Blue III isn’t the only thing that’s grown this year. The incoming freshman class of 2016 consists of 1,111 students, a significant increase from the 926 who enrolled last fall.
Application numbers at many colleges around the country have dropped; however, Butler has seen a 43 percent increase in applications over the past two years.
“Some of that is that students are applying to more colleges than they did even two years ago,” Dean of Admission Scott Ham said. “However, we cannot take away from the fact that the promotion Butler received during two national championship runs helped make Butler a household name.”
Prospective students became attracted to what the university describes as the “Butler Way” once Butler became a more familiar  school, he said.
“This is just another demonstration of how Butler has quickly become very prominent on the national and international scene,” Vice President for Student Affairs Levester Johnson said. “When you bring in the next largest class ever, that’s saying that Butler’s a hot commodity, and we want to continue to feed off of that.”
The quantity of the incoming class is not the only feature that should be in focus, said Tom Weede, vice president for enrollment management.
“This is not just the largest group that has enrolled,” Weede said. “It is tied with last year for being the best academic class that we’ve ever enrolled.
It has more diversity in it, and people from different places bring different parts of a conversation, and that enriches everybody.”
The incoming freshman class possesses a variety of students, including Lilly Scholars, volunteers, athletes and musicians.
“All of these things together will make it a richer, fuller Butler,” Weede said. “It’s just a great group of students coming in.”
Freshman Kelsey Malcom said she likes the size of her incoming class because it’s more open and has more opportunities for people. However, she said she doesn’t want Butler to outgrow its identity.
“I would kind of like to see them keep the number (of incoming freshmen) the same, only because if it gets too big, some may feel like it’s losing its unique quality,” Malcom said. “You don’t want it to lose anything special it might have had by the size it was known for.”
Alex Correa, a freshman pharmacy major, was also drawn to Butler for its size, as well as its pharmacy program.
“I’d like to see a bigger name, not just a bigger class size,” Correa said.
In response to the largest class size, the university has pulled together additional resources to make this week and year run more smoothly.
Some aspects of Welcome Week had to be adjusted in order to meet the needs of all incoming students.
More student orientation guides were on staff to keep the group sizes manageable, and additional Butler faculty and student volunteers helped on move-in day.
“I think everything has gone smoothly,” said Kelsa Reynolds, Student Government Association vice president of operations. “It’s really neat to see not only the faculty and staff working but everyone coming together to welcome the largest class here on Butler’s campus.”
“We’ve added more support and resources for what we have traditionally done,” Johnson said. “Everyone is pitching in, and they are determined to not let anyone slip through the cracks.”
To deal with more long-term solutions, the New Student Success Task Force met again this year to discuss potential directions for the future. Comprised of Butler staff and faculty, the committee makes proposed solutions to help Butler and its growth. They have been working to ensure that every student’s needs are met, dealing with challenges such as housing, classes and campus activities.
“If we understand what those challenges are, then we can actually find ways to meet the challenges,” Johnson said.
Weede said Butler’s hope is to see moderate growth over time that’s well planned to ensure that students have the Butler experience.
The university wanted to have a larger class than last year but wanted  incremental growth, Ham said.
“We don’t want to lose what makes Butler special,” Ham said. “We want to make sure that any growth we have is fully supported at all levels—physical structures, faculty and staff, and support across the board.”

Being as that I am so far away from Butler’s campus this semester, The Butler Collegian and Connection are the only two ways that I receive any news whatsoever regarding the happenings within the university.

It is my great displeasure to share with you that I extremely disagree with the way you went about handling your Student Government Association presidential endorsements.

The editor in chief clearly made her point clear that she would be voting for Kelsa Reynolds, completely undermining her entire paper’s endorsement of Mike Keller.

Now I know that not everyone is going to agree on a single person on which to cast their vote, but when showing support as an entity, it almost looks as an abuse of power for the editor to write a contradictory article right below the staff’s endorsement.

It’s not fair for any of the candidates, especially the aforementioned two, to show such division, such lack-luster support, within your own organization.  It’s about being professional.  This really came as a shock to me, as I’m usually a huge supporter of everything The Collegian does.

Once again, it’s one of my only means of attaining relevant Butler information.

It also hit pretty close to home with me when the latter article in the paper brought gender into the mix.

Maybe it’s just because I’m male and I don’t understand, but if this particular topic hasn’t surfaced in the past, why is the editor in chief bringing it up in her article to the masses?

It’s unbelievable that such a stab be taken towards the male candidates.  It’s not their fault that no female SGA president has been elected in quite some time.

How about basing your decisions on platforms? On values? On priorities?  You know, things that will matter once the “chosen one” takes office.  I just couldn’t believe my eyes when I read such things.

So please, I beg of you, continue reporting without such contradictory messages to your readers.  There are more of us than you think, and not all of us are still at Butler to see these issues resolved.

I apologize for writing such a letter, but I felt these topics needed to be brought to light.                    

—Kyle Stuard, Butler student

My tenure as The Butler Collegian’s editor in chief has contained its fair share of nail-biters, challenges and joys.

Leading this influential student organization is a challenging job—much like the role of Student Government Association president.

