For example, outstanding entertainment offered for the 2000-2001 Purdue Convocations Lively Arts program includes the Broadway hits Jeckyll and Hyde, Show Boat, and Chicago, as well as Die Fledermaus, performed by the Western Opera Theater, Dracula, performed by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra. Recent popular events included Smashing Pumpkins, Third Eye Blind, John Mellencamp and Sesame Street Live. The Lafayette community offers an array of cultural activities. Graduate students interested in musical or dramatic productions will find opportunities available through groups such as the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Chorale Singers, and the Lafayette Civic Theatre. Only 65 miles from Indianapolis and 120 miles from Chicago, the Purdue Campus is within easy driving distance of major metropolitan areas that offer the best in museums, concerts, restaurants, and shopping.
Sports are a popular campus pastime for spectators and participants.
There are 17 varsity sports programs, and graduate students can purchase tickets to attend scheduled athletic events, which include Big Ten football and basketball. Recreational opportunities abound at Purdue. Surrounding the gym are intramural athletic fields, the scene of many soccer and softball games involving graduate students from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences. The roads in the region around Purdue are exceptionally well sutied for bicycle touring boasting numerous roads with low traffic and smooth surfaces heading in all directions. Housing and Medical Care Single and married graduate students have a wide choice of comfortable and attractive housing on and near the Purdue Campus.