IU revives burial of ‘Ole Jawn Purdue’ on Friday

Rivalries have been seen throughout every team in the sports world.

America is known for the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry and many more that grow from in-state differences.

Indiana’s greatest sports rivalry is not from its two professional sports teams, but from IU and Purdue, two major public universities that are separated by 90 miles.

With all rivalries in America come traditions by which each school shows off their hatred and disgust for the rival.

IU used to show off its animosity every year by re-enacting the burial of Jawn Purdue, and Purdue counteracted with their burning of Miss Indiana, which died out in the mid-1970s and 1960s, respectively.

Now, though, IU Athletics and the Student Athletic Board are bringing back the Jawn Purdue tradition.

“It was basically a collaboration between the athletics marketing department and student athletic board,” Kristen Melwid, president of SAB, said.

At one point, the tradition was one of the biggest on campus.

“When I was on campus in 1977, it wasn’t there, but I read about it in an IDS article that they had 5,000 or 6,000 people there in 1958,” IU Athletics Director Fred Glass said.

‘Ole Jawn Purdue’ – IU’s tradition

From 1930 to 1974, IU students would gather together in an activity where they bury or destroy a football dummy named Ole Jawn Purdue.

Blue Key, an honors society for IU upperclassmen, started the tradition in 1930, but it was discontinued in 1974.

In 1979, the Indiana Daily Student published a story about Jawn Purdue.

“A despicable character who has been jeered at and maimed for decades by Hoosier students, he was born in the small northern Indiana town of Chauncey,” the article reads.

“He worked his way through school by cleaning out the stalls of farms near his home. Despite his efforts, Jawn flunked out of kindergarten at age 20.”

Thirty years later, the story of Ole Jawn Purdue is still being told around the Bloomington campus.

He used those janitorial skills to create a college, which is not named in the story, but is obvious given his name.

At this college, Jawn taught the ways of how to clean stalls.

The board of directors at Purdue included Jawn, six cows, two bulls and more than a dozen chickens.   

The tradition of burying Jawn is started with Jawn lying down with a sad face.

Later in the evening, Jawn is buried and the happy festivities take place at the site of his burial.

“At this most extraordinary yell meet, the custom of burying a football dummy call Old Jawn Purdue is carried out,” Marvin Shamon says in his paper titled “The Traditions of Indiana University.

“Old Jawn lies in state for a full day, attired in football togs and looking very sad indeed. Then that night, he is ‘gently’ put to rest after a torch parade and some pretty fancy cheering has taken place.”

A gospel preacher tells the story of poor Jawn to the people involved, as the IU football team acts as pallbearers during the ceremony.

Throughout history, Jawn wasn’t always buried.

In 1948, he was hanged by an Indiana Memorial Union scaffold and then burned at Woodlawn field.

In 1958, Jawn was chewed on by IU’s own bulldog.

Now, the tradition is back, and Friday will be the first burial of Jawn Purdue in nearly 50 years.

“I do hope that it continues in the future and hope for a good turnout to build excitement for the game on Saturday,” Melwid said.

Glass appreciates the students’ effort to revive the old spirit of IU.

“I hope it reinvigorates the Old Oaken Bucket game and I’m supportive of the student initiative to this event,” he said.