Founder’s Week features a variety of free events for students, faculty and staff. Photo from The Butler Collegian archives.
KATE NORROD | STAFF REPORTER | knorrod@butler.edu
2026 marks over 140 years of celebrations honoring Butler’s founder, Ovid Butler. Though activities and events have varied over the years, recognizing the life and legacy of Butler has carried on since 1882.
This year’s theme is “Legacy in Motion”, which commemorates the past while also looking ahead to the future of the university. Butler was an abolitionist and founded the university on the “really bold idea of education for all, regardless of background or circumstance”, according to Danny Kibble, the senior executive director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and engagement.
“[Founder’s Week] gives us a chance to celebrate how unique [Butler’s] vision was at the time we were founded in 1855,” Kibble said. “[It was a] pre-Civil War United States, [and] slavery was still legal. Women’s rights were incredibly limited. What [Butler] ultimately did was open a university that admitted women, persons of color and persons of any religious background on an equal basis, which was really unheard of.”
Kibble also adds that Butler was more than just an abolitionist. He was also an entrepreneur, a newspaper proprietor and more. Founder’s Week provides an opportunity to celebrate his life, as well as the legacy of Butler University, which is just as unique as its founder.
This year, Founder’s Week features a plethora of events, including the Black Student Union’s (BSU) Donation Drive, a scavenger hunt sponsored by the DEI department, University Program Council’s (UPC) College Cup, A Black Women’s History of Butler University Lunch and Learn, Diversity Program Council’s (DPC) Keynote Address by Jim Obergefell, a women’s basketball game vs. Villanova and a trivia night.
The College Cup is a competition among Butler’s seven academic colleges. Students in each college gain points by attending Founder’s Week events or participating in other challenges around campus. The college that earns the most points by the end of the week will win a “special prize” from UPC. The committee is also sponsoring an esports tournament on Feb. 3 in the Esports Park.
Rose Cruzan, a sophomore health sciences and neuroscience double major and the UPC director of traditions, helped the Founder’s Week Committee get students more involved in this year’s celebrations.
“We wanted to provide an opportunity for students to have something to do throughout the week,” Cruzan said. “We provided a lot more student activities, like the esports tournament, trivia night, scavenger hunt, social media challenges and things like that, just for students to get more involved.”
Cruzan stated that the College Cup is more than just a series of challenges during the week.
“It’s an opportunity for [students] to get in touch with [their] professors, alumni, upperclassmen [and] underclassmen, and also just learn what to do with [their] major and get other resources,” Cruzan said.
The aforementioned Blue’s Clues scavenger hunt is also continuing throughout the week. Each day, a clue will be sent out via Instagram or email. Students must then use the clue to find the location of the box on campus, take a photo with it and send it in to win a prize box containing Butler merch and other assorted items.
On Feb. 3, a Black Women’s History of Butler University Lunch and Learn covered Butler’s history from 1855 to 1948, focusing specifically on Black women who have helped to shape and impact the university over this time period. These women include Gertrude Mahorney, Ida P. Hagan and the founders of Sigma Gamma Rho.
Later that evening, DPC presented Obergefell of the historic Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case that ultimately led to the legalization of same-sex marriage throughout the nation in 2015 as the keynote speaker. Last year marked one decade of marriage equality in the United States.
Kibble compared Obergefell to Butler.
“If you think about the characteristics of our founder and the characteristics of Mr. Obergefell, [you think of words like] visionary, groundbreaking, persistence, equity,” Kibble said.
P1 pharmacy major Felicity Rawlings, who serves as the vice president of operations for DPC, highlighted the impact of Obergefell coming to campus.
“I feel like we all serve to grow from those stories,” Rawlings said. “Whether you’re queer or not, there’s value in learning about the things that have gotten us to where we are today.”
Rawlings also emphasized the timeliness of Obergefell’s visit and his effect on politics and culture across the nation.
“I think right now there’s a lot of students who are worried about what’s going on in the world, and they don’t know what to do or how to do it,” Rawlings said. “I think this is a good lesson. Look how one person just used nothing but their love to make a change in American politics.”
On Feb. 5, the Reilly Room will be home to the second annual Battle of the Bulldogs Trivia night. Teams of four to six students, staff and faculty are invited to compete in categories of Butler history, general trivia and pop culture. The winning team will receive a “Butler-themed grand prize.”
Kibble discussed the evolution of Founder’s Week celebrations. While it has always been hosted the week of Butler’s birthday, the length and programming have varied greatly over the years.
“We really want this to be a holistic experience for everyone on campus and even our alumni to be part of it,” Kibble said.
