| Purdue Pete | |
|---|---|
 Purdue Pete at a Purdue football game | |
| University | Purdue University |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| First seen | 1940 |
| Related mascot(s) | Boilermaker Special |
Purdue Pete is a mascot of Purdue University. Despite his on-field presence at Purdue sporting events, Pete is only the athletic mascot of the university, and the official mascot of Purdue University is the Boilermaker Special.
Purdue Pete was first designed as a logo by the University Bookstore in 1940. [1]
In the summer of 1940, Robert “Doc” Epple borrowed $10,000 from his father to invest as part owner of the University Bookstore. Doc had just graduated from Purdue and he and his partner, Red Simmons, decided their business should have a logo. They commissioned Art Evans to create it. Carl Verplank was the model for the caricature he created. Carl weighed 210 pounds and ran the 100 yard dash under 10 seconds. [2] The bookstore would use the character on their products and portray him dressed up in different clothes for the different majors. The owners of the bookstores gave him the name “Pete”; no one today knows why this was chosen to be his name. [3] He was given a physical identity in 1956 as he came out and helped the students cheer at a pep rally. [2] Over the years, the appearance of Purdue Pete has gone under several drastic changes as well as several minor changes. His original head was made of paper-mâché, pasted onto a chicken wire frame. [3] This was very inconvenient for the person who would be underneath because it would limit his movements, yet he was still expected to move around and do stunts. [3] This head was changed to a giant fiberglass head where the person inside would use a harness to support it. This was impractical due to the sheer size of it. In the 1980s, Purdue Pete acquired the appearance he is now associated with. [3] Proposals to switch to a soft-sculpture costume were rejected in 2006 and 2011. [4] [5]
From 1997 to 2007, Purdue Pete had a sidekick named Rowdy. Rowdy was a ten-foot-tall inflatable mascot who represented a young "future Boilermaker". He was the idea of Jan Winger, Purdue's administrative assistant of athletic public relations, who was inspired by Nebraska's Lil' Red. [6]
Purdue Pete’s uniforms are old gold and black, which are Purdue’s school colors. [3] Purdue Pete carries a large hammer, reminiscent of the type of large mallets used to mold steel by boilermakers. The current head utilizes a fiberglass frame, but is much smaller and lighter than previous designs, as it is made primarily of a composite. [7] The newest head of Pete was designed and created by students in the Aeronautical Engineering Technology department. [7] This is also the same department that designed the Boilermaker X-tra Special. [2] They make several heads throughout the year, as well as repairing any damage done during regular use. When the department gives the heads to the four Purdue Pete students, the heads are covered in the flesh-colored paint. [7] It is up to the four people who portray Purdue Pete to paint the eyes and glue on the hair. [7]
Purdue attempted to redesign Purdue Pete's costume due to concerns that the over-sized head was perceived as scary by younger fans, as well as the transfer of the original designer and fabricator of the Purdue Pete heads, Professor Raymond Thompson, to Dubai Aerospace University. However, the redesign was met with outrage and criticism. Former Purdue Pete actor and 2008 graduate John Langenkamp criticized the full body suit for being potentially very uncomfortable, and being too drastic a visual change from the previous design. Longtime John Purdue Club donor and member Bill Donovan kept most of his donations earmarked for Purdue Pete, but chose not to contribute more after the redesign of Purdue Pete. The redesign plans for Purdue Pete involve no jersey, a full body suit rather than just a head, and no hammer. At the spring 2011 Black & Gold game, despite a 67-yard field goal by junior Carson Wiggs, the loudest fan reaction was to boo the redesigned mascot. On April 13, 2011, Purdue decided to restore the old Purdue Pete mascot design. [8]
Purdue Pete goes to all of the football games, and the home basketball games, as well as the tournaments such as the Big Ten Bowl Games and the NCAA. [3] Purdue Pete also makes appearances at softball, soccer, and baseball home games. [3] He performs skits during the games, such as a surfing skit where the audience lies down on the ground, allowing Pete to ride a surfboard over top of them. [3] The students who portray Purdue Pete also do stunts of their own creation. [3] This allows them to put their own touches into the performance. [3] It typically takes about ten minutes to get completely dressed up before the games. [3] Purdue Pete wears a basketball jersey to the basketball games and is fully decked out with football jersey and pads for the football games. [3] He also wears his football outfit as his main clothing of choice. [3] Besides games, Purdue Pete also goes to numerous social events. [3] He has been to grand-openings for companies around the West Lafayette area. [3] He goes to tailgates before games and special alumni events. [3] Although the football outfit is his main clothing style, he can wear other things for special appearances, such as a tuxedo at a banquet to welcome the at-the-time new president of Purdue, France A. Córdova.
