much worse,” Childs-Helton said. “The administration was still trying to live up to the vision the founders had for the university.”

The policy was lifted about 20 years later, though Childs-Helton said that administrators have found it to be difficult to recover the population.

“Damage was already done,” she said. “We lost credibility and it’s been hard to come back from that.”

During the civil rights movements in the late 60s and early 70s, black students enrolled at the university did not face opposition from other students, but rather were ignored, Childs-Helton said.

“No one was being openly hostile,” she said. “On the same note, no one was openly embracing. They were tolerated and ignored.”

Minority relations became a staple in discussions between administrators and a regular topic in the pages of The Collegian in the late 1980s with the administration’s creation of a minority task force.

The Diversity Center

The Diversity Center was one of the results of a 1986 minority task force to increase the university’s relationship with minorities.

At the recommendation of the task force, administrators saw the creation of such a center to attract more students to the university.

For some like Perry,  the diversity center is its own kind of oasis.

“The Diversity Center is the best thing we have on campus,” Perry said. “We’re all like a family there.”

Sierra Marcee, a sophomore communication sciences and disorders major, said the Diversity Center is convenient to use since she commutes to campus, but feels that it’s under-utilized by the campus as a whole.

“People have this misconception that it’s all about African-American students at the center,” Marcee said. “But if anyone took the time to look around and see that there are a lot of organizations down here, it would start to take away from that misconception.”

Looking Ahead

Butler administrators hope to continue to build the relationship with the community and hope to increase the population.

Some students, though, said that the focus should stop being on the students that could come, and move to the students that are at Butler.

“I don’t care if they’re working to foster the growth of the population,” Perry said. “Fix what we have.”

For other students, too many conversations can make the topic bigger than it is and further encourages a separation.

“Don’t talk about it,” sophomore Marcus Harvey said. “Stop having the conversation and stop pushing it.”

Harvey, an arts administration major, said that the conversations and push by administrators to appeal to black students seems to have gone too far.

When he started the admissions process, he was set up with a black admissions counselor. When he discussed his experience with other black students, he said they all had the same black admissions counselor.

“People shouldn’t be put into boxes,” Harvey said. “There are so many attributes to a person and skin color is just one of those things.”

The way the university advertises itself to black students in the community only hinders the relationship, Harvey said.

“Saying ‘We have black kids, we have black kids’ doesn’t do anything for anyone,” Harvey said. “It makes me uncomfortable and it makes you uncomfortable, so it should stop.”

“We don’t want to stop talking about it,” Weede said. “It’s on the forefront of our minds and the discussion should keep going.”

Two new student groups join a Butler University’s other campus organizations this semester: Converge and P3 (“p-cubed”).

While Converge seeks to enhance campus spirituality, Professional Presence and Profile (or P3) aims to increase students’ professional prospects and images.

Austin Weaver, a fourth-year pharmacy student and vice-president of Converge, said the group is an answer to the interest on campus for a Christian religious service that is open to all Christian denominations as well as non-Christians.

He said the group will host weekly nondenominational Christian services in Robertson Hall as well as encourage student-led Bible study groups in Greek houses and campus housing buildings. He said Converge also will gather a few times each semester to do volunteer work.

For non-Christian Butler students and those still searching for a concrete faith, Weaver said Converge will be a nonjudgmental place to “gather with others in fellowship and possibly learn more about the Christian faith.”

Weaver said they will differ from other Christian groups on campus.

“A big question we usually get is how we are different than Cru,” Weaver said, “and the main thing is that we are offering a place on Sundays for the Christian community on campus to meet for a church service.”

A component of the Information Commons program, P3 is an outgrowth of many university departments, including Internship and Career Services and the Center for Academic Technology.

Huynh said the group will help students build professional online presences, prepare them for the professional world and benefit students of all majors.

“While students normally think that LinkedIn and other tools are only used by business people, it is clearly not the case,” he said.

In fact, he said the group’s main demographic is not business majors but students from colleges and departments that do not already have a career development program.

