When John Friend arrived at Purdue Northwest — then known as Purdue Calumet — in 1980, he didn’t think his time there would be long.
“When we went there, my wife and I thought we’d be there five or six years, then move on to something bigger or better,” Friend said. “Before I’d realized it, I looked up and it had been 21 years.”
Friend has been involved with Purdue Northwest for the last 37 years. He served as athletic director until retiring in 2001 and remained on staff as a consultant and chief fundraiser while handling interim AD titles in 2007 and 2011.
At a ceremony at the school’s Fitness & Recreation Center on Nov. 16, Friend was honored for his services to Purdue Northwest by having the court renamed “John Friend Court.” He also was named athletic director emeritus.
“It’s not often in our lifetimes that you get to work with a legend,” Purdue Northwest athletic director Rick Costello said of Friend. “He’s a local icon who’s meant so much to Purdue Northwest. We’re so thankful for his contributions and his continued contributions as we look to the future.”
Friend was already a hall of fame member at Munster, the NAIA and the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. But even he was left speechless by the accolades bestowed upon him at the ceremony.
“I thought they’d just give me a plaque and say something nice about me,” Friend said. “The athletic director emeritus title was above and beyond what I expected. Then, when they told me the court was going to be named after me, I was almost speechless there. It took me a couple of days to comprehend what a significant honor that is.”
Costello thought those honors were a perfect it.
“We wanted to recognize him and his lifetime contributions to Purdue Northwest,” Costello said. “He’s been phenomenal. He’s impacted so many people. It’s very appropriate to name the floor after him.”
Before going to Purdue Northwest, Friend was the athletic director at Munster beginning with the school’s construction in 1964. But Friend remained at what he called, “the best-kept secret in the Calumet area” from 1980 until now, with one of his most recent accomplishments being the agreement with the City of Hammond to develop the athletic facilities at Dowling Park.
And although there were enticing job offers, Friend said there was never one good enough to convince him to leave.
“After you’ve been some place for a while, you develop a loyalty to the people you work with,” Friend said. “And my wife was not much for moving. In the first 10 years we were married, we lived in 10 different places.”
A few days removed from the ceremony, Friend said he was looking forward to speaking with his friend, Gene Keady, the longtime coach at Purdue who has the basketball court in West Lafayette named in his honor.
“I can’t wait to tell him that he’s not the only one,” Friend said.
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.