It's a Fact

Butler started off as North Western Christian University. It was renamed Butler University in 1877 in recognition of its founder, Ovid Butler.

Butler's current location is actually its third home. The University has had campuses at what is now 13th and College Avenue and in Irvington.

Butler was the second institution in the nation and first in the state of Indiana to admit women on an equal basis with men.

Butler was the first university in the nation to establish an endowed chair specifically for a female professor. It was the second university to appoint a woman to its faculty.

African-American sorority Sigma Gamma Rho was founded on Butler's campus on Nov. 22, 1922. It is the only national Greek organization to be founded at Butler.

In 1859, Phi Delta Theta became the first fraternity established on the College Avenue campus. The first sorority - Kappa Alpha Theta - was established in 1874.

Butler's newspaper, The Collegian, began publication in 1886. It started out in the format of a 24-page magazine.

Butler was the first to introduce "blue books" for use in exams. Requested by a Butler professor, Lesh Paper Co. manufactured the books and gave them a blue cover because Butler's colors are blue and white.

The "Bulldog" mascot was adopted by the University in 1919 and is attributed to a Collegian cartoon.

For Butler's pharmacy, physician assistant and licensed education graduates, the placement rate is 100 percent.

Over 55 undergraduate, one first professional and 17 master's degrees are offered at Butler.

Butler's overall placement rate averages 94 percent, including 25 percent who have gone on to graduate or professional schools.

The student to faculty ratio at Butler is 11:1, with the average class size being 20.

The fall 2009 to spring 2010 retention rate for freshman was 96 percent and the overall undergraduate retention rate for the same time period was 95 percent - the highest in University history.

There are approximately 4,500 total students-both undergraduate and graduate.

Butler is one of only 280 colleges and universities in the country to house a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society.

Butler is comprised of six academic colleges: Business, Communication, Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Fine Arts.

Prior to 1919, Butler's athletic teams were known as the Christians.

Paul D. "Tony" Hinkle, the famous Butler coach of football, basketball and baseball from 1921-1970, came up with the concept of an orange-colored basketball, which would be easier for players to see.

Butler Fieldhouse was constructed in 1928. For more than 20 years it was the largest basketball arena in the United States, holding nearly 15,000. It was renamed Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1966 in honor of Tony Hinkle.

Hinkle Fieldhouse was the location for the final game in the popular movie "Hoosiers" and has hosted basketball legends John Wooden, Oscar Robertson, George McGinnis and Larry Bird. Additionally, six U.S. presidents have spoken in the Fieldhouse.

The Bulldogs participate in 19 varsity sports. Except for football, all compete in the NCAA Division I Horizon League. Football participates in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

The Bulldogs have made appearances in NCAA National Championship Tournaments in men's and women's basketball, men's soccer, volleyball, men's cross country, lacrosse, and baseball.

The men's basketball team owns nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including one Final Four appearance in 2010.

Butler is ranked 2nd best university in the Master's Midwest category of U.S. News & World Report America's Best Colleges.

Butler was named a "Best in the Midwest" college by the Princeton Review.

The Butler Dance Department is one of the top five programs in the country.

North American Pharmacy Licensing Exam ranks Butler in the top three schools nationally.

Butler's College of Business is listed as one of the Top 301 Business Schools by the Princeton Review.

Butler's part-time MBA program was ranked 8th in the Midwest and 36th in the nation by BusinessWeek magazine. This makes the Butler MBA the only nationally ranked Indianapolis-based program.

Butler's undergraduate business program placed 63rd in the Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranking of the best U.S. undergraduate business programs for 2010.

There are more than 140 official student organizations at Butler.

Over 94 percent of Butler students are involved in campus activities.

Butler's Greek life consists of seven national fraternities and seven national sororities.

The Butler campus extends across 290 acres. It's hailed as one of the most attractive in the Midwest for its park-like setting.

Since December 2000, a real-life English bulldog has assumed all official mascot duties. The name of the current bulldog is Butler Blue II (a.k.a Blue).

Butler's Holcomb Observatory is one of the largest public observatories in the world. It houses the largest telescope in Indiana.

Butler's Friesner Herbarium, a collection of over 100,000 dried, pressed and preserved plant specimens, is the third largest herbarium in the state. Ninety-six percent of the collection contains plants native to Indiana.

The addition to the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences building is LEED-Gold certified. It's the first Gold educational structure in Indianapolis, and Butler's first LEED-certified structure on campus.

There are over 43,000 Butler alumni in 50 states and 78 countries.

Maurine Watkins, a 1919 Butler graduate, wrote several successful plays and many Hollywood film scripts, including "No Man of Her Own," with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard.

Peter Lupus, once a great player on Butler's 1950 freshman football team, achieved television fame on "Mission Impossible."

Henry J. Healy '31 was a dentist who pioneered in endodontics (root canal treatment) and helped to influence the American Dental Association to recognize that specialty.

The Four Freshmen, a famous singing quartet, got its start in 1947 when all four members were freshmen at Butler University. The group's hits include "Graduation Day," "Day by Day" and "It's a Blue World."

James Sugioka, a 1973 Butler graduate, co-founded the Japanese American Citizens League, the first civil rights organization of its kind in the United States.

Kurt Vonnegut, author of Slaughterhouse Five and other well-known works, discontinued his studies at Butler University in 1942 when he could manage no better than a "C" grade in English.

Kevin Ault '84, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University School of Medicine, served as one of the lead researchers for Gardasil, the first-ever vaccine for cervical cancer.

Sara Snow '98 is a green-living expert and television host of the Discovery Network's "Get Fresh with Sara Snow."