Senior Story 2020: Business Major Delves Into Investment Banking
Date published: May 11, 2020
Name: Andrew Butler
Hometown: Irving, Texas
Major: Business
Notable UD Memories/Achievements: Studying in Rome; Friendships Formed; Education Received; Successful Internships
Future Plans: Working as a Goldman Sachs Analyst
This is the second in a series of eight stories that will be published to highlight the achievements of some of our seniors
in the Class of 2020.
“Music on the Mall” every Friday afternoon is a treasured tradition for many students
at UD. Between the music, the occasional barbecue, and the friends, it comes as no
surprise that the weekly celebration attracts prospective students such as Andrew
Butler, BA ’20, once was.
During Butler’s last visit to UD as a high school senior, he was talking with some
students in the Society of St. Joseph who were hosting a cookout during Music on the
Mall, when he realized he had found his school. Butler says he was struck by the liveliness
of the conversations and the welcoming attitudes of all the students — this community
was something he knew he wanted to be a part of.
The relationships among the students have remained one of his favorite things throughout
his time at the university. Looking back at his four years at UD, Butler says he is
especially fond of the friendships made in Rome. Through the adventure of traveling
from new country to new country and the excitement of running, unplanned, into fellow
students during his 10-day break in Rome, Butler formed strong, lasting friendships.
“It wasn’t just the experiences that strengthened my friendships, though,” he said.
“It’s the fact that UD places you in an environment not just conducive to but proclaimedly
purposed for the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty.”
Butler is not only grateful for the community he found; he is also very thankful for
the unique education he received. UD’s business program is unusual in that it mandates
that each business major take a class in a variety of different fields (e.g. accounting,
marketing, ethics).
“I think this curriculum leaves its students well equipped to become versatile managers
who have a critical understanding of their organization’s different parts as well
as a broad outlook on it as a whole,” he said.
Many business programs at other schools offer a variety of specialties, which makes
the broad focus of UD’s business major appear to some as a downside, but Butler found
it to be well-purposed.
Indeed, he had the same positive outlook toward the wide variety of classes required
in the Core Curriculum.
“The Core is the most challenging part of UD, but it’s also one of the things that
makes UD so great … no matter what your major, you are going to have to take classes
in subjects that you aren’t good at,” said Butler. Like a true UD student, Butler
has found that the Core truly enhanced his education by forcing him to work harder
and become better at things that didn’t come as naturally to him.
Although school took up a lot of time, Butler was involved with the Society of St.
Joseph as well as a variety of intramural sports during his time at UD. During his
junior year, he worked part time at NEXU Partners and also for a partnership of UD
alumni making real estate investments. Additionally, over the summers he stayed busy
working at a variety of places, including at a start-up called IFM Restoration, at
Midtown Educational Foundation, and at Telos Capital Advisors, a boutique investment
bank.
The contrast of today’s slowness brought on by COVID-19 has certainly created the
potential for boredom in Butler’s life during his last semester at UD. But although
COVID-19 took away a lot of his “lasts,” he is grateful for the extra time to go outside
and be active — especially with a busy year coming up. He is looking forward to starting
full time at Goldman Sachs this summer as an analyst in the Credit Risk group, helping
to both evaluate the credit risk involved in prospective financings and manage portfolios
of established clients. He is especially grateful to Shannon Blatt, director of Personal Career Development at UD, for introducing him to UD Trustee Randy Muck, who mentored him throughout
his job search, providing Butler with “ideas, contacts and guidance.”
"Well prepared for the mentoring discussion, Andrew knew what he wanted and needed,"
said Muck. "He listened to advice very attentively and sought to apply it to his situation,
with a good balance of in-class capabilities and out-of-class experiences. He had
a good plan for his prospecting and very effective and diligent follow-through and did
a fabulous job of networking, networking, networking. He prepared well for the interviews
and was very proactive and open to exploring new avenues and listening to advice."
With four years at UD behind him and “real” life ahead of him, Butler is both excited
and nervous. He is most sad to have to part ways with many of his friends, but he
has decided to look at the situation optimistically: “The goodbyes have reminded me
of the great times we've had, and I'm already looking forward to the reunions to come,”
he said.