Meet Our Faculty & Staff

Marguerite Stanciu is assistant director of The Compass Center at Butler University. She graduated from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English and the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco with a Master of Arts in Intercultural Philosophy and Religion. Marguerite is an authorized meditation instructor and teacher in the Buddhist and Shambhala (secular) traditions. Her interest in social justice issues reflects her commitment to valuing community and honoring varieties of religious, cultural and vocational experiences that call us to be more of who we are and to contribute to the greater good when we are able. Marguerite serves as staff adviser for Butler Meditation.

Imam Anisse Adni has served the Central Indiana and DFW areas for over 15 years as a religious leader and community organizer. Imam Anisse graduated from Marian University and studied Islamic Theology and Sciences at the Qalam Seminary in Texas. Passionate about facilitating meaningful conversations and helping others wherever they are on their journey, Imam Anisse strives to maintain a safe and welcoming environment where everyone can freely share and express themselves without fear of judgment or reprisal. Currently, he serves as the Imam of the Alsalam Foundation in Carmel, the Muslim Life Advisor at Butler, and the Executive Director of Inspyred, an initiative addressing the socio-spiritual needs of Muslim youth, young adults, and families, inspiring and empowering them to develop and sustain a proud and reflective American Muslim identity.

Michael Aronson joined The Compass Center as Jewish Life Advisor in April 2023 during a Future Faculty Teaching Fellowship year at Butler University’s College of Communication. Michael holds a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College in Newton Center, Massachusetts, and is working towards his doctorate in Media Studies at Indiana University-Bloomington. Michael serves the Jewish community at Butler by channeling his passions for living in community, Jewish learning, adult education and pluralism towards helping The Compass Center create an inclusive and loving environment for all people at Butler. 

Biography

Born and raised in southcentral Pennsylvania in one of only two counties in the Commonwealth without a traffic light, Brent Hege earned his BA in Religion and History with a minor in Classics from Gettysburg College (PA) in 1998. He completed the Zentrale Mittelstufenprüfung Diplom (German Language Certificate) at the Goethe Institut in Dresden, Germany, in 2000 while completing his MA in Historical Theology with a minor in New Testament at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (PA). He earned his PhD in Theology with Distinction from Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA, in 2007. His dissertation was awarded the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise by the Forschungszentrum Internationale und Interdisziplinäre Theologie at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He was honored by his alma mater with the 2013 Gettysburg College Young Alumni Achievement Award and in 2015 he was elected an honorary member of Butler’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. In 2017 he received the Outstanding Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching from Butler’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and in 2024 he received the Butler University First-Year Impact Award for his work teaching and mentoring first-year students at Butler. In 2017 he was appointed The Compass Center Scholar in Residence and in 2020 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Religion. He has taught at Butler since 2008. 

Teaching Duties

As a faculty member of Butler’s Religious Studies program, Hege teaches the yearlong First Year Seminar, “Faith, Doubt, and Reason,” the Texts & Ideas (TI) course, “Religions of the World,” online every summer, and the following 300-level Religious Studies courses: God, Theologies of Liberation, Evil, Religious Pluralism, and Ecotheology. Hege has directed several offerings of the Butler Series on Religion and Society, including “Religion, Race, and Culture” (2015-2016), “Sacred Spaces: Intersections of Religion and Ecology” (2018-2019), and “Faith and Activism” (2022-2023). Hege is also the Compass Center Scholar in Residence, where he works with a cohort of student Scholars on issues of interfaith engagement and vocational discernment. Hege holds affiliate faculty status in the programs of Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Science, Technology, and Environmental Studies, and the Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability. In 2022, Hege successfully chartered Butler’s chapter of Theta Alpha Kappa, the national honors society for Religious Studies and Theology, for which he serves as faculty advisor. Hege is also the faculty advisor of Grace Unlimited, Butler’s Lutheran-Episcopal campus ministry. 

