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[music]
[applause]
Dr. Brabant: Good morning, everyone.
It is my honor and privilege as the Chief Faculty Marshall to proclaim the opening of
the 2013 Butler University Commencement exercises.
I would like to ask all of us to thank Professor Richard Auldon Clark and the Butler Symphony
Orchestra for providing our lovely prelude and processional music.
[applause]
At this time I am pleased to introduce Mr. Craig Fenneman, Chairman of the Butler University
Board of Trustees.
Mr. Fenneman: Thank you, Dr. Brabant.
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Butler University Commencement. I extend special
congratulations to each of the members of the class of 2013 for reaching this important
milestone in your lives.
Soon you will join the illustrious ranks of approximately 44,000 Butler alumni who live
in every state in our union and more than 80 countries throughout the world. Their careers
and achievements attest to the quality of their Butler experience.
I now call on the members of the Butler Chorale, directed by Dr. Eric Stark, and the Butler
Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Professor Richard Auldon Clark, to lead us in singing
the National Anthem.
Please stand and remain standing for the National Anthem.
[music]
[applause]
Ms. Scheer: Please be seated.
Family, friends, faculty, staff and the 814 graduates here today, welcome to Butler University
Commencement 2013.
Howard Thurman once said, "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive,
and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Students, throughout the ceremony I ask you to reflect on the experiences and people throughout
your years at Butler that have made you come alive. Think about the family that encouraged
you to attend Butler and have supported you throughout your life.
Consider the professors whose lectures and assignments have opened your mind to new ideas
and inspired you to never stop learning. Pay reverence to any faith or spirituality that
may have guided you through your college years as you have grown and developed. Think about
the friends who have stood by you during all of the troubles and triumphs.
Remember the guest speakers, the cultural events and political debates that have pushed
you to consider issues in a different light. Look back on the service projects, the countless
club meetings, and the endless practices and consider what passions you found in those
experiences that you are going to take with you as you continue on in your life journey.
Reflect on what has made you come alive and now is the time to go do it. As we move on
to jobs, internships, grad schools and gap years, Butler University Class of 2013 go
out into the world and BE alive.
[applause]
Mr. Fenneman: Thank you, Katie. Now, it is my pleasure to present Mr. Michael Couch,
President of the Senior Class who will offer his thoughts on Commencement.
[applause]
Mr. Couch: Thank you Mr. Fenneman.
Welcome Dr. Mitchell, Mr. Green, Dr. Pangan, distinguished Butler faculty and staff, Mike
Keller, past President of the Student Government Association, Brad Vogelsmeier and Loor Alshawa,
this year's top male and female student on campus, and all of the friends and families
of today's graduates. Today is a glorious day, and I am glad we are all able to be here
together to celebrate.
Well everybody, we made it. Take a huge sigh of relief and enjoy the moment. We all worked
hard to get to this day and it's finally here. Though bittersweet, this day is an important
day to look back on the last four, five, and even six years (God bless you pharmacy and
PA majors!) and remember all of the life defining memories we have had while at Butler.
We need to remember going through new student orientation, however many years ago that was.
We need to remember when we first met those people who are sitting next to us today.
We need to remember the countless nerve racking seconds in many of our men's basketball games
that led us through success.
We need to remember the time and effort that our teachers invested in us over the years.
We need to remember every smile and friendly comment from the workers at Atherton, C-club,
and Resco.
We need to remember those times when friends stayed up late to help us study.
We need to remember failing assignments and tests, working harder, and improving.
We need to remember every happy moment, every life lesson, and every opportunity that has
been provided to us during our time at Butler.
We have all been given a rare and powerful gift. I would argue even more powerful than
the amazing gift of a college education, we have all been given the gift of experiencing
The Butler Way.
Though difficult to wholly explain to anyone who hasn't spent a couple years in the so-called
"Butler Bubble," to all of us, the phrase makes perfect sense. 0It's that immeasurable
aura that surrounds and inspires our campus community. It is that aura, the Butler Way,
that now charges us to go out into the world and to show it who we really are.
We are the pharmacists, the marketers, the music teachers, the biological researchers,
and the graduate students who are going to shape the world.
We are the people who will discover the next penicillin, invent the next Internet, compose
the next fifth symphony, write the next Hamlet, and found the Fortune 500 companies of tomorrow.
This wouldn't be a proper senior class president speech without a slightly corny, cliché quote.
So far I've done well, but now is my chance.
With the proliferation of this genre in recent years, I've chosen a quote from a super hero
movie. "With great power, comes great responsibility."
Every one of us has been given a great power and every one of us has been given an even
greater responsibility. Having been given the gift of education and the inspiration
of the Butler Way, I charge all of you, myself included, to go out into the world and wear
the Butler Way emblazoned upon our chests. Show the world what you are made of and let
them know what it means to be a bulldog.
[applause]
Mr. Fenneman: Thank you, Michael. Once again, our talented Butler Chorale will perform "Things
That Never Die" with music by Lee Dengler, text by Nixon Waterman which has been drawn
from the work of Charles Dickens. The words are on page one of your program.
Please welcome to the podium Dr. Stark and the Butler University Chorale.
[music]
[applause]
Mr. Fenneman: Thank you Dr. Stark and the Butler Chorale. At this time, Mr. Cody Benefiel,
Treasurer of the Class of 2013, will present our faculty speaker.
Mr. Benefiel: Thank you, Mr. Fenneman.
It is now my distinct honor to introduce the Faculty Speaker for the 2013 Commencement.
In the fall of 2009, the majority of the graduating class present today found itself moving onto
the campus that would become home for the next four years. Whether it was Ross Hall,
Schwitzer, or ResCo, the next chapter of our lives had begun at Butler University.
However, we were not the only ones who found ourselves settling into a new home here. That
same year, Dr. Catherine Hagerman-Pangan and her family arrived at the university when
she accepted a position as the Faculty in Residence at Schwitzer Hall.
Bringing with her a Doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College, a Masters from
Butler University, a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Indiana State University,
and experience teaching third and fourth grade in both St. Louis, Missouri, and Westfield,
Indiana, Dr. Pangan had already established a life dedicated to not only teaching, but
also instilling a passion for learning into others.
During her tenure here, her students have enjoyed a commitment to further education
with her "constant effort to put her students above everything else" and ability to "introduce
something new and innovative every day."
While at Butler, Dr. Pangan has received the Richard Guyer Chair in Education in 2010,
SGA Outstanding Professor of the Year in 2012, and Mortar Board Professor of the year in
2009, 2011, and 2013. She is a columnist for the New Teacher Advocate and just recently
finished a draft for a book that will be published later this year.
Even with all of these accolades and honors, she claims what truly made her a "rockstar
for a day" was crafting the Lego Curriculum for the Children's Museum, which I believe
our entire class can appreciate.
The family that accompanied Dr. Pangan on her journey to Butler consists of her husband,
Roland, and their two children: Hudson, who is eight, and Violet, who is almost two. In
a beautiful twist of fate, Dr. Pangan, having called this campus home over the last four
years, has been invited by what Hudson, her son, calls his "graduating class," to share
her words of wisdom today. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce Dr. Catherine Hagerman-Pangan.
Please help me welcome her.
[applause]
Dr. Pangan: Thank you Cody. Thank you President Danko, the Board of Trustees, my faculty peers
and honored guests, families, friends, and students!
