When Butler University defeated Kansas State to advance to the Final Four last month, thousands of students flooded the university's grassy mall and surrounded Bobby Fong, the university's president. A group of football players, concerned that the trim president would be knocked over by the boisterous crowd, promptly hoisted him into the air.
"Three players got behind me," Mr. Fong recalled in an interview. "A fourth said, 'On my shoulders, Dr. Fong,' and all of a sudden I was crowd-surfing. I call it my Peyton Manning moment. Somebody had my blind side."
Mr. Fong was covered that night. But in the nine days since then, Butler has been caught pleasantly off guard by the attention sparked by the success of its men's basketball team, the darling of this year's NCAA tournament. The university, with around 4,000 students, is among the smallest institutions ever to play for a national championship—and to suddenly be center stage, university officials and students have found, has been quite the surreal experience.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Butler U. Keeps Its Head, Even in the Spotlight - Athletics - The Chronicle of Higher Education
Author: Libby Sander
