Purdue basketball's controversial 'IU sucks' chant appears to be gone

Dana Hunsinger Benbow | IndyStar

Show Caption Hide Caption Purdue's 'IU sucks' chant here to stay? It doesn't matter who Purdue is playing. Its fans always want to make sure their rivals to the south to know its place.

WEST LAFAYETTE – "Hail Fire," the song that Purdue's basketball band has always played inside Mackey Arena was absent from the music lineup at Wednesday night's home opener.

Without the song, which is the set up for the "IU sucks" chant at the end, the Paint Crew, the university's student cheering section, never said those words.

After a controversial and raucous run, it appears the "IU sucks" chant has vanished to start this season.

No matter how rowdy the Paint Crew got during the Boilermakers' 79-57 trampling of Green Bay, the chant didn't break out Wednesday night. It was also not used in Purdue's exhibition game Friday.

The rumors had been swirling that "IU sucks" would go away.

Purdue University president Mitch Daniels told IndyStar last week it was history at basketball games. Purdue coach Matt Painter, who played for the Boilermakers and for whom the Paint Crew is named, had backed Daniels.

But, no one was really sure whether the quirky -- some say tacky -- cheer would stop.

It appears it has, with the help of the band.

'Why say it?'

"I don't see the need for it," said Anna Bullard, a sophomore member of the Paint Crew. "I understand the rivalry, but why say it when we're not even playing IU?"

Alyssa Hansen, also a sophomore member of the Paint Crew, said there has been no talk of chanting "IU sucks."

"I don't think it's going to happen," Hansen said.

Bullard said she's not sure when the "IU sucks" chant started. Most of the Paint Crew's cheers are "based on tradition," she said.

There are differing stories of the origins of the chant, though the modern iteration always happened after the band played "Hail Fire". IndyStar reached out to Purdue's director of bands, Jay Gephart, to see if the song will no longer be played. He did not immediately respond.

Purdue’s senior associate athletic director Tom Schott told IndyStar last year he is unaware of the "IU sucks" mantra's history.

“I think it is fair to say there has been an ongoing debate about whether it is good, bad or neutral,” he said. “It is not athletics department-driven.”

Elliot Bloom, Purdue’s director of basketball operations, isn’t sure when it started, either.

“I don’t know if there was a moment or a game when it was just decided, let’s do this,” he said last year. “It’s probably every bit of 10 or 12 years ago it began.”

Andrew Ledman, former vice-president of The Paint Crew, told IndyStar last year that today's version of the "IU sucks" chant at the end of the song "Hail Fire," originated in 2008.

Before that, for years, fans had been chanting "IU sucks" during another song the band played -- multiple times. That prompted complaints from Purdue officials, thus the switch, he said.

This time, for two games at least, it seems Purdue officials got the chant to disappear.

'I'm glad it's gone'

He was certain the chant would be absent from Purdue basketball games, Daniels told IndyStar last week. Students at Boilermakers football games are still chanting "IU sucks" randomly at kickoffs.

Basketball games, however, are where the chant is organized and most recognized -- and draws more complaints, said Daniels.

"It's been in basketball where it's stirred the most attention. It needs to go and it is going," he said. "Let's just say it was tired. And whether you thought it was swell or troublesome, it's a good time to rotate to something else."

In March during his senior day address to Purdue fans, Painter asked those packed into Mackey Arena to stop the chant.

As for those who think the chant should carry on, Daniels said he, in some ways, understands.

"Sure, standards change. A word that was pretty near kind of profane at one point, for better or worse, is more common parlance. I understand our students have grown up with that," he said. "But they don't get the letters I do."

Daniels said moms and dads would write him letters saying they can't bring their kids to Purdue games because the chant sets a poor example.

Purdue graduate Brandon Seitz was at the game Wednesday with his 4-year-old son, Leo.

"I'm glad it's gone," said Seitz, a 1999 Purdue graduate. "You want to be classy fans."

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via e-mail: dbenbow@indystar.com.