Blue Crew members pose with Butler Blue IV. Photos courtesy of Butler Stories. 

ERIKA KOVACH | STAFF REPORTER | ekovach@butler.edu 

Disclaimer: Blue Crew member Grace Hensley is a Collegian staff member and therefore could not be interviewed as a conflict of interest. 

The Blue Crew, a renewed student creator team on campus, includes four student ambassadors — Micah Horne, Eric Bedrosian, Grace Nielsen and Grace Hensley — hoping to provide a refreshing and honest look at the campus experience through social media. 

This is not the first time the university has implemented a team like this. Evan Krauss, Butler Blue IV’s handler and leader of the Blue Crew, said he got his start working for a similar program during his sophomore year at Butler. 

Senior strategic communication major Micah Horne was encouraged to apply to the program due to her internship with Pattern Magazine and other experience in marketing. 

“One of the things that had been talked about was how Butler or even Butler Blue doesn’t really have a face,” Horne said. “So bringing this back was [Evan’s] way of kind of trying to put a face to … the Butler experience, and [to] give a student look [into campus] because I feel like [that’s] more candid.” 

Krauss said in an email to The Butler Collegian that the original Blue Crew was formed in 2012 as a student handler group for Butler Blue III, Trip. The group included around 20 students, all with different roles working within the live mascot program, such as photography, videography and graphic design skills. 

However, Krauss said that the group only lasted about a year, as it became difficult to manage on top of other staff duties. Instead, it was shifted into the intern-based model used today. While the old group was focused on working with the live mascot, the new model is working on social media and communications for the school, while borrowing the old name. 

“We used the term Blue Crew for our ambassadors for a few reasons,” Krauss said. “We really liked the name. Just like our mascot, Blue, these four students will be amazing ambassadors who can show the world what life is like as a Butler student first-hand. And lastly, [it serves] as a fun tip of the hat to the old student organization.” 

Eric Bedrosian, a sophomore marketing and finance double major, was asked to apply by Krauss while working as a student ambassador in the admissions office with Blue. As someone who is involved with many student organizations on campus, Bedrosian said he hopes to bring a wide, varied perspective to the social media content. 

“Today, we had a video posted about admissions decisions and how, and really why, students picked to come to Butler,” Bedrosian said. “We get some assignments that are given to us, but [those are] kind of a free-for-all, which is a good thing for us to take our content and do what we want and what we’re passionate about.” 

While member Grace Hensley is acting as the team’s photographer, the other three members will be pitching and producing other types of social content, as well as acting as on-air talent. 

As the content is posted to the official Butler Instagram, Bedrosian said it is a great way for prospective students to get a real look at college and for the students involved in the projects to see their faces online. 

With the freedom and student perspective of the project, there are many ways the group is looking to create new content. First-year strategic communications major Grace Nielsen said she is most looking forward to covering all different kinds of events across campus. 

“Earlier this year, I filmed a video for the Butler social media page, and I’m hoping [to continue] to give everyone an inside look at what it is like to be a student at Butler,” Nielsen said. 

With so much going on across the university, Horne said she is excited to put time into making video content. She hopes to focus on topics like common misconceptions current or prospective students might have about Butler, especially with many people getting their information through word of mouth. 

“People hear one thing about something and then find out that it’s not that way, or don’t take advantage of resources, because they heard some random story about it,” Horne said. “So it’ll be nice to have a way to clear that up. And Evan was all for the transparency. He was joking about how we can show Jordan falling apart.” 

For now, Bedrosian said that the group does not have a set meeting or posting schedule, but is looking forward to getting to know each other more and getting to work. 

“Getting to help out a place that has given me so much the past two years is something that I’m really excited to do during the rest of my time here,” Bedrosian said. The Blue Crew will be active on the Butler Instagram, @butleru.