A Field House Tribute to a Beloved Coach

A nearby plaque sheds some light on his lasting influence on generations of Bowdoin students: “A gifted athlete, coach, and leader, Charlie prioritized education, teamwork, and personal growth for people of all skill levels and backgrounds.”

Butt coached men swimming and diving from 1961 to 2000 and men's soccer from 1961 to 1964. He was the first-ever women's swimming and diving coach in 1976. After his retirement, he was an assistant coach for the women’s squash team. He died in 2018, at the age of ninety-three.

Under his mentorship, athletes broke record after record. When he retired from men’s soccer, his teams had accumulated 120 wins, a triumph unmatched today. In his first year as swimming coach, the swimmers had their first unbeaten season. That same year, the team placed second at the New England Championships, a feat Butt’s men’s teams would repeat four times. More than one hundred of his swimmers earned All-American honors. 

Prominently displayed in the case is a copy of a book written by Butt's daughter, Catie Butt, called Charlie’s Way: The Life, Laughter, and Legacy of Coach Charlie Butt, with a young Charlie relaxing against the side of a boat on the cover. He's perhaps twenty, his hair tousled by a breeze. 

With support from Bowdoin, Catie Butt published the biography of her father this year, which would have been his 100th, to share his courageous story of escaping Shanghai in 1951 and making his way to the US via Hong Kong and Tokyo.

“He really was an inspiring person,” Catie Butt said in an interview for a Bowdoin alumni magazine article. “He was resilient and hard-working, but he also cared about others and was open-minded. He had this incredible life, both at Bowdoin and before it, and I wanted people to know the full story.”

All proceeds from the book support The Charles J. Butt Scholarship Fund, which was established by more than 100 donors—former student-athletes coached by Butt—in 2000, the year he retired from Bowdoin.

The book was a catalyst for a group of former swimmers and soccer players coached by Charlie Butt to “properly honor Charlie’s legacy at Bowdoin,” former trustee Ellen Shuman ’76 said. 

Shuman was a first-year student in 1972, part of the second class of women admitted to Bowdoin. Title IX had just been passed, and Bowdoin—like many other formerly all-male colleges—had few to no women’s sports teams or facilities, Shuman recalled. “There was no women’s swim team at Bowdoin. That’s when Charlie said, 'Ellen, dive with us!'”

She joined the men's team and competed individually, winning the women’s New England 1-meter diving championships and reaching the finals in the men’s New England 3-meter championship in 1976.

“Charlie gave everyone an opportunity, and he brought out the best in every individual—in the pool or on the soccer field,” Shuman said. “Every one knew that Charlie was rooting for us in competition, in the classroom, and in life. He was a holistic educator.”

The case in the field house lobby holds ten items from Butt's coaching life, including his swim coach whistle and jacket, a squash racquet, a soccer ball signed by the 1976 men’s soccer team, and a thank you mug from the 1992 women’s swimming and diving team. The items were gathered by Bowdoin head swim coach Brad Burnham, Ashmead White Executive Director of Athletics Tim Ryan ’98, and Butt’s daughter, Catie.

The three of them, plus Shuman and many others, gathered October 4, during Homecoming Weekend, to dedicate the new display.

Look for a story about Catie’s book and Charlie's life in the upcoming Bowdoin alumni magazine. Gifts to the Charlie Butt scholarship fund can be made here.