Butler University Homecoming is not only a big deal for current students—it’s the university’s biggest alumni-focused event.

Homecoming weekend included many events geared toward specific alumni groups, said Jennie Jones, associate director of alumni and parent programs.

Some of those events included five-,10-, 25- and 50-year class reunions, the tailgate in the Hinkle Fieldhouse parking lot, Bulldog Beauty Contest and family fun activities on Norris Plaza.

Monique Wise, associate director of alumni and parent programs, said Homecoming is beneficial for alumni because they can come back to campus and enjoy the same activities they used to enjoy while they were here, as well as see what is new.

“It gives them an opportunity to see all of the changes that are taking place at the university, the growth,” she said. “It also enables them to relive their days. They have that spirit of coming home and that spirit of reconnecting as a Butler family member.”

Wise said Homecoming is not only beneficial for the alumni but also an asset to the university.

“It is a great two-way street for both the university and alumni,” Wise said. “We get to reconnect together and share ideas and provide a happy, festive environment for everyone to have a good time.”

Alumni are centralized on Butler’s campus through the Alumni Office.

“The purpose of the Alumni Office is to help build alumni chapters and make them strong so that they can remain a part of the Butler family,” Wise said.

Wise said the Alumni Office specifically works to link alumni chapters with current students and create programs that allow members of the alumni community to come together, network, share ideas and stay abreast of the university.

There are nine active alumni chapters in the United States. In order of most members, the chapters are: Central Indiana, Chicago, Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., Fort Wayne, Greater New York, Atlanta and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lauren Cialone, a member of the Washington, D.C., Alumni Chapter steering committee, said the chapter tries to plan events several times a year.

“We try to diversify events so that people of all ages can find something they like,” Cialone said.

She said one way Butler’s alumni network differs from those of other schools is that its members are more close-knit.

“I definitely think the network is a little more intimate with a small school like Butler,” Cialone said. “It gives people more of an opportunity to get involved.”

Cialone said current and former students can utilize the network by reaching out to the chapter.

She said she’s received emails from students looking for jobs or wanting to move out to D.C., and she was able to get those students in touch with other alumni who could help.

“There’s a real willingness and desire to be helpful,” Cialone said. “Your relationship with Butler doesn’t end when you graduate.”

She said the chapter is looking to plan an event for December and already has an event for January: getting alumni out to watch the Bulldogs take on George Washington University in D.C.

For parts of three men’s basketball seasons, Butler fans had the opportunity to watch former student Shelvin Mack play at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Collegian file photo

Now Butler alumni have the opportunity to witness Mack in action in a NBA game.

Organized by the Butler University Washington, D.C. Alumni Chapter, the event will give Butler alumni and students in the area the chance to see Mack and the rest of the Washington Wizards host the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday in the nation’s capital.

Monique Wise, associate director of alumni programs, said the idea of seeing a Wizards’ game was mentioned during a chapter conference call last fall.

“Several committee members had brought up the idea of attending a Wizards game so we could see Shelvin play because it would be Shelvin’s first year, and he is a Butler alumnus,” Wise said.

In addition to taking in an NBA game, attendees will get to take part in a meet-and-greet with Mack after the contest.

Wise said Mack did not hesitate to say yes when asked if he would do a meet-and-greet.

“He was very excited that Butler alumni would want to come and see him,” Wise said. “He was very honored and very happy to hear that.”

This is the second such event that a Butler alumni chapter has organized this year.

The school’s Atlanta chapter arranged for alumni to attend a game between former student Gordon Hayward’s Utah Jazz and the Atlanta Hawks earlier in the NBA season.

Attendees for that event also got to meet with Hayward after the game.

Lauren Cialone, president of the Washington, D.C., chapter, said that the Butler alumni office handled the logistics of setting up the event, including securing tickets and communicating with Mack.

Cialone said she feels the event is a great opportunity for alumni who live outside of Washington, D.C.

“There are folks and families who live a little farther out, and this gives them a chance to be able to come out here for the weekend and participate in the activity,” Cialone said.

Wise said the event was not easy to set up because of the NBA lockout, which shortened the current season.

Wise said the alumni office also had to work around Butler President Jim Danko’s “Imagine the Possibilities” tour in addition to finding a game that a majority of alumni could potentially attend.

Michael Landes, a 2008 graduate and member of the Washington, D.C., chapter, said the event could not come at a better time, especially with many local Butler alumni being involved in election season activities.

Photo courtesy of MCT

“Everyone’s really excited,” Landes said. “They want to see Shelvin and show their support for him during the game.”

Tickets for the event cost $35 each, and Wise said that 20 tickets had been sold as of Monday morning.

Landes said those who are already attending the game are “pumped, big time.”

“I know the Wizards have been kind of lackluster lately as far as their record, but nobody really cares about that,” Landes said. “It’s a pretty good opportunity.”