During the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships, fans often forget that the athletes playing the games are also college students. But Butler University hasn’t forgotten. Although some of its students are athletes, they are always students before anything else.
We at The Butler Collegian, are proud to say that Butler athletes are able to balance the extreme academic rigor of our university with the success of their team.
This year, Butler won the National Higher Education Bracket. This accomplishment proves that Butler athletes work just as hard in the classroom as they do on the court. Butler has been called “America’s Team” after scrapping their way to this year’s Final Four Tournament in Houston, Texas. But it is more than Butler’s incredible run in both this year and last year’s NCAA Tournament that inspires fans around the country to root our school on to victory. It is the team’s humility that has captured hearts around the nation. The team has worked resiliently to not only be victorious over our opponents, but also to keep up with academic work.
Butler University is that rare school whose athletes go to classes on a game day. Butler athletes don’t miss a class unless they absolutely have to. For other universities that partake in the tournament, it seems that their priorities are basketball and then schoolwork, whereas Butler athletes strive to be premier students before premier basketball players.
We are very proud to be so well-represented at the tournament by our team. It is a rare gift for a university as small as Butler to be in the Final Four for the second year in a row, in addition to being described as America’s Team while still reaching the high academic bar that Butler sets for all of its students.
Butler athletes don’t get private tutors so they can miss classes and still maintain grades. These athletes attend every class, and when they have road games, professors may extend deadlines or allow them to take exams early but the same level of work is still present.
Butler athletes aren’t given the option to take the easy way out of assignments and projects. These characteristics embody The Butler Way. Butler students are taught and expected to give the best effort possible on everything we do. This has made an obvious transition out of the classroom and into life practice. Butler athletes work as hard in the classroom as they do on the court. This sense of determination is what propels Butler University forward in everything we do.
The entire Butler University community, the city of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana are incredibly lucky to have an organization like the Bulldog Athletics program. It is clear that their priorities are straight when it comes to focusing on the court as well as in the classroom. When a small school like ours immediately rises to the national spotlight for athletics, it is always nice to be recognized for something else besides how many points are put up in a game or our season average.
