EAU CLAIRE, WI (SPECTRUM NEWS) – Since the beginning of his 2020 campaign for president, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has had his husband, Chasten, by his side.

It turns out, Chasten is no stranger to being on stage or in the spotlight.

Chasten also has a Wisconsin tie. He graduated from the theatre arts program at UW-Eau Claire in 2011.

Those who know Chasten Buttigieg best say what you see is what you get.

Jennifer Chapman is an associate professor of theatre at the UW-Eau Claire and was Chasten's advisor.

“I don't think he's capable of, you know, performing a self,” Chapman said. “You know, of cultivating some version of Chasten that is the public version.”

Chapman remembers directing shows with Chasten who is someone she says is good at telling his own story.

“He grew up in a working-class family who didn't always understand his identity, whom he had to forgive and form a relationship with,” Chapman said.

When asked to describe Chasten in one word, humble came to mind for Chapman.

“I think that humble is the thing that if you made a Venn diagram of all of his qualities that humble is there in the center.”

Chapman also thinks Chasten would make a good First Gentleman for America.

“I mean I think he'd be great at it,” Chapman said. “I think that they are both individuals who are very good listening to people who are different than them.”

Being inclusive of others is a quality which first stood out to Chapman during production of a play called “Anatomy of Gray.”

“Chasten was also a terrific leader in the cast,” Chapman said. “It was a large cast and we had quite a few Freshman, and so it was their first play in college right out of high school. And Chasten was older than them and he did such a great job of reaching out to people who didn't quite feel like they belonged yet.”

Though Chapman has seen a lot of her former advisee and friend lately, she says it is not the same.

“The only thing that's weird is that, you know, he's somebody I only see a few times a year, and now I see him all the time on my television. And so it just makes me miss my friend a little more.”