Creativity and nimbleness are hallmarks at Butler and especially within the College of Communication. Utilizing his skills at activating ideas, Professor Bob Schultz, known affectionately as PBS by many of his students, is a leader in many of the recent unique experiential opportunities of note (including NBA All-Star Weekend and Taylor Swift Street Teams with Visit Indy). But Spring Break 2025, and his STR 426 course: Tourism and Hospitality Communication and Cultural Immersion, elevated Bob to “Captain” for 12 days during a Mediterranean Cruise with 23 students.
One of these students was Madison Masek ’25 who will be graduating with a degree in strategic communication in May. Similar to when I’m hosting a tour with perspective students and their parents/guardians, there are times I’m thrilled to let the authenticity of a current student’s voice and experience sweep the audience off their feet—and here I’m doing that with part of Madison’s LinkedIn post about our excursion (please read her entire post too).
“Dress up” night on the cruise for dinner.
“I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible opportunity I had studying abroad with the Butler University College of Communication!” wrote Madison. “Over ten days, 22 Butler students and I traveled the Mediterranean coasts of Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, Naples (Pompeii), Palermo, and Tunisia. We explored the tourism and hospitality industries while immersing ourselves in six different cultures.
One of the most eye-opening aspects of the course was analyzing modes of transportation in tourism. From international flights to public transit and a cruise ship, we explored how each method shapes the traveler experience and plays a role in destination marketing. Beyond transportation, we examined tourism industries through the lens of public relations, advertising, destination promotion, sustainability, and consumer relations.”
Class in the streets of Palermo.
There was analyzing and navigating—be it weather, transportation, remembering what floor on the MSC Fantasia cruise ship everyone was meeting on for our evening pre-dinner class discussion, or if WhatsApp or texting was the most efficient way to communicate with the group at any given moment.
The students learned. Bob, his wife Diane, and I learned. All from each other, constantly. The entire group bonded as we overcame obstacles, lifted one another, and port-by-port, celebrated a once in a lifetime journey together. This was something of a going away present for the seniors, while at the same time providing the highest of bars for the first-year students. But it’s safe to say everyone had fun.
Bulldogs at the playground in Barcelona – per my request.
I have the pleasure of working with Butler students in some capacity almost every single day, and consider myself fortunate for that. But this trip was so much more. As an extended family unit over multiple days I saw even more examples of why these young adults are the leaders, dreamers, doers, and critical thinkers of today and the future.
I owe a “thank you” to Captain PBS, CCOM Dean Joe Valenzano, the Study Abroad office at Butler for allowing me to be part of this trip. More importantly, I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to each of the amazing 23 students who let me be a small part of their experience and who shared their enthusiasm for life, travel, and meaningful friendship.
Ross Hollebon – Marketing & Recruitment Manager, CCOM
Proud parents utilizing a photo booth area in Fairbanks during the Butler Bound open house.
Butler and CCOM just wrapped of another successful Day of Giving—thanks to many of you who are reading this. In Fairbanks Center we made an event within the event as engaged members of our college put in some extra effort, and wonderful creativity, to celebrate our students and inspire a generous mood. I’ll likely touch on the CCOM Carnival at Day of Giving in a coming post, but the future is now for younger students readying for their jump to higher ed.
High school seniors across the country are entering the peak of college decision season—likely somewhere between the most stressful and simultaneously exciting moments in their lives. They’ll work with their parents, guardians, guidance counselors, and others to choose where to spend the next four years immersed in the investment of their future and their evolution as friends, citizens, and leaders. Their burgeoning horizon offers positivity and life lessons during the formative years of college—evolving or learning about the passions and interests that will help define who they are.
As the room was filling, shortly before the official Butler Bound program kicked-off.
In February the College of Communication hosted nearly 70 high school seniors who have been accepted to Butler University this fall with intent to major in one of our excellent programs. This event, more commonly referred to as “Butler Bound,” provides high school students a chance to learn more about us, meet potential future classmates, and imagine themselves in Midtown Indy as Bulldogs. Our CCOM specific program typically includes an informative session on our majors, internship program, and study abroad opportunities. Authentic stories are shared through a variety of voices as a panel of current students and another with alumni from our majors define how “The Butler Way,” set them up for success, fulfillment, and happiness. These tried and true elements remain terrific, but we are always thinking about how to innovate and improve, so this year we made a few tweaks.
The information sessions and the panels planted their foundational roots in our narrative, but we also wanted to have some fun—it’s in the CCOM DNA. One of our very own interns, junior Blake Richmond ’26, spearheaded a unique twist on the recruitment event by designing an interactive game show to perk everyone up after lunch. Corey McPherrin ‘77, alumnus and former nightly news anchor in Chicago, played the role of host—and boy did he have a good time with that task!
Scenes from the trivia segment (left) and cup stacking challenge (right).
Visiting students were offered the opportunity to opt-in to being a contestant (remember, as noted above, this could already be a stressful time, and we recognize that) that put their names into a random drawing—think The Price is Right, and McPherrin indeed told each of the 10 to “come on down, you’re the next contestant on the inaugural CCOM-petition!”
