s e n i o r
s a l u t e
Night Of Celebration
Change in awards format well-received
BY ALAN KARPICK
AKarpick@GoldandBlack.com
C
hris Clopton was looking to
make an impact. As an undersized cornerback on the Boilermaker
Rose Bowl team a dozen years ago,
he knows a thing or two about that.
So when he came up with the idea
to change the athletic department's
traditional Senior Salute awards, he
decided it was time to go big or go
home. Thus, the inaugural Golden
Pete Awards were born.
"We were looking for a way to
celebrate our student-athletes on
Tom Campbell
Senior associate athletic director Nancy
Cross (middle) reviews the script before
the event with emcee Rosevelt Colvin
and backstage manager Caitlin McPherson. Colvin, who has done his share of
TV work with the BTN, was comfortable
on stage.
a grander stage," said Clopton,
who is a senior associate director
of the John Purdue Club charged
with overseeing the Varsity P Club.
"We sought a lot of input from the
BAC (Boilermaker Athletic Council,
which consists of varsity athletes in
leadership roles) and decided now
was the time to do something like
this."
Picture the ESPYs, Grammys
and Oscars, all rolled into a Purdue-themed event.
For years, Purdue had saluted its
Tom Campbell senior athletes at a banquet-style
Colvin and co-host Lauren Varnau opened the show with a uniform role reversal. event with a sit-down meal included.
Colvin was a two-time All-Big Ten defensive end for the Boilermakers in the late
For the Golden Pete Awards, there
1990s, and Varnau was a four-time Academic All-Big Ten performer in soccer
was no food and not all that much
from 2008-11.
Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 5com
