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Article

Purdue’s mark on the Indianapolis 500

From the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band playing “Back Home Again in Indiana” to race engineers celebrating their winning drivers in Victory Lane, Purdue University is integral to “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Sophomore Emily Deldar (Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences; and Psychological Sciences, ’24) is one of five Purdue women to be part of the 2022 500 Festival Princess program.
Article

Empowering Indiana women through civic engagement

When I was in middle school choir, I was assigned to be a helper and mentor to a student with Down syndrome. I ended up getting really close with his family. I did a lot of work with the Special …

Golduster Sophia Strain poses in front of the Purdue Memorial Union in her Indianapolis 500 dancing uniform.
Article

Becoming a part of Indianapolis 500 and Purdue history

I went to the Indy 500 when I was younger, but I didn’t know I was hearing the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band the whole time until I was able to be a part of it in college as a Golduster.

Purdue football players Mike Phipps and Don Kiepert
Podcast

Podcast Ep. 57: Boilermaker Bond: Celebrating 50+ Years of Purdue Friendship

In this episode of “This Is Purdue,” we’re talking to former Purdue football players Mike Phipps and Don Kiepert, who played on the iconic late 1960s team under Coach Jack Mollenkopf. This quarterback duo friendship started at Purdue, and the …

Pappas offers Justin Wilson some encouragement before the start of the 2013 Indy 500.
Article

Racing toward Indy 500 dreams

At the age of 11, Bill Pappas saved enough money to attend his first-ever Indianapolis 500. Since then, he has turned his dreams into a reality, along the way working with some of the biggest names in racing — Juan …

Akshaya Kumar, a sophomore from Iowa, is one of hundreds of students in The Data Mine.
Article

Data science for all: Thriving in a human-centered, data-driven workforce

Whatever your idea of a typical classroom experience looks like, it’s certainly not The Data Mine. This unique living-learning community offers boundary-breaking learning for students from all backgrounds and gives students the chance to work on real-world projects with major …

Golden Girl Amanda Coy has performed with the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band at the Indianapolis 500 since her freshman year as the Girl in Black. (Photo by John Underwood/Purdue University)
Article

Seeing a community come together for race day

It’s the coolest moment when we turn the corner of the Indy 500 track, and you see all of the people in the stands lined up, and you are the first thing they’re all looking at.

Emily Bultinck, junior, biomedical engineering ’23, is one of five Purdue women to be part of the 2022 500 Festival Princess program.
Article

Modeling community service for the next generation as a 500 Festival Princess

The 500 Festival Princess Program started out as a pageant, but there’s so much more to what it means to be a leader and a princess. I fell in love with community service my freshman year building an assistive fishing …

Article

Combining student leadership and showmanship at the Indianapolis 500

At the Indy 500, a lot of the drum major’s role is the showmanship of it all — wearing the big, tall bear hats, leading the band through the parades, but there is also the logistics.

Ciearra Anderson, sophomore, visual arts and design education ’24, is one of five Purdue women to be part of the 2022 500 Festival Princess program.
Article

Building and celebrating a passion for community

Being from a small town, there’s not a whole lot of diversity. There wasn’t anybody that looked like me. I got pointed out a lot, and I just knew from a very early age I was not the same as …

Anthrop Family
Podcast

Podcast Ep. 56: Boilermakers for Life: The Anthrop Family Legacy

In this episode of “This Is Purdue,” we’re highlighting the story of the Anthrop family, a Purdue Athletics legacy from West Lafayette, Indiana. If you’re a Purdue sports fan, you’ve probably heard the name Anthrop. Brothers Dru, Danny and Jackson …

The limestone slabs that once welcomed visitors to campus at the corner of Grant and State streets have been repurposed as part of the renovations at Purdue Memorial Union. This slab now sits at the base of the Great Hall stairwell, while the other is positioned near the PMU’s west tower stairs. (Photo by John Underwood/Purdue Marketing and Communications)
Article

Renovations modernize PMU dining level while celebrating Purdue’s history

The Purdue Memorial Union’s renovated ground floor looks like an entirely different space to most visitors. But when they see the many nods to Purdue and PMU history embedded within the new layout, even staunch Purdue traditionalists can find elements …