As Cody stated, I'm a former fourth grade teacher, current professor in the College
of Education, and Faculty-In Residence. My #1 philosophy is keeping students at the center
of the experience -- and giving a commencement speech is no different! So I asked a lot of
seniors -- what would make this the best graduation speech you've ever heard?
"Make it personal!" Said Amy Coffman.
"Include humor," laughed Amy Gaisser.
"Make it meaningful to our class," Bridget McGrath thoughtfully stated.
"Make it inspiring," said Courtney Boyle.
"Make it heartfelt," said Taylor Staniszeski.
"Make it courageous," said Ryan Ward.
"Make it short!" said Meg Haggerty (Meg is the organizer of commencement)
Hmmm -- No pressure. So I decided to give you all a gift that includes these elements-
I wrote you your own, personal, humorous, short, adventuresome, inspiring, heartfelt
graduation story.
Now, this isn't just your ordinary story. Because as all of you know, to make something
meaningful for people, most often you need to make it interactive.
So, throughout the story, YOU will be asked to participate in different ways.
Cody and Abbey have big cue cards that say "ON THEIR WAY" on them. When I give the signal,
they will hold them up and all you have to do is read them in your best enthusiastic
voices. That goes for parents, families, and friends too.
If you hear your name or college, do this!. And if you hear your neighbor's name -- give
them a little nudge.
We are ready to go!
This story is called "The Adventures of Dawgtown- 2013 edition"
Once upon a time in a village not too far away, called Dawgtown -- there lived 814 happy
soon-to be graduates. Dawgtown was an exciting, enjoyable place to be.
On warm days, Residents lounged on the mall, jumped in Starfountain when the the Dawg Police
weren't looking (Dr. Lecklider), and consumed countless amounts of carmel frappacinos.
On cold days, residents skipped along to Dominick the Donkey (some years)
[applause]
On the way to class in while consuming countless amounts of zebra hot chocolates. They cheered
their Beloved Dawgtown Hoops team, always gave their town mascot a scratch behind the
ears, and made sure to exercise every January in the Dawgtown HRC.
The residents were hard workers too. They seemed to study non-stop in secret spots in
the Dawgtown library. Beautiful music of all sorts streamed from the practice rooms of
Dawg-Lily Hall. The Dawgtown College of Arts was one of the best in the land, and it supported
the town with phenomenal artistic performances that inspired awe and creativity.
In Dawgtown's College of Business, ventures and inventions were always being created to
help make Dawgtown an innovative, exciting place to be. Who wouldn't want to buy a Bulldog
pillowpet?
Life in Dawgtown was good - Until one ominous day, everyone say (DUN DUN DUN) -- when the
soon-to-be graduates received a mysterious tweet from Danko the Great, the Dawgtown President.
[laughter]
"Greetings fellow Dawgtonians, I applaud your years of hard work, I'll see you in the real
world on May 11th, 2013."
"WHAT??" the Dawgtown residents exclaimed. "The REAL WORLD? We have only HEARD of that
place and seen our exhausted parents come home from that land!! We are NOT READY" exclaimed
the residents
"I've heard the REAL WORLD is tough," said Bridget Hannon.
Melissa Rangle said, "In the REAL WORLD, I've heard your first paycheck is REALLY TINY"
"You have to COOK YOUR OWN FOOD -- EVERYDAY," cried Chase Stigall.
"You have to PAY for your own INTERNET!!" shrieked Chris Henderson.
AKKKK -- the residents of Dawgtown were in a frenzy -- but it didn't last long, because
they were a solution-focused bunch.
"Hold on," said Anna Peters, "is the real world really too treacherous for us? Let's
go talk with the Prez and see if we can figure this out.
So, the soon-to-be graduates set out on an adventure together to track down Danko the
Great. But, like all adventures, it wasn't as easy as it seemed.
As they set out on their journey, the wind swept up, the rain poured, and thunder roared
across the sky. The residents were in danger of -- "STOP -- WAIT A MINUTE, WAIT A MINUTE,"
the College of Communication declared.
No Quest can be complete without thorough documentation, and records of newsworthy events
that include multiple-perspectives. (No wonder the College of Communication was Dawgtown's
fastest growing college -- they were a savvy group!)
You are RIGHT -- the residents exclaimed!
They got out their media production tools, and ALL the reporters, editors, and photographers
for the Dawgtown newspaper (both in print and online) documented their journey. And,
Cody and Abbey - they were on their way.
As they traveled through the native grasses by the Dawgtown canal, and stopped to feed
the Dawgtown Camel -- several of the residents started itching and scratching.
"Do I have something red on my neck," scratched Kaitlin Donohue.
"I think something an insect just bit me," Jasmen Rice yelled.
"My whole leg has swollen up," said Bri Sever!
"STOP -- Wait a minute, Wait a minute," the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences calmly
stated. It seems you all are having an allergic reaction to some of these indigenous plants
the Physician Assistants diagnosed.
"Let us create a compound ointment to relieve the itchiness the pharmacists said!"
After mixing the treatment and giving the correct prescription, everyone felt MUCH better
and the itchiness was gone.
"THANK YOU," yelled the Dawgtown residents - and Cody and Abbey - they were on their
way.
They traveled through Holcomb Gardens, checked behind the Persephone statue but could not
find the Prez!
They DID find LJ, the Vice President of Dawgtown Affairs -- looking abnormally upset!
"My phone!" cried LJ, "It isn't working. The settings are all jammed and the screen keeps
projecting everything in foreign languages! How can I let everyone know about my tweet
treats if I can't send the message?!!"
"Stop, wait a minute, wait a minute," the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences calmly
stated. We've got this under control.
The foreign language department collaborated with the Computer science and software engineering
residents and translated the messages and got LJ's phone working again -- the Psychology
students were able to use their knowledge to calm LJ down and got him back to his perky
self. And the scientists took an inventory of the chemical and biological make up of
some interesting footprints they found!
LJ said, "I think I can help you out -- the Prez has a really busy schedule today, but
I think he had a meeting at the Butler Lab School, he might still be there."
Thanks! The residents said, and Cody and Abbey - they were on their way.
The group traveled down Meridian and took a left on 34th street. They were about to
enter the lab school when a few of the residents started looking worried.
"Umm, is this the place where they teach in all sorts of different ways?" said Susie ***.
"I heard it is based on an Italian approach and the children integrate the arts AND the
sciences," said Haley Deiser.
"I heard they are studying vermiculture!" said Kyle Stuard.
"What's vermiculture??" shrieked Rotnei Clark.
"Wait a Minute, Wait a Minute," the College of Education calmly stated. "We've spent A
LOT of time in schools and there is nothing to be afraid of! The children are welcoming
and knowledgeable and they will be our best resources!"
The residents of Dawgtown quietly walked inside. "Have you seen the Prez?" asked Lauren Reed.
"Yes, he's doing yoga with 1st and 2nd graders," one of the children said, "let me show you."
As they went to the yoga room, they found Danko the Dawgtown Prez in Tree Pose with
his eyes closed. The residents of Dawgtown breathed a sigh of relief, "ahhh."
"Umm, excuse me," whispered Trisha Frasure.
"We received your tweet and we are REALLY concerned about making our way to the REAL
WORLD."
