Bethel University President Butler Announces Retirement

McKENZIE — After 10 years as President of Bethel University, Dr. Walter Butler announced his plans to retire on December 31, 2023 shortly after turning 70.

Butler is a familiar face throughout the state due to his service in the state and local governments.

“Bethel University without Walter Butler is virtually unfathomable,” said Nancy Bean, Chair of Bethel University’s Board of Trustees. “His total contributions to Bethel are entirely too numerous to mention or to even recognize. However, it can easily be said that he has successfully and with honor, commitment and dignity guided the University through some of its best times and some of the most difficult times of its history. As both the Director of Business Affairs and later as President he has made an indelible mark on the University, and one for which his legacy will be remembered with deep admiration and appreciation for generations to come.”

Butler has a long history with the University. He began working at Bethel as an admission counselor in 1975.

“ I never planned on being president of this University, but I am so grateful to have had the opportunity,” said Butler. “Everyone here is committed to making a difference in the lives of our students. They’re on a mission, and it has been a wonderful thing to be a part of. Bethel University has been a blessing to me, and I will forever be grateful to it.”

In addition to his time in higher education, Butler spent many years in public service. At 24, he was elected Carroll County Trustee and became the youngest county-wide official ever elected in Carroll County. He also was elected mayor of Carroll County, a position his son, Joseph, now holds. Walter spent 18 years in Carroll County government prior to serving in roles as Tennessee’s director of State Parks and deputy commissioner of Personnel and later deputy commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.

After those roles, Butler returned to Bethel to serve as director of Business Affairs, Vice President of the College of Liberal Arts, and Vice President of the College of Criminal Justice before being named President.

“While with regret, we honor his decision to retire,” said Bean. “We also understand and support his decision to have more time with his family and to pursue other hobbies and activities of his choosing.

The Board of Trustees is moving forward. A Presidential Search Committee was formed to find a successor to Dr. Butler. They are in the very early stages of their quest and will eventually bring names and nominations to the full Board.”

Butler said he is very proud of the students, faculty and staff of the four-year Cumberland Presbyterian Church-affiliated university.

“Our students are truly making a difference in this world,” said the retiring president. He has witnessed former Bethel athletes advance into professional sports, students in the music program become professionals in the music industry, and watched some former students return as faculty members at the University.

Bethel is noted for its teacher-training program, its physician assistant program, which has a capacity number of students every year, its nursing program, its music program, and the athletic department, which is developing athletes and providing sports management programs, in which students assist at the NFL, NBA, and other major sporting events. Student-athletes consistently are honored as Champions of Character and noted for their high GPAs.

He said he is proud of 10 consecutive balanced budgets and the new chapel under construction adjacent to the Vera Low Student Enrichment Center.

Bethel faced challenges during Butler’s tenure. During a previous administration of the State of Tennessee, the state Department of Education decertified the local University’s Education Department. Bethel successfully reinstated the certification through a court order granting financial damages to Bethel University because the State wrongfully decertified the program.

Another challenge was COVID. While many colleges and universities shut down, Bethel limited its closure from March 2020 to the end of the school year. Students continued their studies through online portals, a system familiar to Bethel since it had offered online courses for more than a decade. The 2020-21 school year marked a return to in-person classes with some restrictions.

Bethel established a special dormitory for those with COVID and designated areas for those students in quarantine. At the height of the pandemic, Bethel had 147 students with COVID.

Butler praised the faculty, staff, and healthcare workers who assisted in managing the situation.

Not only did they deliver meals to the students and provide updates to the parents of their children’s situation, they continued the orderly operations of the University.

The University also decreased the number of satellite campuses to Paris, Nashville, and Jackson. Many of the face-to-face classes converted to online only.

Bethel’s Global Studies also experienced explosive growth. Bethel works with Global Citizen Adventure Corps, a non-profit organization, to arrange all global travel and activities. Both high school and college students receive college credit for their service-learning activities while servicing in foreign countries. Professor Stacie Freeman heads the program.

In the near future, Bethel hopes to develop an MBA and Masters in Criminal Justice program that can be completed in 12 months, said Butler.

Walter and wife, Jennifer, have been married 43 years and have three boys, Murray, Joseph, and Thomas, all three of whom are graduates of Bethel. Murray is a medical doctor, Joseph is county mayor, and Thomas is in sales of orthopedic supplies. They also have 12 grandchildren.