history of the

Purdue dance team

 

 

 

 

 

 

1968: Pep Girls Make an Impact on Campus Spirit

 

    In late September of 1968, the Pep Committee held auditions for a new spirit squad known as the "Pep Girls," which was to be formed before the first football game against Wake Forest University. It would be an all-female team made up of sophomore, junior and senior Purdue students to promote school spirit through pom routines, skits, and appearances. These girls would also be in charge of decorating the athletic locker rooms, selling pep buttons to fans, and helping in the execution of the student pep rallies.1

 

    The Pep Committee held two auditions to decide who would be a member of the team. At each audition, girls lined up at Lambert Fieldhouse for an interview. Under the supervision of Tom Ballew, the student president of the Pep Committee, and Tim Richardson, the director of the new team, sixty girls were selected to be on the team.2 At the time, the Pep Committee was a part of the Purdue Athletic Department, which meant that the Pep Girls were grandfathered into the department as a spirit team. Nonetheless, the girls were still in charge of paying $27.50 to purchase their uniforms and the athletic director, Guy "Red" Mackey, ordered the letters that were sewn to the front of each sweater.1 2

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    With the team established and the uniforms ordered, the Pep Girls were finally ready to take on the football season starting with the game against Wake Forest on October 19, 1968. And although the Pep Girls felt rather spirited for their first game, the Purdue student body was feeling the effects of the first loss of the season against Ohio State during the previous week.  As both the Boilermakers and the Demon Deacons took the field at Ross-Ade Stadium, the Pep Girls scattered throughout the stands to cheer on the players. The Purdue Exponent reported that it was because of the new energy the Pep Girls brought to the stadium and to pre-game events that the student body remained fired up as Purdue defeated Wake Forest 28 to 27.3 

 

    After the success of their first home game, the Pep Girls were welcomed back to Ross-Ade Stadium for the rest of the season. However, their spirited efforts were not restricted to their appearances at the stadium. On November 19, 1968, the Pep Girls promoted attendance to the Indiana-Purdue Football Game at Ross-Ade through an exhibition football game at the Hello Walk.4 A crowd gathered on Memorial Mall to watch the team scrimmage, leaving humored and enthusiastic to watch the boys take back the Oaken Bucket from the Hoosiers the following Saturday. This scrimmage on Memorial Mall became an annual tradition during the Pep Girls era.5

 

    After the football season ended, the Pep Girls continued to boost morale at Purdue Basketball games and other sporting events. They also focused on promoting attendance for intramural club sports, such as crew and hockey.6

 

    Under the direction of two new co-chairs, Lynn Kennedy and Brian Flood, auditions for the 1969-1970 team were held at the end of April. 260 girls filled out petitions to join, and through the two-week interview process, 36 were awarded spots on the team. The new season brought new changes for the Pep Girls; the size decrease being one of them. The team also added traveling to away games, performing pom routines at three home games, and cheering for spring and winter sports to their responsibilities. The team also donned new uniforms under the discretion of the Pep Committee, which consisted of a black sweater with white stripes and black knee-high socks with saddle oxford shoes.6 

 

    In March of 1971, the 1971-1972 Pep Girls tried out and were announced. The team consisted of 29 female students who were sophomores or above.7 In the following October, a new dance team formed on campus known as the "Baby Boiler Boosters," or "Tri-Bs" for short.8 The Tri-Bs were an all-freshman version of the Pep Girls who promoted spirit for freshmen athletics at Purdue. Much like the Pep Girls, they sold pep buttons to the student body that read "Back Your Baby Boilers." They provided the recognition that freshman athletics needed during the 1970s.9 However, once sophomores, several Tri-Bs became Pep Girls. The Tri-Bs were on campus for four years until the Pep Girls allowed freshman on their 1974-1975 roster.  

 

    Between 1977 and 1983, the Pep Girls went through numerous name changes. From Pep Girls, they became the Pepsters. And from Pepsters, they became the Pep Squad. The team officially alternated between the names Pepsters and Pep Squad for a couple of years, as seen in numerous Purdue Exponent articles and Purdue Debris Yearbooks. However, throughout this confusion, the study body continued to refer to the team as the Pep Girls, until 1983 when the team officially settled on the name, the Boiler Babes. 

