With seniors getting ready to graduate, a fear exists that they will lose their connection to Butler University.

In order to link the Jordan College of the Arts alumni to Butler, JCA created its first alumni community.

Instead of designating an alumni group by geographic location or by year of graduation, the JCA alumni club brings past students together through their similar interests.

Barry Hohlfelder, a 1966 graduate and Jordan College of the Arts Alumni Community president, felt a strong desire to be an active participant in the alumni community.

“I feel very strongly about being an alumnus from Jordan College of the Arts,” Hohlfelder said. “I serve on the board of visitors at CCOM (College of Communication) and am a very active alumnus, but I still felt a disconnect from the Jordan College of the Arts.”

With the help of JCA Dean Ronald Caltabiano, Hohlfelder was able to connect the JCA community.

The JCA Alumni Community allows special access and discounts to performances at the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts, invitations to social events with the dean and faculty, and behind-the-scenes programs for children at the annual “Nutcracker Ballet” and other performances.

“Our hope is that we will have special events our alumni would be particularly interested in,” Hohlfelder said. “While we will have discount tickets for events at the Schrott Center and Clowes (Memorial) Hall, we’re hoping to expand to other venues in the Indianapolis community so we can get together and share in cultural experiences.”

Frank Felice, associate music professor and Butler alumnus, thought the club’s development was long overdue.

“We’ve been threatening to do something like this for years,” Felice said. “The idea of a community of artists or of like-minded souls coming together is wonderful.”

Although current seniors have yet to graduate, Reid Swenson, a senior in JCA, is already worried about losing his feeling of closeness to the Butler community.

“Getting ready to graduate, though exciting, is also a loss in some way,” Swenson said. “But the alumni program for JCA seems like a good way to still be a part of everything I have come to love about Butler.”

The JCA Alumni Community is planning to celebrate the alumni club’s reception with a reception at the Schrott Center this Saturday from 6:15-7 p.m.

WANT TO JOIN? HERE’S HOW!

To join the Alumni club, please email jcacommunity@butler.edu.

ALSO:

If you would like to take your involvement a step further and join the steering committee—a committee that organizes all of the events for the JCA Alumni Committee—please contact

Monique Wise in the alumni office at (800) 368-6852 ext. 8412.