Katherine Cole grew up around race cars.
Her family was into racing and passed that passion down to her. As a kid, Cole raced and began attending the Indianapolis 500 with her father when she was 11.
Her love of racing pushed her to want to become part of the Indianapolis 500 Festival Princess Program, where she had the opportunity to give back to her community and get an up-close experience of the race she grew up going to see.
The recent graduate of IU went through the lengthy process of becoming a princess and said she was thrilled to become one of 33 chosen to be a princess this year.
“I love the race,” Cole said. “I love everything about it. We’ve always been involved with the Indianapolis 500. So, it was super cool to be a part of it now in this way.”
The 500 Festival Princess Program was founded in 1959 to celebrate Indiana’s civically-minded and academically driven young women. Each princess participates in a variety of events leading up to the Indianapolis 500, volunteering at all 500 Festival events.
Cole is one of five IU princesses this year.
Her interest in the program started in 2016 when two of her friends were princesses and she thought it was right up her alley. She applied to become a princess in January and went through the two-day interview process.
Hundreds of young women were chosen to be interviewed, but Cole was one of 66 who were chosen for the last set of interviews with the panel.
“I was so excited,” Cole said. “The second interview day, the third and final interview, they take 66, so I was excited to even make it to that. That was kind of my goal because this was my first time applying.”
When she found out she made it, she told her mom and cried happy tears. She wanted to make a difference as a princess.
“My main thing was to spread the word to young girls that they can be princesses and race car drivers,” Cole said. “They’re not limited to being beauty queens. The 500 Festival has nothing to do with beauty.”
Each princess must schedule her own community outreach and she chose to help kids at Riley Children’s Hospital. Cole, who is also a figure skater, has donated her time and skills to teach kids how to figure skate for free.
Her favorite part of being a princess so far has been working at Riley.
“We got to go to Promingdales at Riley and we got to help out cancer patients pick out dresses and tuxes and other jewelry to wear to their prom,” Cole said. “It was a moment where they were able to be normal kids like everybody else. That was such a cool thing to be a part of and help them with.”
She has also participated in the parade and the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon. On the eve of the race Saturday, she was attend Breakfast at the Brickyard and the Snakepit Ball.
Through the course of her time as a princess, she said she has gotten close with the other princesses. That’s why she says race-day is bittersweet for her.
“I cannot wait,” Cole said. “It’s also kind of sad because it means we are kind of done. We get to be princesses for a full year, but it’s February to May when we’re super, super busy. We check-in in our dorms Friday night and then we are there at the track the whole weekend with each other.”
With the race Sunday at noon, she said she can’t wait for her opportunity to see the race from great seats and her chance to ride around the track in a pace car before the race.
“I would say this is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Cole said. “We are getting VIP treatment and to be able to do it with the girls in our princess class is awesome. It means the absolute world to me and I would not change a thing.”