The Prez's eyes opened slowly. He smiled and said, "residents of Dawgtown -- since you've
been here, you have collaborated, created, danced, designed, inspired, calculated, innovated,
hypothesized, researched, written, invented, participated, questioned, diagnosed, taught,
pushed, loved, and grown.
You HAVE BEEN in the REAL WORLD and now it's time for you to thank your family and friends
for supporting you in this journey, pass through the doors of Hinkle and make your marks like
you have been doing throughout all of your experiences."
The graduates smiled, for deep within themselves, they knew they were ready all along.
Get ready for the big finish -- Cody and Abbey - AND -- They were ON THEIR WAY!
Thank you very much.
[applause]
Mr. Fenneman: Thank you, Dr. Pangan for your thoughtful message. It is my pleasure to introduce
the Dawgtown Prez, oh I'm sorry, the 21st President of Butler University, James Danko.
President Danko: Well that's a tough act to follow, but we'll do our best. Thank you,
Chairman Fenneman, and congratulations to our Butler graduates.
Today, we celebrate a tremendous milestone in your lives. We are very proud of your academic
and personal achievements, and we are grateful for the unique and positive impact that each
of you has had on Butler University.
We are also grateful—as I know you are—for your parents, family members, and friends.
They have helped you to reach this milestone. Let's take a moment to give them a round of
applause and thank them for their love, support, and encouragement.
[applause]
While today's ceremony is indeed a happy one, we here at Butler are sad to see you leave.
And I know many of you, likewise, are sad to be leaving.
We often refer to the "Butler Way" as the special manner in which we pursue excellence
in our own areas of talent for the greater good of our communities and society at large.
Throughout your academic journey, you have exemplified the Butler Way. It is my hope
that as you embrace the next chapter of your lives, you will continue to let the Butler
Way inspire you.
I encourage you to remember those people who have given you a helping hand and pulled you
forward. Don't forget to give those behind you the same helping hand. Continue to serve
your families, your friends, and your communities as you have done here at Butler.
I wish you every success as you begin your new journey as alumni. We will miss you and
your special contributions to this campus, and we hope you will come back to visit us
often.
It is my pleasure to welcome to the stage Dr. Arthur Hochman to introduce Dr. Martha
Mitchell, one of our Honorary Degree recipients.
[applause]
Dr. Hochman: Thank you, President Danko.
Dr. Martha Mitchell graduated from Butler at a time that was very challenging for an
African-American woman. She received a degree in sociology in 1945, and 20 years later a
master's in Education.
When I came to know her 3 years ago, I quickly realized that she had a great deal to teach
us.
I will never forget the day last year she spent with a group of students, who are graduating
today. We ate lunch together, and they listened as she told us about her experiences at Butler
and beyond.
She told us of having to eat lunch in the basement of Jordan Hall, in a room designated
for smoking, because she was African-American.
And she also told us about moments of grace, such as when Hazel Hart, a professor in the
College of Education, invited her to present her methods in a citywide teacher workshop.
This was quite an honor and an unusual occurrence for an African-American woman at that time.
She told us about our own legacy - about the truth of our own history.
She told us about teaching for 20 years at School 87, where she was always proud "to
see the lights go on" when students grasped lessons.
She told us about her teaching at Stanford, her educational efforts in Africa, helping
to found the Center for Leadership Development, helping to create and nurture the Distinguished
Black Alumni Association, as well as the successful creation of a school here in Indianapolis
- the Building Blocks Academy.
Dr. Mitchell modeled and continues to model living life as a verb rather than just a noun,
because she positively impacts the world and does not simply exist in it.
I feel lucky to know Dr. Martha Mitchell and I cannot wait to learn even more from her.
Her Butler story is an inspiring one - full of self-determination.
Butler University is proud to recognize our alumna, Dr. Martha Conner Mitchell, for her
distinguished career in education and for her devotion to igniting the light of learning
for so many students. Dr. Mitchell, will you please come forward?
[applause]
President Danko: On the recommendation of the faculty, with the approval of the Butler
University Board of Trustees and by the authority vested in me, I confer upon you, Martha Conner
Mitchell, the degree of Doctor of Education, honoris causa, with all the rights, privileges,
and responsibilities thereto.
I invite the audience, we've done this but let's do it again, to join me in expressing
our congratulations and best wishes to our newest honorary degree recipient.
[applause]
President Danko: We continue with the presentation of an honorary degree to John Green, our commencement
speaker.
New York Times best-selling author, John Green, is making a positive impact on a new generation
through his books, educational videos, blogs, and social media.
While John's books have been written primarily for a young adult audience, they have been
appreciated by young and old alike and now been published in more than a dozen languages.
His latest novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was Time Magazine's #1 fiction book of the
year in 2012 and will soon be made into a film by 20th Century Fox.
John's other best-selling books include Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and
Paper Towns.
He was a 2006 recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award, the 2009 Edgar Award and has
twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
In addition to his literary success, John and his brother, Hank, have become cultural
icons through Vlogbrothers, an exchange of YouTube video blogs between the two of them
since 2007.
The Vlogbrothers channel has received over 300 million views and has created a worldwide
community of people called Nerdfighters (any out there?) who celebrate intellectualism,
empathy for others, and social justice.
John and Hank have also recently started offering open online education through a YouTube channel
called CrashCourse.
Hank teaches science while John teaches literature, US history, and world history.
John performed An Evening of Awesome to a sold out crowd in Carnegie Hall in January
2013 and appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in March 2013.
While John's professional success has been nothing short of astronomical, more importantly
he is committing to using his success to making the world a better place.
He truly represents the ideals of Butler University.
John is an alumnus of Kenyon College, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with
a double major in English and Religious Studies.
John, will you please come forward?
[applause]
On the recommendation of the faculty, with the approval of the Butler University Board
of Trustees and by the authority invested in me, I confer upon you, John Green, the
degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa, with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities
thereto.
[applause]
John Green: Good morning.
It's going to take me a minute to unfold this.
Thank you President Danko. Those are the first words of my speech.
My own commencement speaker, who shall remain nameless, began his speech with a lame joke
about how these gigs only come in two varieties: Short and bad.
This raised my expectations tremendously, and then he went onto speak for 26 minutes,
so I'm just going to tell you right now: 12 minutes flat, 11:45 if you don't laugh.
I do want to congratulate everyone who's here today and I do mean everyone—parents, families,
friends, professors, coaches.
Every single person in Hinkle today has given something to make this moment possible for
the class of 2013—well, except for me, but everyone else has.
But special congratulations to you graduates today. Before we get to the Life Advice You'll
Soon Forget portion of the program, I want to engage in a time-honored tradition of American
commencement addresses: Stealing from other commencement addresses, in this case one by
the children's television host Mr. Fred Rogers.
I want you to spend one minute, which I know is an eternity in the age of the internet,
but I want you to spend one minute, if you will, thinking of some of the people who helped
get you to today, the people who loved you and without whose care and generosity you
might not have found yourself here, graduating from Butler, or watching someone you love
graduate, or seeing your students graduate.
Think for one minute of those who have loved us up into this day. I'll keep the time.
Those people are so proud of you today.
I want to return to them soon, but first I have to deliver terrible news, which is that
you are all going to die.
This is another time-honored tradition of American celebration, the Raining on the Parade.