Granted, holding government accountable and actually governing are two different things, but learning from this experience has taught me what it takes to be a good leader in any position.

Confidence, experience and enthusiasm are key traits to being successful in a top leadership position.

Kelsa Reynolds exemplifies these traits, which qualifies her as the best candidate in this year’s SGA presidential race.

The Butler Collegian endorsed her opponent, Mike Keller, largely because of Reynolds’ failure to provide specific plans in The Collegian’s debate on Sunday, but her track record speaks for itself.

Reynolds has the most experience and holds the highest leadership role of any of her opponents. She currently serves as the vice president of operations and oversees all the inner workings of SGA. She communicates well  and is a problem-solver.

She also was largely responsible for expanding SGA’s student shuttle program, something I’d consider to be SGA’s biggest recent triumph.

At first, Reynolds turned me off because I thought SGA would stay stagnant under her leadership, but saying whether that is a bad thing or not is impossible.

When I took the reigns of The Collegian in May, a part of me wanted to make big changes, but I realized that vastly improving the quality of the system that we already had in place would be the most effective way to create change.

Good leaders have to be Teflon-skinned, too—a skin I’ve grown into over the past year.

In his role as SGA president this year, Al Carroll had a voice in several  important conversations and experienced the joys of student leadership, but he also had the tough job of dealing with The Collegian each week.

The Collegian has rightly held Carroll accountable for some of this year’s flaws and hiccups, which can be  a tough pill to swallow.

In the end, criticism comes hand in hand with success. I’m a big believer that skeptical journalism is absolutely necessary for a democracy to function at its highest level, but it goes both ways.

I’m confident that Reynolds, given her experience working with Collegian reporters and editors, will be able to handle scrutiny with a thick skin, just like I am expected to do each week.

Reynolds would also break a streak of male SGA presidents at Butler. Of the past 21 SGA presidents, only five have been female, which is a heinous ratio.

Belonging to what some call the fairer sex does not play a role in the capacity to have great leadership skills, and after training under both male and female editors, I’ve learned that collaboration and competence make a great leader, not identifying as a certain gender.

But in a world dominated by men, female leaders get to be trailblazers for those who are disadvantaged because of their gender.

Reynolds can be that trailblazer for Butler’s SGA after years of male presidents.

When she speaks, she commands the attention of the audience and holds the ability to inspire other female leaders at Butler.

Because of the experience she brings to the table and her track record, I’ll be voting for Kelsa Reynolds on Election Day in the hopes that she will unite Butler’s campus and serve as a competent leader for next year’s student body.

Reynolds, regardless of the election’s outcome, I hope you continue to be as forthcoming as you have been this year to The Collegian when reporters come knocking on your door.

There have been only five female Student Government Association presidents in the past 21 years at Butler University—something candidates Kelsa Reynolds and Katie Palmer hope to change this election.

Despite Butler’s female majority and large female participation in SGA, the number of past female presidents is low.

There are certain stereotypes female candidates have to overcome in an election, even at the college level, Margaret Brabant, a political science professor, said.

“I think these stereotypes are actually reinforced in the way women run for office,” Brabant said. “Women run into the question of how feminine to appear.”

SGA presidential candidate  Kelsa Reynolds, current vice president of operations, said she doesn’t believe there is a different campaign route for females.

“I think it’s about seeking the proper people who share your platform,” Reynolds said.

Katie Palmer, who is also an SGA presidential candidate, said being elected president would be a huge honor, regardless of gender.

“It would be very impactful for me,” Palmer said. “The gender aspect is not as important to me.”

Reynolds said the lack of female presidents in the past might be due to a lack of exposure of the SGA.

“People haven’t been exposed enough to the SGA and haven’t developed an understanding of its importance,” Reynolds said.

She said it is important to increase SGA exposure, especially for freshmen, and encourage them to become involved.

“Personally, I got involved as a freshman and have continued to become more involved during my time at Butler,” Reynolds said. “I know the importance of getting involved early.”

Both candidates said the fact that two female candidates are running this year would help increase female presidential involvement in the future.

“I think this shows the equal opportunity of SGA,” Reynolds said. “I’m excited for the future.”

Brabant said she has doubts about the impact of having two female candidates on society’s perception of female leaders.

“I don’t think it will change much,” Brabant said. “I think it may have an impact on the way these candidates conduct their elections and articulate their platforms.”

The SGA assembly in general has a very balanced number of males and females, current SGA President Al Carroll said.

“Women aren’t underrepresented in SGA,” Carroll said. “Three of the SGA vice presidents are women, and there’s a good balance on assembly.”

In terms of how gender will affect their potential presidency, Reynolds said it is more about the attitude the president brings to the role.

“It’s just a matter of personality and an energetic outlook,” Reynolds said. “The male or female aspect doesn’t make a difference.”

Palmer said she would have a different perspective as a female president, especially considering her role as a resident assistant.

“I have a different understanding of campus being a female,” Palmer said. “I know what issues are affecting the female population.”

Reynolds said the support team a president builds around him or her is very important to a successful term.

“You have to have a great executive board, male or female,” Reynolds said. “It’s about how you are perceived during your presidency.”

