Commitment to Service

Gentle Giants Program

The Purdue football program has received national media attention from USA Today and ESPN College Game Day for its service to the Greater Lafayette community through a program called the Gentle Giants. For the past 12 seasons, players have assisted weekly at several area elementary schools by reading to students, supervising activities, and helping students in class.

Jeff Zgonina, the 1992 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the National Football League for 10 years, launched the program. Studying community health promotion, Zgonina approached Roger Seehafer, one of his professors, with the idea of helping children.

“Before I left Purdue I wanted to leave something behind for the community,” Zgonina says. “The Gentle Giants program is a good thing for everyone, especially the kids.”