I remember when I got married, the priest devoted the majority of his homily to telling
me how challenging and laborious and often miserable marriage would be, and I kept thinking,
"That seems like something that could wait for TOMORROW."
But no, it can't. You are going to die. Not only that. It gets worse.
Everything you ever make and think and experience will be washed away by the sands of time.
The Sun will blow up and no one will remember Cleopatra ruling Egypt or Crick and Watson
untangling the structure of DNA or Ptolemy fathoming the stars or even that improbably
wonderful game against Gonzaga.
So that's unfortunate.
But I would argue that it's good to be aware of temporariness on a day like today when
you are thinking about what you want to do with your life.
The whole idea of this commencement speech is that I'm supposed to offer you some thoughts
on how you might live a good life out there in the so-called Real World, which by the
way I assure you is no more or less real than the one in which you have so far found yourselves.
But I can't give any advice about how to live a good life unless and until we establish
what constitutes a good life.
Of course, that's much of what you've been up to for the past four or five years or six,
whether you've been studying Dance or Literature, and I'm not going to swoop in here at the
end with any interesting revelations.
I would just note that the default assumption is that the point of human life is to be as
successful as possible, to acquire lots of fame or glory or money as defined by quantifiable
metrics: number of twitter followers, or facebook friends, or dollars in one's 401k which is
a thing you guys don't know about yet, but it's coming.
That's the hero's journey, right? The hero starts out with no money and ends up with
a lot of it.
The hero starts out an ugly duckling and becomes a beautiful swan, or starts out an awwkward
girl and becomes a vampire mother, or grows up an orphan living under the staircase and
then becomes the wizard who saves the world.
We are taught that the hero's journey is the journey from weakness to strength. But I am
here today to tell you that those stories are wrong. The real hero's journey is the
journey from strength to weakness.
And here is the good news nested inside the bad: Many of you, most of you, are about to
make that journey.
You will go from being the best-informed, most engaged students at one of the finest
universities around to being, if you are lucky, the person who brings coffee to people, or
you might be a Steak n Shake waiter, as I once was.
Whether you're a basketball player or a pharmacist or a software designer, you're about to be
a rookie. Your parents' long-asked questions—what exactly does one DO with a degree in anthropology—will
become a matter of sudden and profound relevance in your life.
Your student loans will come due and you will need a very good answer for why exactly you
went to college in the first place, which answer you will have a hard time coming by
as you sit at your job, provided you are lucky enough to find a job, and suffer the indignity
of people calling you by the wrong name or, if you are forced to wear a name tag, people
calling you by the right name too often.
That is the true hero's errand—the journey from strength to weakness.
And because you went to Butler, you will be more alive to the experience, better able
to contextualize it and maybe even find the joy and wonder hidden amid the dehumanizing
drudgery.
For example, when I graduated from college I worked for awhile as a data entry professional,
I would often call to mind William Faulkner's brilliant letter of resignation from the United
States Postal Service, which went:
As long as I live under the capitalistic system, I expect to have my life influenced by the
demands of moneyed people.
But I will be damned if I propose to be at the beck and call of every itinerant scoundrel
who has two cents to invest in a postage stamp. This, sir, is my resignation. William Faulkner.
Having read that letter in a Faulkner biography in college had nothing to do with my job typing
numbers into a database, but it was still profoundly useful to me.
Education provides context and comfort and access, no matter the relationship between
your field of study and the trajectory of your post-collegiate life.
But still, you are probably going to be a nobody for a while. You are going to make
that journey from strength to weakness, and while it won't be an easy trip, it is a heroic
one.
For in learning how to be a nobody, you will learn how not to be a jerk. And for the rest
of your life, if you are able to remember your hero's journey from college grad to underling,
you will be less of a jerk.
You will tip well. You will empathize. You will be a mentor, and a generous one. In short,
you will become like the people you imagined in silence a few minutes ago.
Let me submit to you that this is the actual definition of a good life. You want to be
the kind of person who other people—people who may not even born yet—will think about
in their own silences years from now at their own commencements.
I am going to hazard a guess that relatively few of us closed our eyes and thought of all
the work and love that Selena Gomez or Justin Bieber put into making this moment possible
for us.
We may be taught that the people to admire and emulate are actors and musicians and sports
heroes and professionally famous people, but when we look at the people who have helped
us, the people who actually change actual lives, relatively few of them are publicly
celebrated.
We do not think of the money they had, but of their generosity. We do not think of how
beautiful or powerful they were, but how willing they were to sacrifice for us—so willing,
at times, that we might not have even noticed that they were making sacrifices.
So with that in mind, I'd like to share a few pieces of what I believe to be rock solid
advice about proper adulthood:
First and perhaps most importantly, do not worry too much about your lawn.
You will soon find if you haven't already that almost every adult American devotes tremendous
time and energy to the maintenance of an invasive plant species called turf grass that we can't
eat.
I think you should choose a better obsession.
Also, you may have heard that it is better to burn out than it is to fade away.
That is ridiculous. It is much better to fade away. Always. Fade. Away.
Keep reading. Specifically, read my books, ideally in hardcover. But also keep reading
other books.
[applause]
You have probably figured out by now that education is not really about grades or getting
a job; it's primarily about becoming a more aware and engaged observer of the universe.
If that ends with college, you're rather wasting your one and only known chance at consciousness.
Also a word about the Internet: Old people like myself are terrified by their ignorance
of the internet, and you should use that to your advantage.
You should say things at your job like, "You don't have a tumblr? Oh you should really
have a tumblr. I can set you up with that."
Try not to worry too much about what you are going to do with your life.
You are already doing what you are going to do with your life, and judging by the fact
that you are wearing a gown, you're doing pretty well. That's not a sentence you hear
much in life.
On that topic, there are many more jobs out there than you have ever heard of. In fact,
your dream job might not yet exist.
If you had told College Graduate Me that I would become a professional YouTuber, I would've
been like, "That doesn't seem like a word."
And lastly, I want to encourage you to be vigilant in the struggle toward empathy.
A couple years after I graduated from college, I was living in an apartment in Chicago with
four friends, one of whom was this Kuwaiti guy, Hassan, and when the U.S. invaded Iraq,
Hassan lost touch with his family, who lived on the border, for six weeks.
By the way, some of you have heard me tell this story before, but I have a microphone,
you're seated and so you're going to listen to the rest of it.
So my friend Hassan responded to this stress by watching cable news coverage of the war
24 hours a day. And the only way to hang out with Hassan was to sit on the couch and watch
the news with him.
So one day we were watching the news and the anchor was like, "We're getting new footage
from the city of Baghdad," and a camera panned across a house that had a huge hole in one
wall covered by a piece of plywood.
On the plywood was Arabic graffiti scrawled in black spray paint, and as the news anchor
talked about the anger on the Arab street, and Hassan started laughing for the first
time in weeks.
I said, "What's so funny?"
He said, "The graffiti."
I said, "What's funny about it?"
He looked at me and he smiled and he said, "It says, Happy Birthday, Sir, Despite the
Circumstances."
[laughter]
For the rest of your life, you are going to have a choice about how to read graffiti in
a language you do not know, and you will have a choice about how to read the actions and
intonations of the people you meet.
I would encourage you as often as possible to consider the Happy Birthday Sir Despite
the Circumstances possibility, the possibility that the lives and experiences of others are
as complex and unpredictable as your own.
