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Logo of Purdue Alumni, Sarasota club

Sarasota

A group of Purdue Alumni posing for a photo

Welcome

The Purdue Alumni Club of Sarasota offers the most fun you’ll ever have networking with other Boilermakers in our local area*.  We promote the interests of Purdue University and Purdue Alumni Association through our spirited involvement in events that offer you ways to interact with Alumni, Families, Friends and Students as we fund local scholarships.

We are a group of lively, savvy, professionals who take pride in our Club’s accomplishments, as we challenge each other on ways to give back while enjoying teamwork.  You may meet a great friend; enjoy an exciting Polo Match or Purdue Game; join a charity run; find people with similar professional interests; realize a way to contribute to the community; and help local scholars as they are just starting their adventures at Purdue University.

Please check out how to join our Club!  There are no fees to become a participating member.

*We focus on social, intellectual, professional, community, and scholarship events with members from across the five counties of Charlotte, Desoto, Hardee, Manatee, and Sarasota.

Scholarship

The Purdue Alumni of Sarasota will again be awarding several scholarships to freshmen and returning scholars from our five county area in the coming Fall Semester.

To be eligible for the scholarship, each student must accept the Purdue University offer for admission and submit the standard application through the Purdue University Division of Financial Aid and express your interest in our Club Scholarship.

The application will include an official high school transcript and ACT or SAT scores for freshmen.  All applicants must also include scholastic, extra-curricular, and volunteer activities and achievements.  A one paged essay as described in the application will also be required.

Applications are due by March 1 and will be awarded on or before May 1 for the following academic year.

We hope to hear from you soon! Hail Purdue!

Apply Now

Congratulations in advance for teaming up with one of the finest academic institutions of higher learning in the United States!

Merchandise

You can now purchase Alumni Club of Sarasota merchandise at the official Purdue for Life Foundation merchandise store. Offerings include branded shirts and outerwear for men and women, plus hats, blankets, tumblers, and more! Please note that you will be purchasing from Freckles Graphics, a preferred partner for merchandise.

Contact Us

Chuck Trippel
President, Purdue Alumni Club of Sarasota
ctrippel@comcast.net

Purdue for Life Foundation
alumniclubs@purdueforlife.org

Social Media

Keagan’s story

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 J. Mellott

BS College of Health and Human Sciences, 1969
Fishers, IN

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.