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A COLLISION COURSE WITH INCLUSION I wouldn't read anything much into our cover caption for this May/June issue. It was difficult to come up with a real theme from spring ball. To be sure, there was plenty of hard hitting and effort on the practice field, the coaches are optimistic, the balls were snapped and the passes were thrown. You hopefully get the point. Coach Darrell Hazell and Co. still are in search of a real identity or a marquee guy (or two) who is the flag bearer for what is Purdue football. A few more wins and some big-time efforts on the field and that can come, but until then, we will do what they say in the business is "best art" for the page that greets you when you look at this issue. If nothing else, the primary image of linebacker Andy James Garcia smacking Keyante Green shows the game is not for the faint of heart. That is, if any of you needed remind of such. That's not to say there aren't plenty of stories in the next couple dozen pages. Stacy Clardie and Kyle Charters were at every moment of practice and you get a great feel for where Hazell's team is right now, or maybe you will get the feel of where it wants to be at the start of the 2015 season. A.J. Hammons' return is a plus, a big plus. Matt Painter and Co. likely will start the season ranked in the top 25 due in part to Hammons' choice. That gives all Boiler- maker fans something to get excited about. And of course we want to include you, our readers, in the celebration of our 25th year of publishing. Our trip down memory lane on Pages 38-41 shows our most note- worthy covers, at least in my opinion, from each year. I've been fortunate to be involved with Gold and Black for 19 of those 25 years, and there have been many more sto- ries than those reflected in those covers. But I think the selection presented explains, at least in some small part, where we have come from. Yet, in our 25th year, and in this issue, I felt equally fortunate to have space reserved to tell the story of Bree Horrocks and Dorien Bryant in Charters' story on Page 52. To me, that is one of the best examples of how far ath- letics has come in a quarter century. I think today more than ever, kids talk of inclusion and not exclusion and about equality and not divisiveness. Maybe it's my age, I don't know. But at this point in my career, I would rather we tell stories about kids solving problems, leaders such as athletic director Morgan Burke and his staff showing courage by making decisions in the best interests of in- clusion, as much as Purdue sweeping Indiana in basket- ball twice this year. Don't get me wrong, for Boilermaker fans beating IU is bliss, but so should be the notion that a better world is being built by the young leaders we watch on the field and courts. At least that is my hope. "We have our eyes set on being in the Final Four, especially after seeing Michigan State make that run. Anything is possible." Kendall Stephens in April, a few weeks after Purdue was ousted from the NCAA Tournament "You get a chance to play and then you have to be an adult." 2015 Hall of Fame member Andrea Hillsey's message to college athletes about how quickly a career passes. Hillsey is softball's first inductee into Purdue's Hall. "There is a need for stability and roots (in college athletics). Substance needs to triumph over style." Morgan Burke on an upcoming Big Ten initiative to create separation from the college and professional model, which could include a return to freshman ineligibility in football and men's basketball. From Publisher Alan Karpick 8 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED