It's 2009, the air is crisp, orange and golden leaves drift along the sidewalks of IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis). The campus feels almost asleep, but the voices of students rushing between classes fill the silence and replace the emptiness with heartbeat.
Along campus, few notice the glistening canal in the afternoon sun. The breeze carries a sense of fresh air across campus, but also a reminder that fall is near.
The campus was alive, yet disconnected. Students moved to the beat of their own rhythms, with little tying them together outside academics.
Listening, the core of the campus continues to beat, but at a steady pace. Something is missing–a spark. The spark that will bring excitement and unity to campus life.
This feeling doesn’t go unnoticed. A man named Stefan Davis, retired director of IUI Alumni Relations felt it too alongside David Nguyen. Both alumni of Indiana University, they took the opportunity to build and connect the community at IUPUI. Inspired by the vision of a stronger, more connected campus, Davis and Ngyuen began searching for a way to ignite that spark.
According to a 2019 article in The Campus Citizen titled, “From tradition to transformation: The IUI Regatta journey from past to present,” “There was never a question about what the vision was. The real question was, ‘How do we make it happen? How do we bring this event to life?’”
They wanted something that would not only draw the students together, but also leave a lasting impact beyond classes—an event that celebrated both tradition and community. Their idea was simple yet bold: create a signature event that would showcase school spirit, engage alumni and welcome the wider downtown Indianapolis community.
At the heart of their vision was the belief that campus should extend beyond lectures and exams creating moments and spaces for alumni and students to connect and thrive within the city, together as one community.
According to a 2018 article in The Campus Citizen titled, “You gotta Regatta X: One event, two legacies, countless lives changed,” “From the start, he and the Indiana University Alumni Association recognized an opportunity to build community- not only among the IUPUI graduates and current students, but also by bringing in members of the Indianapolis community itself.”
All because of the vision, Regatta was born. A signature event to bring students, alumni and the wider Indianapolis community together. What started as a single idea to create connection, quickly grew into a campus wide tradition, bringing together many communities.
Over the years, Regatta has become more than just an event; it's a celebration of community, school pride and lasting tradition, keeping Davis and Ngyeun’s original spark alive on the IU Indianapolis campus.
The spark that was once lost but found has since grown into one of the biggest traditions on the now IU Indianapolis campus in the past 18 years: Regatta.
The event, “Regatta” will celebrate its 18th anniversary in 2025. The name comes from the word “regattare,” meaning “to race in a regatta” or “to compete in a race boat.” The event was designed to bring life to the downtown canal and encourage the actions that have taken place for nearly two decades: featuring canoe races on the canal as the festival’s main attraction.
Highlighted by a 2019 article in The Campus Citizen titled, “More Than Just A Boat Race,” “The event, which acts as IUPUI’s homecoming event, started with merely 84 teams but now welcomes 150-200 teams yearly, including a newly added fourth division: IU Campus Division."
While canoe racing remains the main attraction, Regatta has expanded over the years, with minimal but active changes. Today, students and community members can experience food trucks, multicultural performances, live entertainment, carnival games and student organizations–all free and open to the public.
“The biggest change is for a fact, from the outside looking in it doesn’t look like a lot has changed,” said senior CJ Hutchison, executive director of internal affairs for Regatta. “But internally, things are very different since the IU and Purdue split.”
Since the schools separated, many Purdue students who once played a role in organizing Regatta could no longer manage funding or lead committees. Hutchison explained, “Purdue students could no longer be in charge of funding,” and many had to leave or weren't eligible for positions due to degree program differences.
Many events have been affected. Jagathon’s “Battleships” which takes place every year in the IU Natatorium, no longer features the strong participation from Purdue’s engineering students. Still, the festival continues to grow and thrive thanks to increased school funding and sponsorships. Lexa Muehlbauer from the Division of Student Affairs comments on this year’s budget concerns.
“Our budget this year was increased due to not only having to rely on sponsors for the rest of the cost, but being given enough by the school,” Hutchinson said. “Student organizations not having to be charged and many more factors have allowed more access and space for students to make it their own.”
Regatta has also left a tradition beyond race day. In response to the event’s success, Davis launched the Top 100 recognition program and established the IU Indianapolis Regatta Scholarship.
Back in 2009, Davis and Ngyuen also saw Regatta as a way to give SOAR (Student Online Advising System) more visibility, while promoting a stronger, more engaged campus community.
As he told The Campus Citizen in 2018, “All scholarships are meaningful, but on this campus, where we have so many first-generation college students, I think they’re especially important. Anything we can do to lessen the debt load off the kids is just a super thing to be doing.”
Although scholarships have narrowed down to IU students rather than Purdue following the split, Regatta itself continues to be open to the entire community.
Davis stated in the 2018 article, “We have a lot of families come in with their children. We’ve even had older alumni actually paddling in canoes through the years. So it's met those goals as a campus signature event that involves the whole community, faculty, students and alumni. That makes it another huge success.”
“If you happen to walk down West Street and see food trucks or carnival games, you can completely stop by because it is open to the community,” Hutchison said. “It really allowed them not to separate Purdue, even though IU and Purdue did split.”
Since beginning in 2009, Regatta has grown into more than just a canoe race. It has become a never-ending flame of tradition, spirit and unity. Each year, students, alumni and the Indianapolis community gather along the canal to celebrate campus pride and connection.
This event was ideally created in a way to be family friendly but similar to the Indy 500 at IU Bloomington and the Grand Prix at Purdue.
Even through sudden challenges such as COVID-19 and the recent split between IU and Purdue, Regatta continues to thrive–proving that its sense of community and tradition runs deeper than institutional change.
Regina Graves, a junior majoring in journalism with a concentration in public relations and a minor in media art studies. She is the social media manager for PRSSA. Beyond her role in social media, Regina enjoys reading and exploring new habits that engage her mind to disconnect from technology.
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