Walking into Chaifetz arena, the first thing Billiken basketball fans hear is the deafening roar of cheers coming from the student section.
This group of spirited students, called the SLUnatics, strives to make every game loud, exciting and fun.
However, this may not be possible without the SLUnatic leader, senior pre-med student Mike Putnam, who coordinates the group’s cheers.
“The reason I wanted to be the leader of the student section is because it’s a time when students can feel like a part of something that is bigger than them,” Putnam said.
Although he loves basketball, Putnam said that the love of the game is not what drives his work with SLUnatics or his enthusiasm at the games. Rather, he said, it is driven by the fans.
“When I’m at the game, my attention is often not on the court, it’s on the fans,” Putnam said.
“I want to make sure everybody is having a good time. Whether we win or lose, I want fans to have a good time so that they want to keep coming back.”
Putnam’s involvement at Saint Louis University extends far beyond just leading the SLUnatics.
A member of the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and the pre-medical honor society Alpha Epsilon Delta, Putnam has also been active in Global Medical Brigade and attended a mission trip to Honduras.
“I just like being able to reach out to people, volunteering at clinics and doing what I can to help,” Putnam said.
Putnam hopes to continue helping people after graduation by taking a year off between undergraduate and medical school to serve in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. The JVC is an organization run by the Society of Jesus that gives men and women the opportunity to work full-time for justice and peace, either domestically or abroad.
Right now, however, Putnam said that his focus is on taking the SLUnatics to new heights and making every Billikens basketball game exciting and fun.
One of the first steps on the way to reaching new heights was renaming ‘Blue Crew’ to its current title, ‘SLUnatics.’
The name change was spearheaded by Putnam.
“The whole reason behind it was that Blue Crew seemed kind of generic. I mean even Sears has a ‘blue crew’ for their appliances,” Putnam said.
“We have the most unique mascot, so I felt that we should have a unique student section too.”
But the new improvements don’t end there. Putnam said that the SLUnatics have many more exciting new plans in the works, including planning a road trip to Cincinnati for the game against Xavier University and organizing more theme nights at conference games.
Despite his astounding accomplishments, Putnam remains humble about all that he has achieved.
“Previous Blue Crew presidents have done a great job,” Putnam said, “And I am just trying to continue that legacy.”
With Putnam’s fresh ideas, dynamic leadership and the deafening SLUnatic cheers that he directs, the legacy of the Billiken student section will be continued for years to come.
