Purdue HTM senior reflects on four years portraying Purdue Pete

As Purdue Pete, Cameron Wise, a College of Health and Human Sciences senior, has been putting smiles on Boilermaker faces for four years.(Tim Brouk)

Written by: Tim Brouk, tbrouk@purdue.edu

When you’re Purdue Pete, you can be in front of thousands of screaming basketball fans in a deafening Mackey Arena leading the cheers for Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and the rest of the Purdue University Boilermakers enroute to another decisive victory.

Cameron Wise

You can also be the vital source of energy at an 8 a.m. admitted student event in Stewart Center.

Such is the in-demand life of Purdue Pete, as portrayed by a handful of students on the Purdue Spirit cheerleading team.

One of those is Cameron Wise, a senior studying financial counseling and planning within the White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM). Wise said the typical day for Purdue Pete is atypical.

“There’s definitely a lot of different days, I guess you could say. All the events are different,” he added. “I just wake up pretty early, go to (weight) lifts, morning workouts, eat breakfast. If you have an event, you go to your event — oftentimes those take a few hours — and then go back to your studies, hang out with friends.”

With that unmistakable helmet on and Purdue-branded sledgehammer in hand, Wise only has a few more events left before his graduation in May, but the memories will be many and remain ever true.

What’s it like inside the famed Purdue Pete helmet when you show up to an event?

Putting a smile on somebody’s face is a lot easier with the head on, and that’s really fun to do. Occasionally you’ll have the age range of 1-year-olds to 2-year-olds that are pretty scared of Pete. Same with dogs. So, we try to work with them and make them not scared of Pete. Or sometimes you just have to walk away, but it’s a lot of fun. The reactions to Pete are always genuine. And if someone does something funny, we’re usually laughing inside the helmet too.

Outside of Indiana, some find Purdue Pete a little creepy. How does that factor in when you become Pete?

Being Pete for the past four years, I’ve kind of gotten used to it. When I first saw him, I was a little leery of him as well when I came in as a first-year student. I can completely understand how people outside of Indiana who don’t really know who he is might be weirded out — especially opposing teams. Their players will look at Pete, and they’ll just kind of stare and be taken aback. But I don’t think we should be No. 1 (for creepiest). I think the (University of) Providence Friar is the creepiest. If you’ve never seen him, look him up. He’s pretty creepy.

How do you keep the energy up during events and all these silent interactions you have with people?

I’d say the biggest thing is just become a 7-year-old again, and you’re not going to get in trouble for the most part of whatever you do. Come up with fun games, whether it’s playing hopscotch, playing tag, throwing a paper airplane, just use your imagination. So literally just becoming a kid again; it’s the perfect excuse to do whatever you want within reason.

Sporting events are a big part of keeping the energy up, and it depends on how well the team is doing. If the team is doing well and the fans are there, you naturally get that adrenaline rush, and that energy starts to come up but also just making people happy. It’s pretty amazing. A lot of people say, “Oh, that just made my day.”

What’s the toughest physical aspect of portraying Pete?

Conditioning wise, I think the toughest thing is running the flag out for football games because you sprint across the field holding the flag, and (the helmet) cuts off at least 30% of your oxygen, probably. And when you have Division I football players running behind you, their speed is relatively quick compared to the average person. They’re jogging, and I’m sprinting to stay ahead of them.

Weddings are honestly really tough if you’re dancing non-stop. Any outdoor events where it’s really hot, physical, you definitely have to stay in shape. Make sure you’re staying hydrated.

What are your thoughts as we near your final weeks as Pete?

It’s starting to kick in. Sometimes things for me don’t really kick in until it’s happening or right after. … I just did my last basketball game on Friday, so that definitely kicked in. I was like, “Wow, that was probably the last large event you get to do.” So, it’ll be bittersweet, but it’ll be nice to see what these new guys (Purdue Petes) can do — how they can continue the program and keep it going.

What’s next for you?

I plan on working at Masthead Advisory Group. It’s a financial planning firm in Fortville, Indiana.