Scholarship

Hege’s research focuses on the history of Christian thought and contemporary Christian theology, with special focus on 19th- and 20th-century liberal Protestant theology, continental philosophy and philosophical theology, contemporary constructive theology, Lutheranism, and theology and culture. In addition to his award-winning first book, Faith at the Intersection of History and Experience: The Theology of Georg Wobbermin (Wipf and Stock, 2009), he has published articles and invited review essays in a number of European and American journals, including Zeitschrift für Neuere Theologiegeschichte/Journal for the History of Modern Theology, Theologische Zeitschrift, Theology and Science, Radical Philosophy Review, Politics and Religion, and Teaching Theology and Religion. He is also a frequent reviewer of books on historical and contemporary theology for Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology. He has presented papers at national and regional academic conferences, including The American Academy of Religion and The Southwest Popular Culture Association and The American Culture Association, as well as being a frequent guest lecturer and panel member for school, church, and community programs. His second book, Myth, History, and the Resurrection in German Protestant Theology, was published by Pickwick Press in 2017. His most recent book, based on the first semester of his popular Butler First Year Seminar, is Faith, Doubt, and Reason (Wipf and Stock 2020). In 2020 he was elected to the editorial council of Dialog: A Journal of Theology, the world’s premier journal of Lutheran theology. 

Randall Ojeda is a proud alum (MS ’18) who is honored to serve as a Senior Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion here at Butler University! His work in leading the Efroymson Diversity Center while also providing strategic operational direction to the Division of DEI continues to be the highlight of his career. In his role, Randall directly advises individuals and student groups, leads a team of passionate professional staff, collaborates with a wide variety of departments throughout campus, and strategizes key ways to continue the institution’s profound legacy of priortizing equity. 

Randall and his husband, Gabriel (currently Butler MBA student), live in downtown Indianapolis with their twin cats, Alison & Ander. He loves US Presidential Trivia, reality tv shows, Orangetheory Fitness, and is in a kickball league.

Mikala Lain (she/they) has served as the Assistant Director of the Efroymson Diversity Center since 2023. She graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration. They then went on to Seattle University to earn a Master of Nonprofit Leadership. She enjoys spending time with family in Southern Indiana, attempting to not kill house plants and garden vegetables, traveling to national hiking spots, and crafting such as punch needling.

Miah McLaurin (she/they) is the Diversity Programs Coordinator in the Efroymson Diversity Center. She is an Indianapolis native and has been with Butler since September 2023. Miah primarily oversees the diverse scholarship programs at Butler; collectively known as the Butler Blue Scholars. They are passionate about increasing college access to marginalized groups through reduced financial barriers as well as student belonging. 

Danny Kibble (he/him) serves as the Senior Executive Director of DEI Initiatives and Engagement at Butler University. Prior to this role, Danny
served on the senior leadership team in the Division of University Advancement for more than seven years initially leading the reorganization of the alumni
relations and engagement strategy in preparation for the successful completion of the Butler Beyond comprehensive fundraising campaign which raised more than
$263M from a $250M goal. While leading the alumni relations and engagement enterprises, Danny successfully refocused the University’s alumni relations
strategy and the Butler University Alumni Association as effective partners in helping the university reach its most pressing priorities. For their efforts,
Danny and his team earned multiple awards and recognitions from region five of the Council for Advancement in Secondary Education.  Danny earned a Master of Public Affairs degree with a concentration in nonprofit management from the Indiana University Paul O’Neill School for Public and Environmental Affairs. He is a life member of the Indiana University Alumni Association and a Federal Club member for the Human Rights Campaign.     

 Judie has practiced law for over thirty years as a trial court litigator. She has also served in numerous positions as a Superior Court Magistrate and as an Administrative Law Judge for Marion County and the State of Indiana. Most recently, Judie served as a Marion County Deputy Prosecutor in the Major Felony Division of the Marion Superior Counts.  

Judie has returned to Butler after having previously been employed as an Executive Career Mentor in the Lacy School of Business. She affectionately calls Butler her “Happy Place” and is dedicated to ensuring that every student, faculty, and staff employee regardless of race, gender identity, or social status is given equal access to the quality education that Butler is known to provide. 

Judie is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She and her husband reside in the Oaklandon area and are faithful members of Phillips Temple CME Church in Indianapolis. They are both strong and focused community advocates committed to justice and equality for every citizen. 

Google Scholar Page

My research interests include the history and culture of Japan, the anthropology of sport, the anthropology of science, gender studies, feminist theory, historical anthropology, mass/popular culture, theories of embodiment, urban anthropology, and visual culture. Most of my fieldwork has focused on cultures of sport in Japan and while I study and teach about all kinds of sport, football (soccer) is my ultimate passion. I continue to work on my primary project about soccer, corporate sport, the recession of the 1990s, and national identity in Japan, but have also written recently about the new professional women’s soccer league in Japan and the history of women’s professional soccer/football globally; I’m also interested in issues related to trans* athletes in Japan and the U.S.