 

1983: The Decade of the Boiler Babes 

 

    In 1983, about 250 girls showed up to the first official callout of the Boiler Babes. Sally Elliott Combs, director of public relations, promotions, and women's intercollegiate athletics, announced that of the group of girls who showed up to the callout, twenty would be chosen to be on the team. The team was chosen by the previous year's captains, the current captains, and Sally Combs. The first audition cut the 200 auditionees to thirty based on the girls' appearance, poise, skill, and ability to handle the routines. The second audition required the thirty girls to complete an interview, petition, and perform a self-choreographed routine. The final audition took place in Mackey Arena on April 14, 1983. This time, the girls were not only evaluated by the captains and Sally Combs, but they were also judged by staff representatives from volleyball, basketball, and football offices. The final twenty were announced the following week.10 

 

    The Boiler Babes continued to boost morale and promote spirit at athletic events and school rallies. Although some expressed mixed feelings regarding the team's new name, most believed the new identity captured the team's fun, spirited and enthusiastic sentiment. Although the Boiler Babes were not limited to school functions. In 1987, the Boiler Babes were elected to welcome United States President, Ronald Reagan, to Purdue University at the Purdue Airport. In 1988, the team, along with the Purdue Cheerleaders and Purdue Pete, were all awarded "top awards" at the Universal Cheerleading Association camp at East Tennessee State University.11

 

1993: From Athletic Team to Student Organization

 

     In 1991, the Boiler Babes decided to retire their name and become "The Purdue Dance Team." Unfortunately, the name change only marked the beginning of what the following years would bring.  

 

"Dance Team Performs Last Season" was the title of the leading Purdue Exponent story on February 16, 1993. This article announced to the school that the Purdue Dance Team will no longer be affiliated with the Purdue Athletic Department. The athletic department stated that they believed focusing their resources on a single, uniform cheerleading squad would best meet the needs of the university’s athletics. The team needed to find a new department to operate under or it would have to retire its poms at the end of the 1992-1993 season. For the remainder of the 1993 basketball season, the team decided to cheer from behind the sidelines in warm-up suits in hopes to gain fans' awareness of the change and rile a response from alumni and former members.12 The Purdue Dance Team is one of seven athletic teams to be terminated from the Purdue Athletics' roster. Other teams that have been discontinued include women's field hockey (in 1987), "squash racquets" (in 1950), pistol shooting (in 1945), water polo (in 1941), fencing (in 1940), and gymnastics (in 1932).13 15 In addition, the Purdue Dance Team and Women's Field Hockey are the only two all-female teams to be discontinued.15

 

    Although the future of the team looked bleak, the returning members would not let the 1992-1993 season be the team's last. The next Purdue Exponent article referencing the team was published in April of 1993 and was titled, "Team transforms into organization, plans to work hard, travel, compete" by Judy Waibel.16 This marked the beginning of the Purdue Dance Team that we know today. The team decided that they will not look for another department to support them and instead would become a student-organized, self-funded team. To differentiate themselves from the cheering squad, they made the adamant choice to equip the team with girls who had more of a dance background thus ensuring the new name, "Purdue Dance Team," would represent the team accurately. They also planned to continue attending camp with other colleges from across the nation and to continue performing at Purdue athletic events. However, their first priority was choosing who would be on the next year's team.16

 

    Luckily, after the announcement of the team's new student organization status, interest to join the team sparked. The audition attracted 150 girls, all bidding for a spot on the new Purdue Dance Team. This time around, girls were judged based on facial expressions, motion technique, precision, rhythm, and overall sportsmanship.17 From the audition, eleven girls were offered spots on the team. Within two years, the team traveled to the University of Wisconsin for the Universal Dance Association camp, where they were named "Most Collegiate Squad."18 

 

    In 1996, the Purdue Exponent checked in with the team and published the article, "Dance Team gains confidence and respect." The team continued to work to gain visibility on campus and in the community. The ten-member team had no coach and remained entirely self-funded.19  

 

    In 2000, the team made its first appearance at the National Dance Alliance competition in Daytona Beach, Florida. Since 2000, the team has continued to represent Purdue University at annual national dance competitions. In the beginning, the team competed in the D1A open division which is now known as "Team Performance." Over time, the team started to compete in D1A Jazz, Hip Hop, and Pom. The Purdue Dance Team continues to dance on the sidelines of Purdue Football games and perform routines at Purdue Volleyball, Soccer, and Basketball games. In 2017, the team welcomed its first male dancer, changing the team from its original all-female identity to a competitive co-ed team. The future looks bright as the team continues to push themselves to overcome challenges, remain professional, and persevere to face everything and rise.

 

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