It may always get brought up at Student Government Association assembly meetings, but the meeting frequency will not change any time soon.

SGA President Al Carroll said that the idea to move assembly to every other week as opposed to every week like it is now is brought up every year.

“The administration wouldn’t change it because it wouldn’t work,” Carroll said. “Student opinion and votes couldn’t be collected.”

Junior physical education and exercise science major Ariel Rudd said she believes it would be a good idea to change meeting frequency.

“Unfortunately, many SGA representatives don’t report back to their organizations, because a lot of what we cover in assembly is unchanging due to the frequency of the meetings,” she said. “I think more people would come to assembly if it were bi-weekly, and I think they would take the info back to their
organizations.”

However, many clubs and organizations meet
every other week, and if assembly was changed to meet bi-weekly, there would be no way to coordinate with every group, Carroll said during assembly earlier this month.

“It would be difficult because there would be a chance that SGA assembly would meet on the off weeks of these organizations,” sophomore arts administration and public relations major Allie Combs said. “Then the SGA representative would never be able to relay the information from assembly to their constituents, and that is the whole reason assembly exists in the first place.”

Kelsa Reynolds, vice president of operations for SGA, said that any type of business vote discussion would be delayed almost four weeks.

Anything in need of discussing needs to be brought up in advance before actually being discussed, she said, so if assembly was on a bi-weekly schedule, that business may be long forgotten by the time SGA
meets again.

“Considering how fast-paced our society is, for our student government to work at a pace different than the pace of the student body’s lives is inefficient and folly,” sophomore pharmacy major EJ Oldfield said. “Although some weeks this does mean shorter assembly due to a lack of discussion points, SGA is better off staying up-to-date with events on campus rather than being a week behind.”

If it were to change, Reynolds said word about anything going on would not get out, and few people on campus would know about any programming.

“SGA is all about effective communication, and if [assembly meetings] were to change, there would be a huge communication gap,” Reynolds said. “That’s not what SGA is about.”

CPA Chair Mike Tirman, said that members are always brainstorming different ideas on how SGA can be better, but he, with the rest of the executive board, understands that bi-weekly meetings would be a mistake.

“There’s a ton that goes on,” Tirman said. “We have to be careful.

“We have to keep the line of communication open, and assembly is the best way of doing that.”

Many of the SGA representatives agree with the executive board on the idea that it would be the wrong decision to change assembly to every other week.

Reynolds said SGA will be sticking to weekly meetings, and if next year’s officers want to, they can think about changing it next year.

SGA assembly is held every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in the Krannert Room.

In elections today, the politicians running want to create distance from Washington and convince the electorate they are the ‘outsider’ that will change government.

But when it comes to our Student Government Association elections, it is better for a candidate to have as much experience than the other candidates and be considered the ‘insider’ in the race.

The student body runs the risk of voting in someone unaware of what needs to be fixed inside SGA, while the person with little experience might also slow down any momentum with projects that were headed into the finals stages of completion during the previous administration.

The SGA presidential race is set for Feb. 27.  James Schubert, chairman of the Elections Oversight Committee, announced the SGA president candidates this past weekend.

Josh Grant, former co-chair of R.E.A.C.H. and former representative for College Republicans; Mike Keller, a member of the SGA Finance Board; Katie Palmer, chair of the Academic Affairs Committee in the Council on Presidential Affairs; and Kelsa Reynolds, SGA Vice President of Operations are the four candidates.

All four candidates are bringing distinct perspectives and experiences into the presidential race.

Reynolds provides an analysis of SGA through her time serving on the executive committee while Palmer and Keller currently each serve on branches of SGA.

Grant, though not holding a position currently, offers opinions from the time served in R.E.A.C.H.

Students on campus should elect someone who has more experience than the other contenders.  It is very important, especially when dealing with projects that take time to organize and implement by the SGA executive committee that the student body votes for someone that understands and knows what is going on.

Former president Christopher Ring said, “I believe SGA board experience is most important going into being SGA President.

“I think you have a better understanding of the organization’s infrastructure, the way in which money is handled, and the time required of the position.”

The president and the vice presidents have maybe six months to implement their ideas on campus. Ring makes a great point referencing the large budget SGA is responsible for. And, we would not want to see large portions of the SGA budget spent on a decision that was quickly made without sufficient experience and prior knowledge.

But I know there are others who do not share my outlook. Students want to see SGA go in a completely different direction, and would enjoy supporting a candidate that aligns with those views.

There is nothing wrong with a student that has never been to SGA assembly or served on a committee to quickly learn the procedures and then outline his or her vision for the next year.

While Kyle Inskeep, former vice president of R.E.A.C.H., said it is important for candidates to have prior experience, he said, “I think it is very possible that someone with little or no experience in SGA could do a great job as SGA President, but they would need to surround themselves with a great executive team and be prepared to overcome various obstacles and challenges that they could not have foreseen.”

I ultimately believe that it is better for SGA to have a president that knows what is going on and can continue the dialogue with administrators and faculty rather than having to start anew.

Kasper is the former chair of the Council on Presidential Affairs.