SARAH STOESZ | Staff Reporter

Michael Kaltenmark now has what he calls his dream job, after his recent promotion to director of external relations.

Kaltenmark was promoted to this position at the beginning of the month.

Kaltenmark said he thinks he fits the bill for this position because of its public relations and community relations duties.

“There are also social media responsibilities and oversight and management of the live mascot program,” Kaltenmark said. “A lot of these things are not only things that I excel at and things that I enjoy, but they are activities that I was involved in already. It was a pretty natural fit.”

Kaltenmark graduated from Butler in 2002 as a journalism and public relations major. However, he was originally an education major.

He was involved in Greek life. He also participated  in intramural sports and served as Student Government Association’s  president.

He began working for the university in the fundraising and development division in July 2002.

“I enjoyed working for Butler and advancing the institution. But fundraising, while I could do it, it wasn’t my passion,” Kaltenmark said. “It wasn’t getting me out of bed in the morning.”

In 2004, he became the owner and handler of Butler Blue II.  Being the owner of the mascots helped him  utilize his PR skills, he said.

“That really paved the way for me to make the transition from development to marketing and communications because I think people  could see I was skilled at it, I enjoyed it, and it did help the university,” Kaltenmark said.

Levester Johnson, vice president for student affairs, said Kaltenmark is a leader and has excelled in his professional career working for the university.

“It has been great to see how his talents have been leveraged,” Johnson said. “For a person that literally serves as the voice of the mascot and the university, you would think that the voice and vibrato would be exhibited outwardly. But he is an extremely intentional and thoughtful leader of few words.”

Kaltenmark is a hard worker, but also takes time to get to know students, said Jim Santos, a student handler for Butler Blue III.

“He is actually really cool and fun to hang out with,” he said. “He takes his job really seriously and really has fun with it.”

Kaltenmark is both passionate about Butler and his career in public relations.

“As an alumnus, I definitely enjoy doing what I do and advancing the university,” Kaltenmark said. “I just take a lot of pride into coming to work everyday.

“It definitely gets me out of bed and I love it, I work tirelessly for it and it’s just a lot of fun.”

While Kaltenmark has spent much time at hi alma mater since graduating, he still feels strongly about the institution.

“I still feel a little bit of nostalgia, so that’s cool,” Kaltenmark said. “I think it is a testament to how special Butler is and how much it means to me.

“I consider it a dream job because I am at the place I love and I am doing exactly what I want to be doing.”