The Purdue for Life Foundation works with students to connect them with alumni, celebrate their Purdue experience, and prepare them for life after graduation. Our programs support students in a variety of ways.
The Purdue Alumni Student Experience (PASE), the largest student organization on campus with over 7,000 members, prepares students for life after college and cultivates their lifelong link to Purdue and its alumni. Programs are usually open to all students, but members receive complimentary gear each year, access to exclusive events, and discounts on textbooks and apparel at Follett’s Purdue Bookstores. The cost to join is a one-time payment of $125.
The John Purdue Club (JPC) serves as the alumni-engagement arm of Purdue Athletics and is responsible for raising funds in support of Purdue’s student-athletes. When students sign up for a Boarding Pass, which offers exclusive access to select athletic events, a portion of this investment supports student-athlete scholarships. Investing in a Boarding Pass also allows current students to begin accruing JPC priority points, which determine priority access after graduation.
Graduating Boarding Pass holders have the opportunity to continue accruing priority points and supporting Purdue Athletics through the JPC’s New Professionals program, which offers the ability to maintain membership with the club at a significantly discounted rate. In fact, all recent graduates are eligible to take part in the New Professionals program for as little as $25 per year.
The Purdue Foundation Student Board (PFSB) bridges the gap between the Purdue for Life Foundation and the student body. Board members focus on philanthropic initiatives to educate peers on the importance of giving back and serve as ambassadors and stewards to alumni and donors in support of the University’s private-giving goals. Students can apply for membership each spring.
Graduate Gateway is a program designed for students who are in their final year on campus. Signature events like Send-Off and Senior Week celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of our students and connect them with resources they will use as alumni.
Purdue for Life both employs student interns and connects students with job opportunities at the University that qualify as internships. We frequently hire students to serve as front-line ambassadors at Boilermaker Station Welcome Center, where they operate the front desk and engage with alumni, students, faculty, staff, and guests. Additionally, the Purdue Research Foundation, our parent organization, has internship-eligible opportunities available.
765-496-6549
cesmith@purdueforlife.org
765-494-5905
tprobison@purdueforlife.org
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.