A new plague doctor comes to Purdue

As the sun sets over Krach Lawn, a figure can be seen standing in the distance. The shadows douse him in a darkness that matches his robes. Instead of a face, one is greeted by a leather mask that stretches to a point, like that of a beak of a crow.

The Plague Doctor.

For the past several years on campus, seeing a student dressed as a plague doctor has not been uncommon. Jairus Chittenden, who recently graduated from Purdue, would often be seen donning the Plague Doctor costume and handing out “spooky facts” to passersby.

“He came up to me and handed me a piece of candy,” Ian Cockrell, a sophomore in the Polytechnic Institute, said about his experience with Chittenden. “I said thank you, and I thought it was pretty cool.”

This year, a new Plague Doctor has taken up the tradition and donned the Venetian mask. This new Plague Doctor, however, wishes to remain anonymous for fear of recognition. He simply introduced himself as “Doctor.”

Doctor can often be found ringing a bell and handing out pinecones and band-aids at various places around campus. The pinecones have no significance, he said.

While handing out these items, Doctor makes an effort to heal the people around him of their physical ailments.

“All the students here are patients of mine and a few of them have come up to me,” he said. “There was one that actually said he ran into a wall with his shoulder and his shoulder was out of socket so ... I sat him down, placed a leaf on his head and rang my bell, and me and a few other people, we all just kind of started dancing around him. Miraculously, his shoulder was healed.”

The Exponent could not corroborate this story.

The goals of Chittenden, the previous Plague Doctor, centered around his ideals as a transhumanist. He became the Plague Doctor in order to spread those beliefs, Chittenden told The Exponent last year.

The new Plague Doctor does not share those beliefs or goals.

“I just want to be that encouragement for people to make it through the school year,” Doctor said, “so they actually see that the university has much more life than just academics.”

Students who have encountered Doctor agree that his presence adds to the campus.

“I think it’s fun, like I love seeing the Purdue Morph Dudes (and) the Plague Doctor. It just adds spirit to the campus,” said Nicole Osborn, a senior in the College of Science.

Becoming the character of the Plague Doctor during the pandemic has come with its own set of challenges. Doctor said he sometimes struggles to be a positive presence on campus.

“You want to have that good rep, you want to be all happy and stuff, and people sometimes are scared of you,” he said. “The costume is very noticeable. I want to be positive. I want people to talk to me and approach me and take pictures with me.”

Doctor is not alone in his goal of giving life to the campus. He belongs to a group known as the Cryptids. This group consists of the Morph Suit Dudes, the Stormtroopers and Melon Man, all of whom don costumes and go about campus, each with different goals.

“The Stormtroopers go about trying to help others,” Doctor said. “The Morph Suit Dudes try and create happiness, as usual. Melon Man gives out melons and picks up trash. I kind of give out band-aids to whoever needs it, stuff like that. I’m also here to spread happiness, but it’s kind of hard to sometimes (with the costume).”

Doctor expressed hope at the idea of the Plague Doctor tradition continuing.

“I want so many more Plague Doctors to come and join me,” he said. “I also plan on, of course, doing this in the future. I want to keep this going.”

He has plans of making a presence on Halloween, but has yet to make the official announcement.

“I plan on having glowsticks, of course, and I plan on having it here at Krach, somewhere around eight or nine, possibly,” Doctor said.

“It’s just going to be Halloween themed. I want a lot of the other Cryptids to come out and join us.”