According to Arthur Smith, a spirit coordinator, "essentially anyone could be Purdue Pete", [3] although the people who have been chosen to be Purdue Pete in the past have all been about six feet tall and weighed around one hundred and sixty pounds. [3] Hundreds of people try out to be Purdue Pete, but only the four most qualified students are chosen in order to distribute the time and effort required. [3] In order to keep the role of Purdue Pete, students have to pass drug tests and physicals and must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA. [3] They are also required to go to study hall for about four hours a week. [3] A professor has never been Purdue Pete, although there have been some requests to be Pete for a day to experience what it’s like. [3]
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name. The first classes were held on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students. It has been ranked as among the best public universities in the United States by major institutional rankings, and is known for its engineering program.
Sparty is the mascot of Michigan State University. Sparty is usually depicted as a muscular male Spartan warrior/athlete dressed in stylized Greek costume. After changing the team name from "Aggies" to "Spartans" in 1925, various incarnations of a Spartan warrior with a prominent chin appeared at university events and in university literature. In 1943, MSU art professor Leonard D. Jungwirth designed a statue for the university, which had to be cast in terra cotta because of World War II rationing. In 2005, the university replaced Jungwirth's original statue with a bronze replica, moving the original indoors to protect it from the elements.
The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation of Purdue's students and alumni at large. The nickname is often shortened to "Boilers" by fans.
The Boilermaker Special is the official mascot of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It resembles a Victorian-era railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis. It is operated and maintained by the student members of the Purdue Reamer Club. It is often incorrectly assumed that Purdue Pete is the official mascot of the university.
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Lloyd Eugene Keady is an American basketball coach. He is best known for his 25 years serving as the head men's basketball coach at Purdue University in Indiana. In his tenure leading the Boilermakers from 1980 to 2005, he went to the NCAA Tournament seventeen times, twice advancing to the Elite Eight.
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The Purdue Boilermakers football team represents Purdue University in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. Purdue plays its home games at Ross–Ade Stadium on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The head coach of Purdue is Ryan Walters, the 37th head coach in Purdue history. The Boilermakers compete in the Big Ten Conference as a member of the West Division. Purdue had most recently been a part of the Leaders Division of the Big Ten, but moved to the West Division in 2014 due to conference expansion.
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Rameses is the ram mascot of the North Carolina Tar Heels. The anthropomorphic version of him wears a Tar Heels jersey. Two versions of Rameses appear at UNC sporting events. One is a member of the UNC cheerleading team in an anthropomorphic ram costume; the other is a live Dorset Horn sheep named Rameses who attends Carolina football games with his horns painted Carolina blue. There is a third UNC mascot; another anthropomorphic ram, Rameses Jr., or RJ for short.
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Ryan Edward Baker is a former American football defensive end who played for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He was originally signed by the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Purdue.
Charles Daniel Hope is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Eastern Kentucky University from 2003 to 2007, and Purdue University from 2009 to 2012, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 57–49. He was most recently the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the South Florida Bulls football team before stepping down after one season for family reasons.
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The 1989 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Fred Akers, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 3–8 with a mark of 2–6 in conference play, placing eighth in the Big Ten. It was Purdue's fifth straight losing season. The team played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The 1995–96 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team represented Purdue University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by Gene Keady and played its home games at Mackey Arena.
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