Adjunct faculty and Butler alum Brandt Voight teaches the Legal Environment of Business using his experience as part of the commercial legal team at Salesforce. Photo courtesy of Brandt Voight.
MCKENNA SKATELL | STAFF REPORTER | mskatell@butler.edu
Adjunct Professor Brandt Voight pulls from his years of law experiences to make complex topics manageable for the students in his Legal Environment of Business class. Voight brings his real-world experiences into the classroom to help students learn skills they can utilize now, and in their future.
Voight graduated from Butler in 2004 with a degree in business and a concentration in finance. He then went on to graduate from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law in 2007. After graduating, Voight worked with private practices and firms across Indianapolis for eight years and then moved to Salesforce in 2013 where he continues to work today.
In 2010, Bob Bennett, who was Voight’s academic advisor while at Butler, reached out to Voight and asked if he would be interested in a recent adjunct professor job opening. Harry Riggs, the professor at the time, was retiring. Voight audited Riggs’ class during his last semester to see how he taught the class.
The course takes a comprehensive look at multiple different categories of criminal law, intellectual property law and litigation. Voight said he was excited to share his perspective and experience in this field with Butler students.
“I have always enjoyed teaching and connecting with students,” Voight said. “I enjoy the energy on Butler’s campus.”
Sophomore finance major Matt Grant said Voight took what could have been a very boring subject and made it fun and exciting.
“It was different from most classes because there was interaction from the students daily,” Grant said. “Everyone was laughing and having fun every time we were in that class.”
Although it was a challenging class, Grant said Voight taught it well. Voight knew he needed the class to be engaging given the times it would take place.
“I teach an 8 a.m. class and a 3:50 to 5:05 class, so I found that it is important to try and bring some levity into the classroom, especially during those hours,” Voight said. “Some of it’s as simple as bringing them donuts — sugar and snacks always help.”
Voight said in his course, they look at concepts that impact daily life such as the Supreme Court Justice nomination. He tries to bring in concepts from his job at Salesforce by talking about arbitration and mediation. Currently, Voight’s students are writing a current events paper where they have to look at laws being presented in Congress and international politics.
Grant said Voight’s availability outside of class made him different from other professors.
“I met with him one time outside of class to discuss my resume,” Grant said. “Instead of sitting in the classroom, we walked to Starbucks and got coffee while talking about not only my resume but how he got to where he was.”
Sophomore marketing major Morgan Ross said she really enjoyed Voight’s teaching style. She said he leaves room for interpretation — making sure not to discourage wrong answers or different opinions from any of his students.
“While the general information in the class is mostly lecture heavy, he somehow managed to make people engage,” Ross said. “He would have a poll-like question at the start of class while taking attendance, we would do some group work [or] discussions and occasionally he would bring in donuts.”
Ross said Voight’s class sparked her interest in law and made her want to learn more, making it different from the other core business classes she has taken.
