On Sunday, Feb. 5, the Purdue Women's Basketball game against Indiana University served as the 3rd annual Golden Ticket game for Purdue students — the first opportunity to purchase a Boarding Pass and Paint Crew membership for the following year.
Close to 5,500 students—more than double last year's number—gathered to attend the game. The vast majority of our students present waited patiently for doors to open, with many standing in line for most of the morning. Review of the incident indicates that regrettably, at around 11:45 a.m., some newly arrived students pushed forward, creating a surge that was potentially dangerous to those who were in line. Two students reported injuries, and others have written to university officials rightly expressing concern over crowd management and the behavior of some in the crowd.
To all in our Purdue community, we hear your concerns loud and clear, and we recognize that Purdue Athletics ticketing and event planning should have anticipated a large student turnout and implemented mechanisms to ensure a smooth and fair process for all who gathered.
Additional Golden Tickets will be made available by a second-chance lottery for all the other students who had planned to attend Sunday's game. Students who had a ticket to Sunday's game but did not receive a Golden Ticket will automatically be entered into the lottery, with no further action needed.
The behavior of those whose actions led to the surge is not in keeping with what we expect of Boilermakers, and work is underway to identify those individuals. In particular, any individual identified as taking part in the unruly behavior will not retain a Golden Ticket.
Purdue Athletics will develop an electronic system for disbursement of Golden Tickets in future years, while continuing to encourage attendance at a broad range of athletic events. Purdue Athletics is also working with university administrators, Student Life, and law enforcement to ensure high-quality special event planning and management.
Purdue prides itself on its support of our students, and on the support our students show our Purdue athletes. The events of Sunday should not have happened, and the steps outlined above are designed to ensure they do not happen. All efforts going forward will be toward providing the best experience possible for our students and fans, with safety and fairness first and foremost.
Close to 5,500 students—more than double last year's number—gathered to attend the game. The vast majority of our students present waited patiently for doors to open, with many standing in line for most of the morning. Review of the incident indicates that regrettably, at around 11:45 a.m., some newly arrived students pushed forward, creating a surge that was potentially dangerous to those who were in line. Two students reported injuries, and others have written to university officials rightly expressing concern over crowd management and the behavior of some in the crowd.
To all in our Purdue community, we hear your concerns loud and clear, and we recognize that Purdue Athletics ticketing and event planning should have anticipated a large student turnout and implemented mechanisms to ensure a smooth and fair process for all who gathered.
Additional Golden Tickets will be made available by a second-chance lottery for all the other students who had planned to attend Sunday's game. Students who had a ticket to Sunday's game but did not receive a Golden Ticket will automatically be entered into the lottery, with no further action needed.
The behavior of those whose actions led to the surge is not in keeping with what we expect of Boilermakers, and work is underway to identify those individuals. In particular, any individual identified as taking part in the unruly behavior will not retain a Golden Ticket.
Purdue Athletics will develop an electronic system for disbursement of Golden Tickets in future years, while continuing to encourage attendance at a broad range of athletic events. Purdue Athletics is also working with university administrators, Student Life, and law enforcement to ensure high-quality special event planning and management.
Purdue prides itself on its support of our students, and on the support our students show our Purdue athletes. The events of Sunday should not have happened, and the steps outlined above are designed to ensure they do not happen. All efforts going forward will be toward providing the best experience possible for our students and fans, with safety and fairness first and foremost.