That other people—be they family or strangers, near or far—are not simply one thing or
the other—not simply good or evil or wise or ignorant—but that they like you contain
multitudes, to borrow a phrase from the great Walt Whitman.
This is difficult to do—it is difficult to remember that people with lives different
and distant from your own even celebrate birthdays, let alone with gifts of graffitied plywood.
You will always be stuck inside of your body, with your consciousness, seeing through the
world through your own eyes, but the gift and challenge of your Butler education is
to see others as they see themselves, to grapple meaningfully with this cruel and crazy and
beautiful world in all its baffling complexity.
I know that we have not left you with the easiest path, and I'm sorry, but I have every
confidence in you, and I wish you a very happy graduation, despite the circumstances.
Thank you.
[applause]
President Danko: Thank you, John. That was truly terrific.
At this time, I recognize Dr. Kathryn Morris, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Dr. Morris: Thank you, President Danko.
Graduates, it is my pleasure to recognize the faculty of Butler University and to honor
their role in your educational success here. And I'm going to go off script for a second
here.
John, I'd like to thank you for asking us to have that minute of intentional thought
about people who helped us to get here. I did that as well and I did think about faculty
members who worked with me when I was an undergraduate and so this is really my pleasure to be able
to recognize people that I hope you were thinking about a few minutes ago.
Faculty, I'd like to ask you to rise, please.
Graduates, during your time at Butler, you have grown and developed intellectual and
practical skills that will serve you well in your future. Your development as students
is a direct consequence of the meaningful interactions you have had with faculty members,
both inside and outside of the classroom. Simply put, you would not be here today were
it not for the dedicated faculty members on our campus.
Graduates, I ask that you take a moment to think about the transformative influence these
faculty have had on your lives. Not only have they affected your daily interactions and
your educational progress over the time you have been at Butler, but their influence will
continue as you travel your own life paths. These people have put their hearts and souls
into your education. I ask that you honor them with a round of applause.
[applause]
Thank you. Faculty, please be seated.
Next, it is my distinct pleasure to recognize three particular faculty members. This year,
we implemented the Distinguished Faculty Awards, which honor professional accomplishment throughout
one's career at Butler. I would like to invite our three 2013 Distinguished Faculty Award
winners to stand as I call your name, and I would ask that we hold applause until we
have recognized all three award winners.
Dr. Lisa Brooks, Professor of Music, winner of the 2013 Distinguished Faculty Award for
Service and Leadership.
Dr. Brian Murphy, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, winner of the 2013 Distinguished
Faculty Award for Scholarship, Research, and Creative Activity.
Dr. Kent Van Tyle, Professor of Pharmacology, winner of the 2013 Distinguished Faculty Award
for Teaching.
Congratulations on being nominated and selected by your faculty peers for this wonderful honor.
[applause]
Thank you again, to each and every faculty member at Butler, whose efforts have made
this commencement ceremony possible for our students.
Graduates, the diplomas you are about to receive signify your academic accomplishments, under
the tutelage of this outstanding faculty, grounded in the liberal arts and complemented
with training in your discipline or profession of choice.
Congratulations on your academic work. But being a graduate of Butler is more than your
academic success. During your time at Butler, you have not only developed as students, but
also as people who contribute to the world around you.
We have calculated that members of your graduating class have collectively performed some 70,000
hours of community service during your time at Butler.
[applause]
That's a pretty amazing accomplishment. In the years you have been here, you have made
a positive impact on the communities in which you have served. We know you will continue
to make the world a better place.
Graduates, the faculty, staff, and administration are proud of you. Indeed, commencement is
one of our proudest days on campus. As you begin a new phase in your life, please know
that we trust you will be excellent ambassadors for your alma mater, whether you find yourself
in Indianapolis or anywhere else in the country, or around the world. And we look forward to
hearing from you about the ways in which you have used your Butler education in your professional,
personal, and service-oriented lives.
We will now present the graduate and undergraduate degrees.
All members of the graduating class please stand.
Mr. President, the candidates standing before you have completed all the requirements for
their respective degrees. They have been recommended by the faculty and approved by the Board of
Trustees, and I now present them for the conferral of their degrees.
President Danko: On the recommendation of the faculty, the Provost, with the approval
of the Board of Trustees, and by the authority vested in me, I confer upon you the degrees
recommended with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities pertaining thereto.
Dr. Morris: In keeping with academic tradition, those of you who are receiving bachelor degrees
may now move your tassels, symbolizing your degrees, from the right side to the left side
of your cap.
[applause]
Please be seated.
Dr. Jay Howard, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will now present the candidates
for the Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of Science.
Dr. Howard: Thank you, Dr. Morris.
Candidates receiving the Master of Fine Arts degree:
Maria Cook
Douglas Manuel II
Craig Parker
Michael Powers
Christopher Speckman
Carol Taylor
Margie Watson
Earning the degree Master of Arts:
Emily Luc
Matthew Proctor
Earning the degree Bachelor of Arts:
Emelia Abbe magna *** laude
Katherine Adams summa *** laude
Jeremy Algate
Arielle Arzu
Ryan Bable
Roberto Baptiste Vasquez
Tony Bergamini magna *** laude
Katelin Biermann summa *** laude
Elise Bohmer
