Tailgate Squad

Andy (ME’86) and Betsy Eibling (NRS’87) have fond memories of walking across the stage at Elliott Hall of Music to receive their diplomas. They watched proudly as their eldest two children graduated in recent years. They looked forward to celebrating their youngest’s graduation this year, too. With Purdue’s announcement that the May 2020 commencement exercises would be held virtually, the Eiblings decided to share their Boilermaker spirit with graduates. They spent an afternoon in May driving their Boiler Tailgate Squad truck — a retired ambulance outfitted for tailgating at Ross-Ade Stadium — around Zionsville, Indiana, to celebrate seniors. 

“We wanted to pay it forward and do something special for the graduates who can’t walk at commencement this year,” Betsy says. “Our truck has a Facebook page, so we posted a message asking families to contact us if they wanted us to stop.”

The day before their drive, the Eiblings traveled to West Lafayette for their first destination — the house where their graduating senior, Brock (T’20), lives with three fraternity brothers. The couple also stopped at the bookstore to purchase Purdue alumni T-shirts to pass out to the nine families they were scheduled to visit the following day. 

“We didn’t know what to expect,” Andy says. “We turned the corner headed to the first house, with ‘Hail Purdue’ playing on our speakers, and there was the graduate in his cap and gown, surrounded by about 25 people in the driveway. They turned our visit into a mini celebration. Everyone was so appreciative.”