Junior Rocky Huynh, treasurer of the group, said that P3 is uniquely positioned to help students with the resources it has at its disposal.

Huynh said that students interested in P3’s services can attend the bi-weekly meeting in Pharmacy Building room 156, every other Thursday at 7 p.m. The next meeting is Feb. 23.

He also invited those interested to find more information on the Butler Connection or by emailing him or Lauren Lupkowski, the president of the group at llupkows@butler.edu.

Weaver said students interested in Converge could contact him by email at awweaver@butler.edu or just attend the first service at 11 a.m. on Sunday,   March 4.

Vice President for Student Affairs Levester Johnson addressed the difference in involvement between Greek and non-Greek students at the most recent town hall, and it has caused a buzz among students.

The university has conducted no formal studies, but  it seems as though it is widely-held idea that Greek students are more involved with leadership positions.

Johnson said this is due to the structure and stated goals of Greek organizations.

“Greek organizations have very intentional and direct programs; their missions and goals are founded in giving back to the community,” Johnson said. “It is easier for a Greek house to organize 60 members than non-Greek students to organize thousands.”
Irene Stevens, dean of student life, said this imbalance has a negative effect on student life.

“You always want your student life to reflect your student body,” Stevens said. “Independent students have different views and perspectives and should be represented.”

The Independent Council was founded in 2008 by student Sarah Morefield to help bridge the gap between non-Greek and Greek students, particularly in terms of all-campus events, according to the Independent Council’s website.

The organization began with 15 interested members and has grown to 94 members today, according to the website.

Senior Amie Wright, president of the Independent Council, said the reason for the lack of independent voices among leadership positions is because leadership positions are often passed down.

“Those who hold certain positions are more likely to pass them down to people within their own house,” Wright said.

Wright said there must be a continued dialogue between the administration and Independent Council to ensure the independent voice is heard.

“It’s a matter of the information getting out to independent students who don’t have the same level of organization Greek students have,” Wright said.

The Independent Council hosts and collaborates with organizations for many senior events through the year, according to Hannah Wysong, an executive board member.

“We get members involved through events like the Spring Sports Spectacular, which is our biggest event,” Wysong said.

Wysong said a stated goal of Independent Council is not necessarily to increase independent student leadership but to increase involvement.

“The reason for such a high percentage of Greek involvement is networking,” Wysong said. “The IC hopes to provide this sort of networking to an extent but most importantly help independents become more involved.”

Wright said the PuLSE Office is important in passing along leadership information.

“PuLSE can send IC leaders information on leadership positions, which can then be passed along to other members,” Wright said.

PuLSE Office Director Caroline Huck-Watson said she hopes to continue the dialogue with independent students to help increase their involvement.

“Campus is more vibrant and powerful when as many voices are heard,” Huck-Watson said. “Every voice is important.”
Johnson said this situation should be viewed in context.

“Although there is a difference between Greek and non-Greek involvement, Butler students as a whole are more involved than the national average,” Johnson said.

The National Survey of Student Engagement found Butler to be higher in many areas of student involvement, including service projects and volunteer work — something Greek organizations particularly excel in.

“Students don’t need organizations around them to be more involved,” Johnson said. “Oftentimes the division between Greek and non-Greek students is due to competitive events that are based on places of residence.”

Johnson said in the future the administration might try to create smaller residential communities and be more intentional in leadership training programs.

Wright also said it is important to get independent freshmen and sophomores involved so that they may pursue leadership positions in the future.

“We need to continue to try and get independent students involved,” Wright said. “The 65 percent of independent students is definitely not represented.”

When the spirit of competition overwhelms Butler University during recruitment week, it is easy for  individual Greek organizations to forget that they are part of one Greek community.

Chapter members are busy thinking of the upcoming semester and what can be done to improve each of their own organizations.

Butler has a thriving, strong Greek system due to energetic student leaders, active alumni support and an institution that helps the organizations excel.

I raise for your consideration a bold statement to reflect upon: Without a university that encourages Greek organizations to succeed, our outlook on the Greek community today would be severely altered.

For the past 18 months, I have had the opportunity to serve on my fraternity’s national board of directors.