Kirsten Boles summa *** laude
Anne Bowersox
Michael Callaway *** laude
Rachel Carnagua
Chaise Carter
Mallory Caudill
Hayley Cole *** laude
UnoBlessed ***
Chloe Cooper *** laude
Michael Couch
Jason Crivolio
Megan Cullen
Nicole Cunningham
Justin Dice
Kirstie Dobbs
Jordan Dolson
Brittany Elkins
Mary Eloe
Andrew Erlandson magna *** laude
Laura Fennelly
Katherine Filchak *** laude
Christine Fisher *** laude
Benjamin Fox
Hailee Freeman
Meghan Frey *** laude
Samantha Fulton
James Gillen
Sabrina Gregory
Hannah Grow
Jordan Hall *** laude
Kelly Hamman
Bridget Hannon
Kenneth Harding
Taylor Hira
Nicholas Hochstedler *** laude
Erin Holm *** laude
Courtney ***
Zachary Hulesch
Nicole Hummel
Nicole Humphrey magna *** laude
Shelby Hunter
Jordan Jemison
Steven Johnson *** laude
Janelle Jordan *** laude
Robert Kimes
Kimberlee Koehler
Molly Kordas
Jennifer Kugler
Paul Lacy
William Lamar
Jasmine Lancaster
Kate Langdon
Joshua Lembke
Mollie Louret
Stefan Ludlow
Jacqueline Marsh
Sarah Martin *** laude
Scott McLuckie *** laude
Craig Middleton
Megan Minser
Elyse Morgan *** laude
Jack Morlock
Shelby Murdoch
Scott Nemeth
Paige Newman
Lara Olinger
Tia Osborne magna *** laude
Ravi Patel
Joseph Paul *** laude
Joseph Perry
Kerry Poreda
Monica Porter *** laude
Adam Posorske
Julie Query
Jeremiah Reagin *** laude
Colin Reenan *** laude
Jasmen Rice
Amber Sapp magna *** laude
Christen Schwarz
Nicholas Seefeldt
Erica Sgroi
Lynsey Sharp summa *** laude
Grace Shelton *** laude
Hilary Shepherd *** laude
Thomas Siedlecki
Madeline Silverstein
Jason Simpson
Jillian Sitjar
Alexa Smith
Samantha Smith *** laude
Alan Snyder
Wyatt Steckbeck
Hannah Stiller
Jessica Strong
Brittany Sullivan
Meaghan Sullivan *** laude
Hannah Sutton *** laude
Virginia Swale
Alex Tallentire
Brett Thomaston
Eileen Toomey summa *** laude
Angela Toth
Danielle Vaclavik magna *** laude
Emily VanTyle
Randy Vega
Bradley Vogelsmeier *** laude
Samantha Weichert *** laude
Lindsey Weiss
Jenna Wheaton
Aimee Wilkinson
Courtney Williams
Madeline Wirthwein
Jessica Wlodarski
Kevin Wolf *** laude
Candidates receiving the Bachelor of Science degree:
Mark Abarca
Jessica Abbinett
Justin Abbott *** laude
Lina Annable
Ellen Baker
Brooke Becker
Christian Brown
Shannon Burke magna *** laude
Elizabeth Closurdo
Kelsey Coy
Kelly Crider *** laude
Alexander Davis
Daniel Dewar
Zachary Didier
Lauren Drzewiecki
Hitesh Dube *** laude
Kirsten Ennis
Rachael Essig *** laude
Brittany Foerg *** laude
Grace Frank
Danielle Friend
Kala Ghooray summa *** laude
Erica Gilliland magna *** laude
Logan Grady
Whitney Greene
Kelly Grott *** laude
Kathryn Hagan
Emily Hambel
Dylan Harmison
Clare Hubbard
Cody Jackson
Christopher Johnson
David Johnson
Elliott Johnson
Zachary Jones
Zachary Kartje
Sara Kay
Alissa Kent
Matthew Kiszkowski
Julie Klensch *** laude
Adjoa Selom Kugbe
Lili Kyurkchiyska
Sophia Lee magna *** laude
Daniel Leedy
Andrew Lincoln *** laude
Paige Love *** laude
Sergio Madera
Bryn Masson
Mica Mathison *** laude
Brian McClure
Mira McKary magna *** laude
Logan Metzger
Allen Meyers *** laude
Claire Milam magna *** laude
Karissa Miller *** laude
Nicholas Olinger *** laude
Ciera Oshodi
Andrew Raebig
Tabatha Ramsey
Kristen Rush magna *** laude
Matthew Salasky
Christopher Savas *** laude
Kristen Senetar
Michelle Simpson
Shelby Stavretis
Mackenzie Tarble
Christina Tatara summa *** laude
Eran Todd
Matthew Vogt *** laude
Katherine Scheer
David Wacker
Amy Wasilk
Jonathan Webster II *** laude
Those are the candidates from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Thank you, Dr.
Morris.
[applause]
Dr. Morris: Thank you, Dr. Howard.
Presenting the candidates for Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in the College of
Education will be Dr. Ena Shelley, Dean of the College.
Dr. Shelley: Thank you, Dr. Morris. It is my privilege on behalf of the College of Education,
to introduce the candidates for Masters of Science in Education.
Kristin Anderson
Rebecca Bechtel
Erin Brown
Kara Bungard
Karen Bushouse
Courtney Coppinger
Sheryl Dallas
Cortney Dammeier
Deena Fogle
Nicholas Friedman
Alana Gardner
Jennifer George
Kristin Gibson
Kristin Hendrich
Kimberly Johnson
Andrew Knaup
Amy Lents
Nelda Love
Nicholas McNeely
Cassandra Mitchum
John Moorehead Jr.
Pamela Nixon
Laura Rasche
Candace Robinson
Dawn Terrill
And now, the candidates for the Bachelor of Science degree in Education:
John Aikenhead
Hillary Adams
Isaac Adams
Jessica Biggs
Jessica Blackport
Layne Blackwell
Courtney Boyle summa *** laude
Chelsea Bujarsky *** laude
Julia Cassel *** laude
Taylor Clarkson
Amy Coffman *** laude
Brittany Connett *** laude
Clare Cornelius *** laude
Joey Crume
Danielle Edgeworth
Elyse Estridge *** laude
Brittany Farmer
Amy Gaisser summa *** laude
April Gauthier
Jennifer Goshert *** laude
Bridgit Goss
Sean Grady
Derek Groves
Christopher Henderson *** laude
Jazzmin Humphrey *** laude
Ciara Jeffrey
Kathryn Jones
Craig Jordan II
Jackson Kammrath
Karly Keiper *** laude
Clare Kelly
Elise Kirby
Maria Kouri
Catherine Lamberton
Natalie Lay
Kyle Lees
Grant Lewis
Kaitlyn Love *** laude
Katelyn Manion
Lauren McKillop
Jordan Miller
Kilee Moenning
Rachael Moheban
Alexandra Moore
Ashlynn Morrill *** laude
Matthew Nicholson *** laude
Kimberly Northrup
Margaret Oelerich
Rachel Polkow *** laude
Samantha Prachar
Lauren Prop *** laude
Melissa Rangel
Kelsie Roberts *** laude
Megan Rogg *** laude
Ariel Rudd
Anne Sanders
Emily Schrock
Paige Sjoerdsma *** laude expected
Chase Stigall
Meagan Stroka
Lauren Suchy
Olivia Thomas
Ryan Ward
Sara Waters
Kristyn Watts
Drew Welch
Nicole Weston *** laude
Jill Wheelock *** laude
Brittany Wickliff
Trent Wilburn
Whitney Wiley
Hannah Yackey *** laude
Shara Zaia
That completes the degrees for the College of Education. Thank you, Dr. Morris.
[applause]
Dr. Morris: Thank you, Dr. Shelley.
Dr. Ronald Caltabiano, Dean of the Jordan College of the Arts, will present the candidates
for Master of Music, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor
of Science in that college.
Dr. Caltabiano: Thank you, Dr. Morris.
With a Master of Music degree:
Kurt Carlson
Jarrod Henson
Elsie Johnson
Timothy Kiefer
Myles Nardinger
Erin Nichols
Kelly Swensson
Kyle Wernke
Laurelen Whitney
Candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree:
Lauren Albert
Lauren Batson
Thomas Benoist
Hali Bickford *** laude
Marcella Columbus magna *** laude
Lisa Delmedico *** laude
Matthew Dickey
Matthew Doolin
Melissa Downs
Rachel Gerwig *** laude
Alexa Glaser
Hailley Goleta *** laude
Chelsea Hughey
Paul Hunt Jr.
