Purdue University
Hallmarks and Quirks
Things I'm Good At:
- Did I mention my engineering program(s)? Well, even so. I do tons of research in technology and engineering, and also in agriculture and food science. The Purdue meat sales are extremely popular. That's the day the Ag students practice slaughteri—um, processing meat and selling it to the public.
- The Krannert School of Business Management integrates well with STEM careers. Many engineering alumni come back to campus for an MBA.
- Twenty-three astronauts studied at Purdue, including Gus Grissom and Neil Armstrong. Yes, I put a man on the moon. Kinda.
- I've got one of the most famous writing etiquette sources on the web. Maybe the liberal arts school got tired of engineers who couldn't spell or write, so they created the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab). This is a favored reference on all things grammatical for writers all over the U.S.
My Top 5 Must-Haves:
- Lots of winter clothing and snow boots. Layers of them. For the first time in your life, consider a union suit.
- A fan. Some dorms don't have air conditioning, so you'll need it for the first month of classes. After that, don't worry—it gets cold quickly. The older dorms use steam radiators. Great for drying out wet hats and mittens, not so good for the nasal passages.
- A lofted bed for your teeny, tiny dorm room. Residence halls provide loft plans, so if you know a good carpenter, you can have the suite-est room on your hall.
- Comfortable shoes, preferably athletic shoes, for walking or cycling. The campus is big and spread out. Plus, you may want to walk through the Arboretum for fun or work out at the Co-Rec.
- A caffeine source. This is college. There will be an all-nighter…or ten. This means coffee, Mountain Dew, strong tea, or some type of caffeinated beverage. Luckily, Starbucks has landed on campus and the Purdue Student Union cafeteria is open late.
Why You Might Have Heard of Me:
- Purdue Research Park. It sprouted from the strong academics and faculty research. Entrepreneurs enjoy the hi-tech facilities for agriculture, engineering, and technology startups.
- Glenn Robinson was the number one NCAA draft pick in 1994. Yep, I trained him. NBD.
- I churn out astronauts like it's nobody's business.
- I have the world's largest drum. Along with the baton-twirling golden girl, silver twins, and girl in black, The Big Bass Drum is a fixture on football weekends.
On a regular Saturday night, you can find me...
Thursdays and Saturdays are the big nights to go out on my campus. The bars are packed and several fraternities and cooperative houses will have parties. If students don't hit Harry's, they hang out at Brothers Bar and Grill. Thursday is line dance lesson night at The Neon Cactus, so get your boots on.
For students who won't or can't partake of the bar scene, coffee bars rule. Many java joints have live music on the weekends. Grab a date (and some coffee) and go take a romantically jittery tour of the fountains at night. Weather permitting, of course.
Favorite Hangouts:
- Hick's Undergraduate Library, the underground library where you can always find a friend. No sweats allowed, unless it's your Harry's sweatshirt.
- Harry's Chocolate Shop, a bar known for stiff drinks and fried mushrooms. Students stake out the tables in the front window, aptly called the fishbowl, so better get there by noon. Hence, the saying, "Go Ugly Early."
- Slayter Hill. Wanna build a snowman? Or go sledding? This hill is steep enough for all kinds of winter sports. It offers the best view of campus at night, and the hill gets filled with RVs on football Saturdays. Slayter hosts concerts in the band shell, too.
- Triple XXX Family Restaurant. Bet you wonder what they sell here. Get your mind out of the gutter; this is a family restaurant where you can get ready for the best burger ever. Also called "Tri Chi," this greasy spoon is open late for post-party munchies. Oh, and you'll be served on a Frisbee, rather than a boring ol' plate.
- The Purdue Memorial Union: full of study lounges, a cafeteria, Starbucks, and the Sweet Shop: your place for ice cream and hot bread sticks. The Union houses the offices for most student organizations. There's even a bowling alley in the basement.
Quirks:
- The engineering mall contains a monstrous fountain with multi-color lights for nighttime. You've got to run through at least once during your time with me, preferably on your way home from the bars. It's tradition.
- The Lions fountain in the Memorial Mall is a stone drinking fountain that features four lions roaring.
- In past decades, my students have participated in the Nude Olympics. It happened on the night of the first cold snap, where nude runners would jog a lap around the courtyard of Cary Quadrangle, an all-male dorm. Word spread fast, but it was kept as hush-hush as possible. These days, the penalty for indecent public jogging is severe. This historical event has been watered down to "The Nearly-Naked Mile."
- The Rube Goldberg Contest is an international machine competition where teams build elaborate, overly-complex machines to perform a simple task, like opening a jelly jar or cracking an egg into a bowl. The competition began in the 1940s as a rivalry between two engineering fraternities, and it remains an annual event.
- Grand Prix is a go-kart car race held in the spring, the week before finals week. Teams build and race the karts on a track behind the football stadium. The event raises scholarship money, but it's really just an elaborate excuse to party and build stuff.
Famous Alumni:
- Actor George Peppard has been on The A-Team since high school graduation, obviously.
- Orville Redenbacher studied agronomy in the early 1900s and went on to invent the perfect movie snack.
- Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, was the best thing to happen to Purdue football. Well, he's the only thing to happen to Purdue football.
- Captain "Sully" Sullenberger put in tons of hours at the Purdue Airport, and he must have learned something because he landed a plane on the Hudson River in a hailstorm of geese. We salute you, sir.
- Neil Armstrong, known as the first man on the moon. He's probably the most famous among the multitude of Purdue astronauts.