BOILER BONDS
// By Calandra Weaver
Luis Rivas (HHS’94) arrived at Purdue University from Puerto Rico with a goal—a goal that was also a dream.
The Puerto Rico men’s national basketball team was thriving at the time, ranking fourth in the 1990 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and Rivas yearned to help out—not as a player but as a psychologist for the team, despite not knowing if the position even existed.
When a recruiter visited his high school, Rivas filled out a double-sided Purdue application by hand.
“I thought Purdue could help me achieve my goal,” Rivas says.
“I chose to go to Purdue because several students from my high school were going there. Coming from Puerto Rico to the States was a big cultural change, and having a support system was very important. I placed a high value on my friendships.”
Once he was nearing graduation at Purdue, Rivas still didn’t know how to make his dream of becoming a psychologist for the Puerto Rico national basketball team a reality. Without the internet to lean on for answers, he reached out to Purdue Athletics and the university’s Department of Psychological Sciences and discovered that he needed to complete postgraduate education at a university that offered degrees in sports and psychology.
“I went to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale for graduate school,” Rivas says. “I started gaining experiences in sports psychology by taking on extra work, knocking on doors, volunteering, and working with the university’s baseball team. Then, I did my predoctoral internship at the University of Florida Counseling and Wellness Center, working closely with the athletic department.”
He landed his first job as a psychologist at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, where he served as the liaison between the counseling center and the athletic department.
In 2004, he moved back to Puerto Rico to work at the San Juan VA Medical Center and has been there ever since. He focuses on veterans with spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, and ALS.
Rivas found ways to remain engaged with sports psychology by becoming involved with his local VA’s adaptive sports program, participating as a coach and official in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, and volunteering with local Paralympic events.
Even though Rivas was busy working toward his dream career, Purdue was always central to his life. He can still be found pacing and passionately yelling in front of his TV during Purdue games. His family knows to not bother him—this is his time.
“Purdue experiences stay with you, and they become an important part of who you are,” Rivas says.
“I spent twice as many years at Southern Illinois for graduate school than I did for my undergrad at Purdue. However, my connection with Purdue remains much deeper. Purdue students and alumni are very passionate about their school. My unique experiences playing in the ‘All-American’ Marching Band only added to this.”
In 2019, two Purdue alumni from New Jersey, Doug Davis (IE’89) and Brigitte Viellieu-Davis (LA’90), moved to Puerto Rico and began searching for an alumni club so they could connect with fellow Boilermakers. A local club didn’t exist, so they helped gather some alumni to start one.
“We had an initial meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton San Juan hotel, which happens to be managed by a Purdue grad,” Rivas says. “I ran into people I hadn’t seen since I graduated, including Juan Colón, who had been a friend of mine at Purdue. We reconnected through social media, and I started seeing posts of him working with the Puerto Rico men’s and women’s national basketball teams.”
Rivas was both shocked and elated to see these posts because he was still holding onto his dream of working for the Puerto Rico national basketball team.
Like Rivas, Colón (S’98) decided to attend Purdue because some of his friends from high school had enrolled. After graduating from Purdue, he completed his medical degree in the Dominican Republic at the Universidad Iberoamericana, and he has run his own private practice clinic since 2004. Colón also had his own dreams of working with the Puerto Rico national basketball team and secured a spot as a volunteer physician for the team in 2017.
“A few months later, I ran into Juan again at an alumni watch party for a Purdue basketball game,” Rivas says. “So, I mentioned what I had seen on his social media. He said, ‘It’s not what you know—it’s who you know,’ and I said, ‘Well, I know you!’”
As it turns out, the team needed a psychologist. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the process, but in 2021, Colón helped Rivas set up an interview the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation and land the role as a volunteer psychologist for the team.
“It took me 31 years to achieve what I set out to do,” Rivas says. “When I went to Purdue, I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I never quit. Giving up was never an option for me. It turns out that after all those years of work and sacrifice, what finally ended up turning my dream into reality was running into Juan at a Purdue alumni gathering.”
The two are now active leaders in the Purdue Alumni Club of Puerto Rico, which was recently named an official club by the Purdue for Life Foundation.
“Going to Purdue was the best decision of my life,” Colón says. “Now, I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to be a club board member and connect with my fellow Boilermakers. I have especially enjoyed reconnecting with Luis because we share a common bond in our love for Puerto Rican basketball and Purdue sports. We even took a trip together to Purdue for Homecoming weekend. It was my first time back since graduation.”
This past summer, Puerto Rico hosted an Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Rivas and Colón both worked at the event as part of the medical staff, and they celebrated on the court with the players and coaches when the Puerto Rico men’s basketball team won the tournament, securing one of 12 spots in the 2024 Olympics. It was the first time the team had qualified for the Olympics since 2004.
“Being at the Olympic qualifying event was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had because I went to college to become a sports psychologist and work with the Puerto Rico national basketball team,” Rivas says. “It was a full-circle moment for me to celebrate with the team while everyone at the arena was singing and chanting, ‘Puerto Rico! Puerto Rico!’ There were a lot of emotions. It was extra special to share this experience with Juan.”
While Rivas served as an official for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in New Orleans, Colón traveled to France for the Olympics with the basketball team.
“It was a life-changing experience,” Colón says. “We’ve been working hard to reach this goal for many years. It was amazing to stand by my team throughout this journey.”
In a way, Rivas believes all Purdue alumni from Puerto Rico can be seen as a team. He described the support from Purdue alumni as a “trampoline”—something that rebounds, continuously returning impact on his life.
“It isn’t easy to be a Purdue student when you are far away from home, speak a different language, and need to learn about a different culture—and are not used to the cold weather,” Rivas says.
“We had to support each other to make it through. Now, it’s easy for me to immediately click with people I haven’t talked to in a long time because we have a unique shared experience. Purdue Puerto Rican alumni figure out a way to maintain communication, support each other, and share accomplishments and experiences. Like Juan did with me, Boricua Boilers will always have each other’s backs! That’s what Purdue alumni do for each other.”
If you are interested in connecting with Boilermakers near you, learn more on our alumni clubs webpage.
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