Purdue receives award for
student events
By Diana Swanson
Staff
Writer
Purdue University will receive its first Innovative
Program Award for the school's Grand Alternative program.
The Eastern region of the National Association
of Student Personnel Administrators honors universities annually for
developing successful and inventive student events. Purdue will go on
to represent the eastern region and compete for a national award.
The Grand Alternative program is coordinated by
more than 40 different student organizations, the Office of the Dean
of Students, the Student Wellness Office and the Division of Recreational
Sports.
It offers alcohol-free activities such as an all-campus
cookout, "Battle of the Bands" on Slayter Hill and extended hours on
Friday and Saturday nights at the Recreational Sports Complex for three-on-three
basketball tournaments.
"This award is very encouraging for our staff,"
said Pablo Malavenda, associate dean of students. "It will only motivate
the staff to do bigger and better things with Grand Alternative."
The Grand Alternative program was founded by the
Wesley Foundation in 1999 with a grant from the Coalition for a Drug-free
Tippecanoe County, after Purdue received negative publicity for its
unsuccessful Grand Prix in 1998 that resulted in over 300 alcohol-related
arrests.
"Instead of complaining about Grand Prix and all
of its negative aspects, we decided to take back the weekend for the
good of the community and the students," said Steve Cain, campus minister
for the Wesley Foundation.
In the beginning, Cain never dreamed that this
program would evolve into the prosperous event that it is today.
"Every year it keeps growing and getting more student
organizations involved," he said.
The goal with the Grand Alternative program is
to bring the focus back to the race, said Tamara Rice, assistant dean
of students, who submitted the petition for the award. "We want to show
students that there are other things to do besides drink during a time
of the year which has been notorious for high-risk drinking," she said.
Rice will be accepting the award on the University's
behalf on Nov. 4 in Cleveland.
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