Both teams were anchored by a faculty captain, Prof. Mary Gospel of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences orProf. Amanda Stevenson-Holmes. Their competitive spirit brought energy and fun as they welcomed their new teammates to the stage.
Segment one was a trivia competition (think Family Feud one-to-one, head-to-head) produced from information they learned throughout the day’s programming. Segment two offered a two-part physical challenge. Team Mary vs. Team Amanda, with five brave prospective students on each side, in the cup-stacking AND the Marshmallow Challenge, simultaneously.
Team Amanda working feverishly on their Marshmallow Challenge structure.
If you’re not familiar with the Marshmallow Challenge, participants work together in a timed-situation to see who can get one full-sized marshmallow to a higher structural point using only marshmallows and dry spaghetti. Suffice it to say, folks had a lot of fun, numerous laughs, and truly got a feel for what we are about in CCOM and at Butler. It was teamwork, creativity, focus, support from faculty, “infotainment,” and a memorable visit. The best part was this all happened thanks to the ingenuity of one of our own students!
Bringing the day to a close—or at least some parting words before faculty and current students shone during a low-pressure open house in our beloved Fairbanks Center—I shared with the prospective students my thoughts on how to navigate the difficult task of choosing a college. I told them whenever they visit a school they are considering to elevate their future, take 10 minutes at the end of the day, before they leave campus, find a quiet place away from their parents, and briefly shut their eyes. If they can see themselves at that school, thriving, smiling, and enjoying it, then that’s where they should go.
From left: Ross Hollebon, marketing and recruitment manager for CCOM, Blake Richmond ’26, and Corey McPherrin ’77.
On the front of Dugan Hall there is a banner that reads “We are changing what it means to be a university.” In CCOM, we are changing what it means to consider what university you want to attend, too.
Prof. Bob Schultz, host of the strategic communication agencies gathering.
January 2025 is almost in the books and the College of Communication has sprinted out of the gates with a new semester of inspiration, education, and growth through classes and experiences for our students. But even before the first faculty member stood in front of a new collection of learners, CCOM was connecting with another important audience of partners.
On the Thursday evening before the first week of Spring ‘24/’25 classes, Prof. Bob Schultz, lecturer within Strategic Communication and CCOM’s internship director, gathered more than a dozen representatives from advertising, public relations, and strategic communication agencies from in and around Indianapolis for an evening of thought leadership and discussion.
Stories feed our imagination. A compelling narrative, masterful worldbuilding, and a well-written hero (or villain) stick with readers and viewers—for a lifetime in some instances. I have been fortunate enough to live the culminating on-campus chapters of three award-winning protagonists during the past year and a half as part of CCOM. My time here allows only short story versions of what this impactful trio has developed, nurtured, and shared through their nearly 100 years of combined service to Butler University.
This is a true story about a Taylor, a Rose and a Bridge. They have earned their beautiful and inspiring academic sunsets after so many selfless seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years of preparing Bulldogs to have their own bright, fulfilling futures.
Prof. Rob Norris (left) and Dr. Eileen Taylor (right) shortly after learning they had both been promoted to the role of senior lecturer within the College of Communication at Butler University.
I had the pleasure last week of delivering welcome news to a pair of amazing faculty. Dr. Eileen Taylor and Mr. Rob Norris, respectively, were promoted to senior lecturer within CCOM. They both came to Butler after concluding long and successful careers outside of academia and help to bring the experiential element into our classrooms as part of their second careers. Their success is their own, but I still share in their joy at this well-earned achievement.
Eileen had a tremendous career in government, before returning to school to get her doctorate, and then joining CCOM as a faculty member in Organizational Communication and Leadership. Her passion for teaching students leadership is only matched by her desire to prepare students for the demands and challenges of the coming changes to the workforce. She is a dedicated teacher, supportive mentor, and engaged member of the CCOM and Butler community. It was a joy to walk into her office, share this news, and experience her process the moment from being speechless to overjoyed.
The winter holiday season, for many, is a time of joy, celebration, family, and friends. On a college campus, this aura kicks into full swing upon the return from the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s hectic but full of positive energy, engagement, and a rewarding, sometimes exhausting, sense of accomplishment. This holiday season in CCOM provided numerous reasons for cheer, provided gifts full of meaning and recognition,and has inspired our college resolutions for the coming year.
A good friend of mine used to call exams, “celebrations of knowledge.” Whether it’s final exams, final projects, or final papers, it is something to acknowledge with a smile—for our hard working faculty, who have to grade each assignment on a tight deadline, as much as the students who have to perform the work. A small group of these students, after getting everything graded, finished their current course of studies.
Writer William Arthur Ward once observed, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
I have experienced inspirational guides at every level of my learning. Mr. Frank DeVito, whose encouragement and care in high school showed me education was more than just books and lectures. My undergraduate and graduate school professors included Dr. Sandra Berkowitz, Dr. Lyombe Eko, Dr. George Raymond, Dr. Michael Speigler, and Dr. Joe Cammarano. They taught different disciplines, but each inspired and mentored me in ways I’m still realizing. These higher ed heroes taught me information—but the most important lessons they shared with me were the experiences that helped shape their lives as critical thinkers and contributors to our overall society.