I have had to sit at the table voting to rescind charters across the country due to violations against laws, university policies or our own fraternity risk procedures.

While this is a process an organization uses as a last option, occasionally charters need to be suspended for one reason or another.

But at some point in the conversation leading up to the vote, it is usually asked, “Is this campus worth revisiting at a later date?” Meaning, does the university allow Greeks to thrive and view the organizations through a positive lens, and will we return here to recolonize?

Sadly, the answer is usually “no.” Some administrations are forcefully pushing away Greek life.

In other cases, a university’s chapter constantly struggles to fill its own recruitment numbers, a sign that the chapter would not succeed at the university.

It would be easy to think negatively of the university when it applies punishments to Greek houses.

“In most cases, I can understand the university is viewed in a negative light, but at the end of the day, we walk away with a positive experience,” senior Laura Urrutia, vice president of recruitment at Alpha Chi Omega, said.

See, view trends from the 30,000 foot level, and the picture suddenly looks different.

I sincerely believe that if I was at the table and  someone asked if Butler’s campus was one to revisit, my answer would be a resounding, “Yes.”

Butler stands out. The institution is filling its freshman class quota, and so are the 14 organizations.

Because of our university’s successes in accepting high-caliber students, developing them academically and supporting them in the organizations they join, Greek life has been able to achieve success as well.

“I believe Butler has an extremely strong system,” said senior Josh Ruff, past president of the Interfraternity Council Chapters on campus. “This was a great year just based on the numbers.”

“I would be run over if we said Butler is open for expansion,” Becky Druetzler, director of Greek life, said.

Not a bad position to be in if Butler ever decided it wanted to expand.

However, it is not only about the numbers.

Our campus has dedicated student leaders, and this is shown through the annual program  for new officers and leaders, called “Greeks Leading Greeks,” which is hosted by the Order of Omega. This event took place on Jan. 29.

The agenda featured a guest to speak about how the already existing Greek culture on campus can improve and then a roundtable discussion in which members of different Greek organizations on campus helped one another’s chapter.

“Our community has a high sense of character,” said senior Alex Snyder, president of the Order of Omega chapter. “We hold everyone to high standards.”

Butler helps college students enrich their Greek life experience, advances the growth of the Greek community and provides an atmosphere that allows Greek members to progress on their own academic missions.

Butler University’s chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity welcomed 28 pledges earlier this month after evaluating the status of all undergraduate members last December.

According to chapter president Ryan Medas, “a few” Phi Kappa Psi members were given alumni status the week before final exams last semester following a review process.

Director of Greek life Becky Druetzler said those students are now permitted to take part in only those fraternity events set up for more traditional alumni.  The students also were required to move out of the Phi Kappa Psi house if they resided there.

Phi Kappa Psi’s membership review comes on the heels of an ongoing Butler University Police Department investigation.

“I wouldn’t say they’re not related,” national executive director Shawn Collinsworth said.  “This was the next step. This was making sure we live up to the standards of Phi Kappa Psi.”

Director of Public Safety Ben Hunter said there was no new information in the case.  BUPD is not investigating Phi Kappa Psi.

The fraternity’s national executive council created a supervisory committee of local alumni to scrutinize Butler’s chapter.  The committee interviewed and examined each member before deciding on the students’ further involvement with Phi Kappa Psi.

Collinsworth said there was no serious reason for any member to be dropped to alumni status.  Changes were made, he said, due to grades, finances, campus activities or issues with fraternity rules.

Chapter advisor Ryan Jones said in an email the adjustment occurred for “various reasons” and would “advance our brotherhood into the current semester, and beyond.”

Butler was not involved in Phi Kappa Psi’s decision to conduct a membership review, nor in the review itself, dean of student life Irene Stevens said.

They’re doing a variety of things to improve the house,” Stevens said, “and we support that.”

Stevens told The Collegian last fall that the university’s order to Phi Kappa Psi to halt all operations meant no social events or activities could be held.

Druetzler said the fraternity’s class of 28 pledges was “about normal for them.”

