Dear Friend,
On behalf of the Purdue Black Alumni Organization (PBAO), I want to thank you for visiting our page and taking the time to learn more about our organization’s mission and work.
PBAO is an inclusive association of alumni, students, friends, faculty and staff who are committed to the advancement of African Americans at Purdue. Our reach includes programming activities on campus, events with local chapters, and a renewed focus on diversity initiatives at Purdue University.
PBAO will continually reach out to its members and encourage their involvement in PBAO. I invite you to learn more about the organization and become a part of PBAO. A portion of your membership fee will go toward supporting PBAO.
In addition to your membership, a major way you can support our work is by contributing to our endowment fund. Together, we’re creating a $500,000 endowment to provide scholarships for generations to come. This is a significant undertaking. However, I have a strong belief in the commitment of our alumni to continue stepping forward on behalf of our University and our community.
We need the energy of alumni invested in Purdue’s future. I welcome your involvement and contribution.
Sincerely,
Curtis Baylor
PBAO President
The Purdue Black Alumni Organization (the “PBAO”) seeks to advance, promote and exemplify a commitment to diversity at Purdue and a sense of community among Black alumni. PBAO strives to be an inclusive association of alumni, students, friends, faculty and staff who are committed to the advancement of African Americans at Purdue. PBAO will support the school’s recruitment and retention of students of under-represented ethnic groups; increase the financial support of the school among graduates/former students of color; be a network of support for graduates/former students of color, and serve as a voice within the school for the interests of current students and alumni.
(as set forth in the 1980 Constitution)
PBAO is an affiliate of Purdue Alumni. It was founded at the Commemorative Conference in recognition of the 10th anniversary of the Black Cultural Center and the first Purdue University Black Alumni Reunion in December 1980.
The Purdue Black Alumni Organization seeks to advance, promote, and exemplify a commitment to diversity at Purdue and a sense of community among Black alumni. We offer unique opportunities to stay connected, get involved, and give back through activities on campus, events with our local chapters, and a renewed focus on diversity initiatives at Purdue.
Join the Purdue Black Alumni Organization through a Purdue Alumni Association membership.
ANNUAL
LIFETIME
The learn more, visit our membership page.
You can stay connected to Purdue alumni and students by joining Purdue Ties, the university’s premier networking and mentoring platform. Learn more on our Purdue Ties page.
I’m walking with Grandparents University tour group near the steps of Hovde Hall. It’s a Thursday morning in July, and the only students around are between the ages of 7 and 14. I catch a snippet of a conversation between a grandmother and her grandson as she details the pranks she pulled with her friends around this area.
I smile because just a few months ago I was doing the same thing.
Grandparents University (GPU) is a two-day event where grandparents and their grandchildren embrace Purdue and all it has to offer.
Participants choose a specific major to study and attend a class taught by Boilermaker experts. The majors aren’t exactly like the ones we have here at Purdue, but they do get to do cool activities like creating hot sauce, designing monsters, flying drones, and cooking in a Purdue kitchen. It’s a great opportunity to see wisdom and curiosity combined in the classroom, as grandparents and their grandchildren collaborate on these projects. They’re equally willing to learn from the instructors —and from each other—while creating lasting memories.
They might not know it yet, but this Purdue experience at such a young age will help with their college decision in a few years.
My mother started working at Purdue when she was pregnant with me, so I’ve been familiar with the university my whole life. Many of my childhood memories are associated with different parts of campus, and these memories played a big part in my decision to attend Purdue. I was going to a place that I knew—a place I already considered a home away from home. In the same way, when these children make their college decisions, they will already have built connections with Purdue through Grandparents University.
It will also help they already have a Purdue degree!
At the end of GPU, the kids graduate just like regular students by walking across the stage of Elliott Hall of Music. They even have their own caps to decorate and keep—which is great because robe rentals would be a nightmare.
I had been to nine commencement ceremonies before my own in May, so I’m well-versed in Purdue graduations. Nevertheless, it was still fun to watch this one.
These children had learned so much more than what was taught in their major. They learned more about their grandparents and strengthened their connection with them. They learned about the university and what’s in store for them when they (hopefully) become Boilermakers. And at the Block Party, they befriended students they had never met before and hung out on Memorial Mall—just like regular college students.
It was almost exactly what I experienced throughout my college career. Yes, I got my degree and now have a job as was intended on this life path. But I also made lifelong friendships and went outside my comfort zone in ways that helped me grow as an individual.
Purdue shaped me and continues to shape me. I credit a lot of my growth as a person and a professional to my college career here, and a lot of what I know to the professors and instructors I had throughout my education.
Through Grandparents University, you have the opportunity to provide the same transformative experience for future Boilermakers. You can be the Purdue instructor that inspires a path that lasts a lifetime.
Patsy earned a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition in business from Purdue in 1969, in addition to an MBA in food marketing from Michigan State University in 1970. She retired from Kraft Foods in 2006 after 36 years in corporate food marketing and marketing communications management.
A community volunteer, Patsy serves on the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana Advisory Board and the Purdue College of Health and Human Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council, in addition to the President’s Council Advisory Board. She is a former member of the Health and Human Sciences Alumni Board. Patsy held several offices from 2006 through 2013, including president and treasurer. She serves her community’s Discover Indianapolis Club in Fishers, holding several leadership roles for over 10 years.
Patsy has received several honors, including the Purdue University Nutrition Science Department Hall of Fame recipient in 2009 and the Purdue University College of Health and Human Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. She also received the college’s Gold and Black Award in 2016, an honor reserved for donors who have moved the college forward by committing exceptional financial resources.
In addition to endowing two scholarships, the Patsy J. Mellott Scholarship and Patsy J. Mellott HHS Scholarship, she established the Patsy J. Mellott Teaching Innovation Award in the College of Health and Human Sciences in 2013. In 2015, she endowed the Patsy J. Mellott Women’s Tennis Coach Performance Award. She is a lead donor in the Christine M. Ladisch Faculty Leadership Award and the Purdue Women’s Network Virginia C. Meredith Scholarship for the College of Health and Human Sciences.