Douglas Johnson
Lacey Kriston
Quinn Leary
Timothy Mastic *** laude
Danielle Morano magna *** laude
Mónica Muñoz Caso *** laude
Tyler Ostrander
Edward Pinder
Katherine Powell
Coleen Rhea *** laude
Bridgette Richards
Christopher Robinson
Andrew Romeril
Hannah Sawicki *** laude
Natasha Sharma
Annamaria Sirugo *** laude
Sara Smith *** laude
Abigail Springer
Brittany Staten
Kerry Stauffer
Shane Tarplee *** laude
Marcy Thornsberry *** laude
Makena Tolman
Eli Uttal-Veroff *** laude
Annalee Wallace
Wesley Winn
Candidates for the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree:
Christina Brown *** laude
Patrick Green
Jean Jang
Kristina Liu
Danielle Martin
Justin Metcalf-Burton
Chloe Obert
Lauren Reed *** laude
Morgan Sicklick summa *** laude
Katrine Vorsa
Loren Williams
Candidates for the Bachelor of Music degree:
Brittany Archer *** laude
Katherine Bolinger *** laude
Alexander Buff
Kelly Cassady summa *** laude
Megan Fletcher
Anthony Franklin *** laude
Katherine Frasure
Katlyn McDermitt
Brendan McMahon
Brianna Nielsen *** laude
Grant Pfifer *** laude
David Platt *** laude
Rafael Porto
Michelle Robinson
Lucas Shafer
Carl Wiersum *** laude
Candidates for the Bachelor of Science degree:
Cheyenne Burgess
Nora Burke
Susan Bratton
Shelby Canella
Alyson Fosnot
Sarah Henry
Eric Hjellming *** laude
Christina Kunda *** laude
Alice LaBour
Danielle McCormick
Courtney Reynolds *** laude
Brady Ripperger *** laude
Reid Swenson
Rachel Wendte *** laude
Thank you, Dr. Morris.
Dr. Morris: Thank you, Dr. Caltabiano.
Presenting the candidates for Master of Business Administration, Master of Professional Accounting,
Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Science in Economics will be Dr. Chuck Williams, Dean
of the College of Business.
Dr. Williams: Thank you, Dr. Morris.
For the Master of Business Administration:
Sara Anderson
Robert Baldwin
James Earlywine
Luke Fletcher
Daniel Gable
Nicholas Gaughan
Emma Happersberger
David Hughes
James Hyatte
Virginia Lippert
Traci Lloyd
Matthew Powers
Jacquelyn Proffitt
Gregory Quick
Hussain Sadri
Kara Schoeler
Kyle Schoeler
Kirk Smith
Joshua Watson
Now for the Master of Professional Accounting:
Leslie Bradley
Matthew Casula
Robert Koteff
Kevin Laisure
Amberly Marshall
Lauren Marshall
Matthew Reyes
Andrew Rutherford
Andrew Schooler
Kayla St. Clair
Now for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration:
Robert Akin
Dan Aldea
Jacob Allen
Taylor Amon
Margaret Anderson
Charles Balmes Jr.
Lauren Balous
Heidi Barker
Farrah Bastin *** laude expected
Lauren Bauer
Methawee Boriboune
Jacqueline Bossard
Benjamin Botti
Margaret Brown
Jay Brummel
Emily Burgoyne
Cody Benefiel
Chase Byerly
Napoleon Carroll III
Jackson
Clifton
Let's hear it for Napoleon Carroll III!
Alright, Napoleon Carroll III!
Hannah Cole
Colin Corvino
Timothy Courtney II
Austin ***
Luke Crimmins
Jordan Crowe
Joseph Cruz
Kathryn Cunningham
Keeton Daley
Robert Davis
Travis Davis
Todd Deloney Jr.
John Dillon IV
Kaitlyn Donohue
Adam Durm
Jessica Edwards
Evan Eichhorn
Richard Foster
Hilary Fox
Derek Friederich
Evelyn Gil
Carolina Glenn
Daniel Gable
Radley Haddad
Daniel Hampel
Brian Hannon
Romeo Harper
Alex Gaines
Patrick Gelwicks
Jennifer Harron
Scott Harvey
Bridget Hays
Colin Holmes
Paige Hunt
Jared Isenthal
Andrew Kazmierczak
Michael Kedzie *** laude
Kristen Kinsey
William Kirtley
Gus Klofta
Kristen Krauss
David Langan
Kurt Leeney
Joel Leichty
Ashley LeRoy
Blake Leyden
Kyle Lopatin
Kelcie Lyons *** laude expected
John Macon
Tracy Mannion
Nicole Mark
Dylan Maschmeyer
Whitney May
Shaine McCluskey
Alexander Meers
Rachael Melendez
Brianne Mershman
Kelsey Miller
Paige Mummert
Kirk Neibuhr
Sara Nusbaum
Peter O'Malley
Christopher O'Neil
Jessica Onstwedder
James Pascascio
Joshua Phelps
Matthew Presley
Joost Rietdijk
Scott Ruffell
Paige Sauder
Alexis Schmidt
Brooke Schmucker
Paul Sciortino
Adam Searles
Amera Selimovic
Caitlin Severson
Sajjad Shah
Matthew Siler
Andrew Smith
Stephanie Smith
Blake Stephenson
Kyle Stuard
Jessica Tandy
Elizabeth Tat *** laude
Erik Taylor
Jace Tennant
David Thomas
Grace Tucker
Regina Vera
Kevin Weingartner
Joshua Worthington
Kyle Zima
Now for the Bachelor of Science in Economics:
Carl Miller
Victoria Tobin
Thank you, Dr. Morris.
Dr. Morris: Thank you Dr. Williams.
Dr. Mary Andritz, Dean of the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, will now present those
who have completed requirements for the Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Master
of Physician Assistant Studies, Doctor of Pharmacy, and Bachelor of Science in Health
Sciences Degrees.
Dr. Andritz: Thank you, Dr. Morris.
On behalf of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, it is my pleasure to introduce the
candidates.
The candidates for the Master's and Doctoral degrees received their respective hoods in
a special ceremony on Friday.
For the degree Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences:
Sanika Rege
Levi Smith
For the degree Master of Physician Assistant Studies:
Emily Blanche
Jacqueline Brown
Bethany Burrell
Marc Campos
Kyler Clark
Sarah Crichlow
Lindsey Dauby
Krupa Dave
Cameron Davis
Julianne Frey
Abigail Givan
Michelle Jenkins
Sara Lennon
Kristen Malone
Rebekah Mathews
Christina McClain
Shena Mohan
Andrew Morris
Olympia Morris
Morgan Mounsey
Natasha Nelson
Caitlin Parks
Madison Paschal
Garrett Penton
Ariana Reynolds
Christopher Roundtree
Allan Schmelzel
Kirsten Schwab
Niti Shah
Ricky Shah
Michael Skonieczka
Brett Skramstad
Megan Smith
Samantha Straight
Tara Thornburg
Sarah Thyen
Alyssa Vahala
Kelsey Vonderheide
Andrew Walker
Eric Wessel
Lauren Widau
John Wildman
Nathan Woebkenberg
Zena Yaldo
Sara Zirnheld
For the degree Doctor of Pharmacy:
[applause]
Inderjit Ajimal
Courtney Albers
Lindsey Andres
Erik Angelotti
Adam Arnold
Kristen Backe
Devon Bascom
Kelsey Bauman
Sterling Bigler
David Blunk
Joshua Brown
William Burke
Dana Carter
Michael Carter
Ryan Cash
Kristen Cheek
Albert Chen
Brittany Clements
Annie Collins
Lisa Deegan
Heather DeYoung *** laude
Jay Dorsch
Emily Dubord
Dana D'Urso
Sarah Flaherty
Kirstin Furlong
Pamela Gesellchen
Jamie Getty
Sarah Gott
Megan Granger
Jared Grubbs
Samantha Harpenau
Farhan Hasan
Tyler Hensley
Destiny Hughes
Veronica Hui
James Hyatte magna *** laude
Sara Jones
Louis Kamo
Kirstin Keck
Scott Keillor
Kyle Keith
Katie Kramer
Janelle Kummick
Erin Latta
John LeHew
Alison Leick
Jacob Lemon
Claire Lesko
Lauren Levine *** laude
Kristen Liberatore
Colleen Linsenmayer
Katee Lira *** laude
Anthony Liszewski *** laude
Melissa Locke
Kellie Lutgen
Kelsey Lyon
David Martin magna *** laude
Craig Mathews *** laude
Sarah McCullough *** laude
Jessica McKee
Alyssa Meyer
Ryan Mitchell
Aalap Modi
Hannah Morgan
Miranda Moriarity
Jessica Morris
Brittany Moser
Laura Mountel
Eric Myers *** laude
Rachel Nealis
Shelby Neff
Anne Nelson
Vishal Ooka
Nicole Pallme
Shefali Patel
Morgan Pepmeier *** laude
Lauren Perry
Nicholas Peters
Emily Pflaum
Nicholas Powell
Jacquelyn Proffitt
Jennifer Reid
Brandon Rensing
Andrew Ruuska
Kelsey Schultz
Janae Schum
Kathleen Shannon
Kathrine Sheets
Levi Smith
Stephanie Smith
Stacy Smoler
Bethany Stuckemeyer
Steven Swank
Lisa Tomes
John Venable
Megan Veverka
Victoria Wehr
Michael Werres
Amanda Williams
Katherine Wilson
Kelsey Young
For the degree Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences:
Marisa Beaty
Devin Dearing
Jane Dixon
Nichole Gruneisen
Samantha LaMantia
Bridget McGrath
Lauren Myers
Katherine Niehaus
Alison Painter
Hilary Rearden
Sally Roeder
Erikka Tande
Thank you, Dr. Morris.
