CAMERON ALFORD | ASST. CULTURE EDITOR
Butler leadership addressed a variety of campus concerns the Student Government Association’s town hall meeting yesterday.
The panel of administrators included President James Danko, Provost Kate Morris, Vice President for Student Affairs Levester Johnson, and Vice President of Marketing and Communications Matt Mindrum.
Danko summarized the areas of concern for the administration and how those concerns affect the students directly and indirectly.
Although the issues he noted were diverse, he was optimistic about their outcomes.
“With the plans we have in place and the progress that we are making, the value of your degree will continue to grow over time,” Danko said.
The questions presented to the panel discussed the parking garage, the new housing facility, educational value and diversity on campus.
One of the concerns proposed was how the rise in tuition would affect scholarships.
Danko said Butler invested $59 million in scholarships this year, nearly a 6.5 percent increase from last year.
“We work aggressively to keep tuition increases down,” Danko said.
Meanwhile, Johnson discussed the variety of dining options that would potentially be available on campus.
“Next year, we are investigating turning C-Club into a Subway, as well as a grab-and-go operation,” Johnson said.
“One of the things we are talking about doing is turning ResCo into a food court — literally having two to three additional national name brand operations within that facility,” he said.
Another one of the big concerns addressed was parking.
At the beginning of the school year, freshman Anthony Murdock paid for a commuter parking pass that allowed him to conveniently park on campus.
Now, that pass is void due to the ongoing construction of the new housing facility.
Murdock wanted to know if there would be any compensation for students who had to give up that convenience.
BUPD officer Bill Weber said he is not aware of any plans to compensate commuters for parking they lost.
He said prior to this year, the lot Murdock was referring to was strictly residential parking.
“Knowing that the lot was going away, it was better that we offer some commuter parking rather than none,” Weber said.
Kate Morris addressed diversity, saying it is a part of the Butler 2020 strategic plan.
Johnson said Butler does not have a clear definition for diversity because he feels that the meaning of diversity is continuously growing and expanding.
“We are working with the campus community to come up with a true, inclusive definition,” he said.