Dr. Fletcher is the Frances Shera Fessler Assistant Professor of History. She holds a Ph.D. in History from Indiana University.

Before entering the academy, Charlene led a domestic violence/sexual assault program and a significant prison reentry initiative in New York City, assisting women and men in their transition from incarceration to society, and served as a lecturer of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York. Charlene’s forthcoming book Confined Femininity: Race, Gender, and Incarceration in Kentucky, 1865-1920, explores the experiences of confined African American women in Kentucky from Reconstruction to the Progressive Era, explicitly illuminating the lives of confined Black women by examining places other than carceral locales as arenas of confinement, including mental health institutions and domestic spaces. Charlene’s newest research project is rooted in her grandmother’s memories, takes a transnational approach to race and confinement in the American South, and builds on Charlene’s interest in Italian history. The project, Down in the Delta: Race Relations between African and Italian Americans in Mississippi, 1880-1940 explores Italian migration and experiences in the Mississippi Delta between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. It interrogates the Italian padrone system as a form of confinement and examines relationships between Italians and African Americans because of their shared proximity and experience in the rural Jim Crow South.

 In addition to her research, Dr. Fletcher is a Community Scholar at the Center for Africana Studies and Culture at Indiana University Indianapolis. She also serves on the editorial boards of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and the North Meridian Review. She is an elected member of the National Council of Public History (NCPH) Board of Directors.

To learn more about Charlene and her work, visit www.charlenejfletcher.com  

Dr. Ronia Hawash is an Associate Professor of Economics in the Lacy School of Business. Dr. Hawash holds a B.A. in Economics from Cairo University (Egypt); an M.A. in Economics from the American University in Cairo (Egypt); and a Ph.D. in Economics from Indiana University (Indianapolis). Her primary teaching areas are Microeconomics, Economic Development, Health Economics, and Econometrics. Dr. Hawash’s main areas of research are focused on socioeconomic problems in developing countries including poverty, inequality, poor health and education outcomes, political conflict and refugees, and climate change. Her research has been published in Applied Economics, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship,  International Journal of Happiness and Development, Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, Eurasian Economic Review, International Journal of Development and Conflict, Social Business, and Journal of the Knowledge Economy. 

Lav McKittrick-Sweitzer is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy. Before arriving at Butler in Autumn 2021, they completed their PhD (philosophy, 2021) at Ohio State University, MA (philosophy, 2015) at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, and BA (philosophy, 2013) at the University of Missouri – Columbia. 

Their area of specialization is feminist social and political philosophy, with a focus on care, exploitation, public reason, and global justice. 

For more information about Lavender’s research, teaching, and CV, visit: www.lmsweitzer.com.

Corey Reed is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and steering committee member in the Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (RGSS) program at Butler University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College, double majoring in English and Philosophy, his Master of Arts degree from the University of Louisville in Comparative Humanities, and his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Memphis with a graduate certificate in Women and Gender Studies. His dissertation was entitled “Black-Male Imagos and Counternarrative Resistance: An Africana Existentialist Framework for Black-Male Analysis.” He specializes in Africana Philosophy and the Critical Philosophy of Race and Racism, with sub-interests in Existentialism, Phenomenology, Feminism/Male Theory, 20th Century French Continental Philosophy, and Aesthetics. Reed is one of three Co-Directors for the Hub of Black Affairs and Community Engagement. 

More information can be found at https://www.coreynreed.com/ 

Derek Reid; Associate Professor, began his training at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet in his native Washington, D.C. He subsequently studied in intensive dance programs with Rosella Hightower in Cannes, France,Milwaukee Ballet, and Richmond Ballet. He began attending Butler University in 1984, where he received a B.F.A. in Dance. Mr. Reid’s professional dance careers panned over fifteen years, during which time he performed with the Louisville Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal and Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio. He performed and created leading roles in works by such internationally acclaimed choreographers as Choo San Goh, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Nacho Duato, James Kudelka, Mark Morris and Ohad Naharin. His repertoire ranged from the classical to the contemporary. His roles have included the prince in The Nutcracker, Siegfriedin Swan Lake and various roles in works by choreographic masters such as Antony Tudor, Vaslav Nijinsky, Irina Nijinska, Agnes de Mille, and George Balanchine.