Dr. Morris: Thank you, Dr. Andritz.
[applause]
Dr. Gary Edgerton, Dean of the College of Communication, will now present those who
have completed requirements for the Bachelors of Arts in Communication.
Dr. Edgerton: Thank you, Dr. Morris.
On behalf of the College of Communication, it is my pleasure to introduce the candidates.
Ryan Anderson *** laude
Kevin Babb
Jacob Barton
Steven Andrew Bindrim
Becca Bornhorst *** laude
Darshi Bosamia
Sarah Bradley *** laude
Katie Briggs
Lucas Calderón
Katherine Carlson
Alexia Chopp
Jacqueline Cromleigh *** laude
Haley Deiser
Emily Delaney
Olivia DePaulis
Christina DiCioccio
Allyson Dobberteen *** laude
Samuel Dorrance
Daniel Drew
Jennifer Esparza
Kyle Faulkner summa *** laude
Robert Fenton
Trey Fenton
Sarah Ferry *** laude
Michael Fiedler
David Flynn
Claire Frisella
Jordan Gill *** laude
Corinne Goen
Jennifer Green
Rachel Gurley
Molly Harber
Margaret Head
Taylor Henry
Stephanie Hodgin
Sarah Holcombe
Heather Iwinski
Kyle Johannsen
Marissa Johnson *** laude
Aaron Kelley
Michael Kenna
Lauren King
Jordan Krieble
Anthony Wyllie
Amanda Lewis
Brooke Lewis
Alyssa Leys
Shelby Long
Caitlin Marra
Elizabeth Mathias
Jacob Matthews
Jillian McCarter
Tara McElmurry
Robert Mecherle
Shannen Miles
Kiley Miller *** laude
Krista Miller *** laude
Caitlin Monaghan
Katy Myers
Michele Nash
Tommy Nichols III
Emily O'Neal
Michael O'Neill
Amy Pauszek
Haley Pearson
Katharine Pederson
Anne Pennell *** laude
Lance Rinker
Mary Rogers *** laude
Jennifer Schaffer
Scott Schmelzer
Kaitlyn Schrage
Briana Sever *** laude
Jessica Shafer *** laude
Kate Shambrook
Cory Shover
Hannah Simmons
Ryan Simpson
Casey Sines *** laude expected
Adam Small
Rebecca Smith
Douglas Smittle *** laude
Laura Spieth
Taylor Staniszeski
Jessica Svitak
Sara Tarantino
Ashleigh Taylor
Katie Taylor
Talin Tokat
Aisha Townsend
Michael Van De Voort
Kyle Wehr
Nicole Wheeler *** laude
Luke Wilkening
Andrew Wray
Kathryn Wring *** laude
Katherine Youngen
[applause]
That completes the degrees from the College of Communication. Thank you, Dr. Morris.
Dr. Morris: Thank you, Dr. Edgerton.
Dr. Edgerton: Our final candidate to walk across the stage is Butler Blue II.
[applause]
Please join Butler University in congratulating Blue II on his retirement as mascot. Thank
you, Blue, for nine great years.
[continued applause]
President Danko: I invite the graduating Class - The Class of 2013 - to stand as I announce
each college, to receive your congratulations.
The College Liberal Arts and Sciences
[applause]
The College of Education
[applause]
Jordan College of the Arts
[applause]
College of Business
[applause]
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
[applause]
And finally, College of Communication
[applause]
It is appropriate at this time to recognize those who have made this day possible. So
I'm going to ask the families of the graduating class to please stand to receive our congratulations
and gratitude.
[applause]
I welcome Mr. Fenneman back to the podium to introduce our final musical performance
and speaker.
Mr. Fenneman: During the opening Convocation of Welcome Week, we ask our faculty, staff,
students and parents to join in singing the Alma Mater as a symbol of their welcome to
the university.
As you are now leaving our hallowed halls, I call on you to sing the Alma Mater once
more.
Please join the Butler Chorale Graduates, under the direction of Dr. Stark, as we sing
your Alma Mater together.
You will find the words on page 3 of your program. Would you please stand for the singing
of the Alma Mater?
[choir and graduates sing Alma Mater]
[applause]
Mr. Fenneman: Please be seated.
Our thanks to the talented Butler University Chorale and their director, Dr. Eric Stark
as well as the Butler University Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Professor
Richard Auldon Clark for their beautiful musical performances.
[applause]
It's now my pleasure to present Ms. Abbey Springer, Secretary of the Senior Class, to
offer her thoughts as we prepare to close the ceremony.
Ms. Springer: "Each beginning demands an ending. Every ending promises a beginning. Now is
that time."
May we remember this day, this year, our friends, our families, our teachers, and all of our
accomplishments.
And may these memories allow us to realize that there is more for us to achieve,
that our work in this world is hardly done.
May this day be an invitation to move forward to live lives that are meaningful for ourselves,
and of contribution to others, "so that what we believe may be what we do."
We are equipped with an education that gives us tools to create a better, more loving,
more just world. May we give thanks for this work we are called to do.
As we prepare to travel different roads away from Butler, may we keep our eyes, our hearts,
and our minds open.
This moment is remarkable, but there will be many more. Give thanks for life that is
just beginning.
I leave you with this quote, by Rabbi Abraham Heschel: "And I, with stubborn boldness, have
promised that I will increase the tenderness in the world; and it seems to me that I will,
in time live on through this earth with all the brightness of all the stars in my eyes."
May we go forward with joy, peace, happiness, hope and love. Thank you.
Dr. Brabant: With sincere congratulations and best wishes to the graduating class, I
declare the 2013 Butler University Commencement completed. Please remain seated until the
faculty and last graduate have recessed.
[music]