Luke Butler liked Temple so much that he sent in his deposit before he even heard back from other colleges, and almost everything he experienced as a freshman validated his decision. He liked being in the heart of Philadelphia. He liked the intimacy of the Honors Program. He liked his psychology and neuroscience courses. And, being a huge sports fan, he really liked going to watch Temple football and basketball games.

But that's where he saw something he didn't like. When Luke walked into Lincoln Financial Field or the Liacouras Center, he didn't see thousands of fellow students, screaming their support of their school. So he decided to do something about it. He became a leader of the Cherry Crusade, a group of rabid student supporters. And on September 9, 2008, he painted his body cherry red, put on a cape and became "Super Luke."

Even if you never saw Super Luke in action at a football or basketball game — he was pretty hard to miss, standing in his chair in the front row, waving a towel and shouting at the top of his lungs — you've seen and heard what his hard work has helped create. Thousands of seats at football and men's basketball games that were empty four years ago are now filled with students chanting in unison, and the chants and cheers he helped popularize have become staples — especially the raucous end-game chant, "I believe that we have won."

"I've had dozens and dozens of people, from trustees to alumni, come up to me and ask me to teach them that chant," Butler said. "It's part of our culture now."

Temple's football and basketball coaches and players have noticed the change.

"There's no question Luke has made a difference," said men's basketball head coach Fran Dunphy, who taught Luke in an Honors course. "I appreciated what he has done for me and our players. His loyalty has been unwavering. I wish we had more Luke Butlers."

Luke is the first to admit that more wins had a lot to do with filling those seats. But Luke's role, which went far beyond painting his body and leading chants, shouldn't be underestimated. As the Cherry Crusade's vice president in 2007-08 and president in 2008-09 and 2009-10, he spearheaded a tireless drive to increase student fan engagement. The Cherry Crusade led promotional raids on dorms, slipping flyers under every door. They blanketed the student body with e-mails via the Wild Cherry listserv. They borrowed the Hooter costume and walked around Main Campus carrying a sign promoting the evening's game. They set up tables at orientation and aggressively recruited freshmen to join their cause. They arranged student bus trips to select football, men's basketball and women's basketball road games, including last year's EagleBank Bowl and NCAA tournament games. When Temple basketball had games at the Palestra, they orchestrated subway car takeovers, streaming into a select car and singing and chanting all the way to West Philadelphia.

Luke is proud of the results. Student attendance is way up, especially for games that were targeted by Luke and his Cherry Crusade crew for aggressive promotion. Even better, the students who attend are louder, more organized — more intense. When Super Luke debuted, few students painted their bodies; now Luke says there are six or seven freshmen who wear paint instead of shirts to every men's basketball game. The bottom line, says Luke, is that his fellow students seem to care more.

"Last year, when 50 of us took over a subway car on the way to the Palestra, I started to feel that there was something special going on here," said Luke, who missed only one football game (due to an H1N1 infection) and one men's basketball game (he had tickets to a Broadway show) in his four years at Temple. "That's when I began to feel that there was culture being formed — a culture of showing support and being a die-hard fan. I think we showed students how their entire collegiate experience can be enhanced if you have that passion for your school."

After graduation, Luke hopes to pursue a career working with children with developmental disabilities, a path he began to explore last summer with an internship working on a research project on autism spectrum disorders at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing. Graduate school is on the horizon. So is the prospect of returning to Temple games, this time without his Super Luke costume.

"I can't wait to come back as an alumnus and see the amount of enthusiasm grow," said Luke. "But it is a bit bittersweet. I have to hand over the reins."

"Hey," he added with a laugh after a pause, "maybe I should come up with some kind of handing-over-of-the-cape ceremony."