(Recorded on November 1, 2024) Grant Leiendecker ‘11, Vice President/Director of Butler Athletics joined CCOM Dean Joe Valenzano as men's and women's basketball kick off their 2024-25 seasons, respectively.

Leiendecker reflects on his experiences as a student at Butler, the special feeling that historic Hinkle Fieldhouse provides, his relationship with Barry Collier, what the future holds for Bulldog athletics, and how proud he is of every student-athlete at Butler—in all 20 NCAA sports.

A special shout out to Blake Richmond '26, a marketing major in the Lacy School of Business, who co-produced this episode as a CCOM content marketing intern. Great job, Blake!

(Recorded on November 1, 2024) Dr. Bryan Foltice, associate professor of finance and the creator of the “Money Strong” program is joined by his initiative partner Randy Brown, a career mentor with LSB, to talk with CCOM Dean Joe Valenzano on the latest episode of the CCOM Pawcast.

Topics include student loans, budgeting, and personal finance, especially while transitioning from being an undergraduate student to a working professional and/or graduate student.

Folic and Brown provide financial support and planning, targeted for Butler students and their future financial confidence and success, through the lens of Behavior Finance.

Check out the Bryan Foltice Behavioral Finance Podcast as CCOM continues to support all of our friends and partners in Butler's Lacy School of Business.

International performer Eddie Izzard joins CCOM Backstage before heading to Indianapolis and Butler to perform “The Remix Tour: The First 35 Years” at Clowes Memorial Hall on Monday, October 28th.

Izzard discusses the influence of Monty Python, his/her role in the new Netflix series "Kaos," the statues on Easter Island, and performing Hamlet in the US and UK.

CCOM Backstage: What's Happening at the Butler Arts & Events Center, returns to shine the spotlight on Koo Koo's upcoming performance at Butler’s Schrott Center for the Arts on Saturday, October 26 at 1 p.m.

The duo of Bryan and Neil, who met during college in 2008 in Minnesota, have stepped into a new realm with their TV series “Oh Yeah Heck Yeah,” and they discuss how that ties into their live performances of fast-paced variety clip show elements like music videos, sketches, and interactive games in their irreverent, high-energy style.

So press play on this episode of CCOM Backstage, hosted by Ross Hollebon from the College of Communication, and learn more about Koo Koo, the next great act coming to the Butler Arts & Events Center.

Eva Hallman '26 (journalism), is joined by Gabi Mathus '25 (criminology/psychology dual major) for the latest episode of CCOM Backstage: What's Happening at the Butler Arts & Events Center.

This episode features Dr. Scott Bonn, prior to his Friday, Oct. 11 evening at the Schrott Center for the Arts event titled, "Serial Killers: The Curious Appeal of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers."

Dr. Bonn is a best-selling author, professor, public speaker, and he has interacted with such notorious serial killers as Dennis Rader (“Bind, Torture, Kill”) and David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”). He shares shocking tales from his actual experiences with these killers. Dr. Bonn also developed a profile of the unknown “Long Island Serial Killer” in 2011 that matches the alleged perpetrator, Rex Heuermann, perfectly. He shares the secrets of how he was able to predict the psychological and behavioral makeup of the Long Island Serial Killer with such incredible precision.

Dr. Bonn explains our curious fascination with serial killers and true crime. Finally, you can ask anything you ever wanted to know about serial killers in a dynamic, live Q&A session with Dr. Bonn.

(Recorded September 15, 2024) Butler's Stephanie Hinshaw, Associate Vice President of Transformation, and Shaun Owens, the BSOL program director for CCOM, join Joe Valenzano, Dean of the College of Communication to talk about the partnership between the transformation lab, CCOM, and other critical stakeholders at Butler and in the Indianapolis community.

Celebrate the initial cohort of students who began their journey this semester, building on previous coursework but working hard to earn a Butler degree.

(Recorded on Sep. 9, 2024) Michelle Azar joins CCOM Backstage: What's happening at the Butler Arts & Events Center, before her one-woman performance of the play “All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” taking place on Saturday, Sep. 14th at 8 pm in Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University.

Michelle discusses playing multiple icons during her career, what it means to be Ruth Bader Ginsburg in front of her daughters, and the similarities her family has with that of the Notorious RBG.

Be sure to follow the Butler Arts & Events Center on Instagram @butlerartseventscenter and learn more about this show and more at https://butlerartscenter.org/.

(Recorded on September 5, 2024) Aaron Hurt ‘08, Vice President of Arts, Events, and Enterprise Management at Butler, joins CCOM Dean Joe Valenzano on the latest episode of the CCOM Pawcast.

Hurt started at Butler in 2013 as an operations manager for the Schrott Center for the Arts, and has made a massive impact on delivering world-class acts and entertainment to the amazing facilities on campus.

(Recorded Aug. 29, 2024)

Butler's President James Danko joins host Joe Valenzano, Dean of the College of Communication at Butler, in the Season 2 kickoff of the CCOM Pawcast.

They talk the excitement of Welcome Week and the Fall 2024 semester, as well as multiple elements of The Butler Gateway Project and the University's leadership role in Midtown Indianapolis. Specific items include the transformation of Ross Hall into a Curio Collection Hotel by Hilton, a generous $22.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., and the recently launched Founder's College.

(Recorded on Aug. 15, 2024) Welcome to the inaugural episode of CCOM Backstage: What's happening at the Butler Arts & Events Center.

Paul Mecurio is an Emmy Award winner for his work on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and his current position with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He joins the College of Communication's Ross Hollebon and Eva Hallman '25, journalism major, to share some laughs and provide an intimate sneak peek into his upcoming performance at Butler University's Schrott Center for the Arts in Indianapolis on Saturday, Aug 24th at 8 pm.

Paul has teamed with an all-world group to produce his award-winning Broadway Show - "Permission to Speak" - directed by Frank Oz (Director of "Bowfinger," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, "The Score," Creator and voice of Yoda, "Muppets" creator/puppeteer).

It is a show involving the audience but not a traditional crowd work show. In this show the audience and Paul are telling their own stories that are fun, crazy, bizarre, and at times relatable. After some of Paul's stand-up, the premise is: we are nameless and faceless to each other, and at times divisive and disconnected. But if we get together and share stories we realize we have more in common than we think—and maybe don't have to be so divisive.

The show is comedic, not political, but it is also NOT a "kumbaya" show. It showcases a multimedia set by 23-time Emmy-winning set designer Jim Fenhagen and creative visual effects and animation by famed animator JJ Sedelmaier (Beavis & Butthead, SNL TV Funhouse Cartoons).

After each show strangers talk and connect after hearing their stories and having a lot of laughs in the process. Through making connections we create a better, less hostile world/environment for us all to live in.

Schrott Center for The Arts - Butler University - Indianapolis

Saturday, Aug 24th at 8:00 pm.