She also said most national Greek organizations have a similar process for membership review.

“It’s not unheard of,” Druetzler said. “It’s not something that is rare.”

Druetzler said she was not aware of the scope of past membership reviews in her decade at Butler.  She said she did not think the alleged criminal incident is what triggered Phi Kappa Psi to do the evaluation.

“There were probably other factors,” Druetzler said.  “For any group that would be a reason to stop and look at what’s happening and what needs to occur. Usually with a membership review it’s further reaching than one thing, although one thing may be the tipping point.”

In spite of Phi Kappa Psi’s involvement with recruitment, a cease and desist order remains in effect following the alleged sexual assault that is said to have occurred on the fraternity’s property in September.

In response to an increased number of alcohol-related hospital visits, the Butler Alcohol Taskforce is gathering information and plans to present recommendations to administration about potential changes to Butler University’s alcohol policy by the end of the semester.

During last week’s Homecoming, some students worried that Butler would be cracking down on the festivities, often alcohol-related.

“I think the message we are most comfortable with is if you choose to consume, do so responsibly,” Dean of Student Services Sally Click said. “It’s a perpetual topic of concern.”

Chaired by Dean of Student Life Irene Stevens and Sarah Barnes-Diaz, coordinator for health education and outreach programs, the taskforce is comprised of a variety of representatives from the campus community, including Greek chapter presidents, residence life staff, Butler University Police Department, Council on Presidential Affairs, Peers Advocating Wellness for Students and faculty who have expertise in the area.

“Right now the taskforce is in the phase of examining our campus policy,” Barnes-Diaz said. “And from that, we’ll make recommendations as a taskforce about potential policy changes or amendments on campus.

“Our goal is by the end of the semester to have recommendations to send to our vice president of student affairs, Levester Johnson, with the understanding that he will be consulting with the president.”

She said Johnson and President Jim Danko will have the ability to agree or disagree with the taskforce’s recommendation.

As its name suggests, the taskforce, which was formed last March, has a clear goal in mind.

“The university wants students to be part of a safe and responsible community,” senior Josh Ruff, a student on the taskforce, said via email. “The taskforce came about as a response to the trend of increased levels of binge drinking. We’re looking at what can be done to create a safer student community here at Butler.”

In order to achieve this goal, the taskforce began gathering information this January in four primary areas: alcohol education, student culture, alcohol policy and enforcement.

But, issues with alcohol are not strictly limited to Butler.

Stevens said a majority of the data comes from surveys and research that helps to compare campus data to national and state data.

Barnes-Diaz said there seems to be a strong misconception about the taskforce.

“It was clear to me that there is a real misconception that this is a group that is coming in and frowning upon drinking and looking to crack down on campus,” Barnes-Diaz said. “I would love for that misconception to be corrected, because this is a group of faculty, staff and students representing a lot of different organizations or areas of campus which are really involved in this issue in one way or another. There are a lot of different students with a lot of different perspectives; it’s certainly not a group that is looking to make Butler a completely dry campus.”

Stevens said the addition of the taskforce raised some concerns that the campus would move toward a greater crackdown on alcohol policies or even a change in policy to a dry campus.

“Are we going to be a dry campus? I don’t think so,” she said. “That’s just not in our frame of reference at this point.”

Barnes-Diaz said the taskforce is trying to take everything into account.

“That’s the way I love to see things operate on our campus, when we really talk to students about their thoughts and feelings,” she said. “I hope that’s clear that this has been a huge part of what we’ve done, and it’s not any sort of outside entity coming in and saying, ‘I don’t care what this campus thinks or needs.’”

In the end, taskforce members said they have the best interests of students at heart and want to develop suggestions in a way that is fair, reasonable and promotes safety and healthful decisions on campus.

“As a student on the taskforce, we’re there to give the university a viewpoint that they might not otherwise see,” senior Melanie Clark said. “We’re trying to get a feel for the alcohol environment.”

Stevens agreed.

“We’re just trying to help students be safer and make better choices so they don’t end up in the hospital,” she said.