Mr. Reid’s television credits include PBS’s production ofDance Theatre of Harlem’s Fall River Legend, choreographed by Agnes de Mille, as well as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Dancers for Life gala, in which he performed the pas de deux from Nacho Duato’s Rassemblement. A special highlight of his career was dancing Duato’s Cor Perdut at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece with the Gala des Etoiles, sharing the stage with dancers likeDamian Woetzel, Darcie Bussel and Carlos Acosta.

Mr. Reid’s professional teaching career began with the Northwest Florida Ballet in 1985 and continued through his Associate Directorship of the Fort Wayne Ballet from 2000-2004 and his guest/master classes across the country. In his current position as Associate Professor ofDance at Butler, Mr. Reid teaches Dance History, Classical Ballet technique, Classical and Contemporary Pas de Deux, Choreography, and his core curriculum contribution to the university Black Dance in the American Tradition. While creating original choreographic works for Fort Wayne Ballet, Northwest Florida Ballet, and Central Indiana Dance Ensemble, Mr. Reid offers original works to the Butler Ballet in both the classical and contemporary veins. With an eye towards the history and tradition of classical technique, Mr. Reid continues to search for new ideas to stimulate students and advocate for the continued embracing ofthe fine arts.   In 2012 he received a Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Leadership and Service Learning from Gonzaga University.

Dr. Andy Schmelz graduated from Purdue University with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2008 and stayed to complete a post-doctoral fellowship in academia and ambulatory care. He practiced as a staff pharmacist with Walgreens Co., and after becoming a board-certified ambulatory care pharmacist, he worked as an ambulatory care pharmacist with Indiana University Health, Community Health Network, and most recently in a site-based faculty position with Butler University and Eskenazi Health, focusing on the care of vulnerable populations on the west side of Indianapolis. Dr. Schmelz has since moved into a campus-based role where his research and teaching focuses on health equity, social determinants of health, ethics, primary care therapeutics, and financial justification of ambulatory pharmacy services. Dr. Schmelz has maintained a long-standing interest in caring for underserved patients, and he has completed a university-based fellowship in social justice and diversity vocation. He now serves as the Faculty Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and has worked in DEI-focused efforts for state and national pharmacy organizations.  

Teigha VanHester aka Dr. V (she/they)  is a fierce intellectual; pleasure activist; joyful griot; SoCal native; proud Black, Polynesian femme; proud Cancer; and assistant professor of Race, Gender and Sexuality studies at Butler University. Dr. V’s community-based scholar-activist cultivates an understanding of sovereignty as a literacy, human right, and key component of survival. This work is mainly done through theorizing ecologies of Black femme intellectual ancestry, cultural rhetoric, and antecedent knowledge creation, and grassroots activism. They work to situate joy, rest, creativity, and pleasure as imperative strategies to liberation.. 

Dr. V has presented at several conferences, including the Cultural Rhetoric Conference, the Conference for College Composition and Communication, Community Writing Conference, and the National Women’s Studies Association Conference. They have been a Coalition for Community Writing writer-in-residence and a recipient of the CCW’s Emerging Scholars Award, a recipient of the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Scholars for the Dream Travel Award and a NAFSA RISE (Representation, Inclusion, Support, and Empowerment) Fellow, and an Indiana Humanities Wilma Gibbs Fellow. Dr. V was the first Forum Editorial Fellow and has served as a peer reviewer for the journal Emerging Voices in Education. Their work has been featured in Race and Yoga; Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture; Community Literacy Journal and Women’s Studies Quarterly. In addition to scholastic work, they loves cave and shipwreck diving, Beyonce, horror films, professional wrestling, the Chicago Blackhawks, Texas BBQ, spades and visiting as many of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants as possible.

Current Research Projects:

• Undercurrents of Resistance
• Wayfinding as Liberation
• Queerness in Professional Wrestling
• Megan thee Stallion
• Identifying Rituals in the Borderlands

Expertise:

• Cultural Rhetorical Theory
• Decolonization and Resistance
• Community Literacies
• Intersectionality/Assemblage
• Black Feminist Ecologies
  

Fall 2024 Office Hours provided

Professor Williams is a professional educator whose career started teaching middle school language arts in Ft. Worth, TX. She went on to teach high school English in Oklahoma City, OK before finding her first higher education position as an adjunct instructor at Mountain View College, Dallas, TX. There she worked to help developmental writing students find their voice in academic writing. She has since taught freshman composition, technical writing, and writing within the sciences at the college-level. In addition to a BA in English and African American Studies, as well as a secondary education certification, she holds an MA in Secondary Administration, a graduate certificate in Composition, and an MA in English.