Mascot designs coming soon

The campus community will soon be able to see and vote on the designs for the long-awaited UTRGV mascot, which will be revealed in Fall 2018, university officials say.

UTRGV Student Activities Director Cindy Mata-Vasquez told The Rider the Mascot Committee met with university officials, including President Guy Bailey, two weeks ago and received positive feedback on the direction the project is going.

“I’m happy to say that we are pretty far into the process, so I think the student body can definitely be on the lookout, probably the next few weeks for some updated information,” Mata-Vasquez said. “We will be sharing with them two renderings of what the design will look like.”

The designs are being worked on by students from the Theatre Department.

Mata-Vasquez said the students are working toward having a mascot that resembles toughness, strength, respect and the Rio Grande Valley culture.

Last year, it was decided that the Vaquero or Vaquera would be a student attired in the newly designed UTRGV uniform.

“We want to make sure that whoever is wearing this attire is proud to be a Vaquero or Vaquera and that they wear it with pride and that it represents our university well,” she said.

In Fall 2015, more than 2,000 students responded to a survey from the committee about different characteristics the mascot should have. The survey results showed that the majority of respondents would prefer a student wearing a plush and oversized costume similar to that of Bucky the Bronc or Ozzie the Ocelot, or one wearing Western attire.

Asked why the change was made to have an individual wear a UTRGV uniform designed by students, Mata-Vasquez replied: “The reason we decided to go that route is when we met with administration in 2016, we just didn’t feel that the plush design really fit our university. Instead of us going back and forth and figuring out, you know, what would that plush head look like or what would that be, we just felt that, for the time being, a student representing what the Vaquero is would best fit what we’re looking for.”

Last semester, the Mascot Committee was hoping to hold tryouts for students interested in becoming the UTRGV mascot. The tryouts never happened as the committee was delayed in the design process.

Mata-Vasquez said the committee is aiming to conduct tryouts for the UTRGV mascot late this semester, preferably after the designs have been voted on.

Whoever is selected to be the mascot will have to undergo training, she said.

“There is mascot training,” Mata-Vasquez said. “What are those key attributes that they will have, whether it’s, you know, maybe it’s a roping technique, maybe it’s a type of cheer. … Whoever that person is, we definitely want to make sure we train them and that they interact with our spirit program.”

Tryouts will be open to all UTRGV students.

The Rider asked Mata-Vasquez if there will only be one mascot for the entire university. She replied that has not been determined as the distribution of campuses may require more than one mascot.

At a Nov. 6, 2014, meeting, the UT System board of regents approved Vaqueros as the new athletics nickname and mascot for the newly formed University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

In the same meeting, the board also approved blue, green and orange as the colors for UTRGV.

Bailey recommended the nickname and colors to UT System after months of asking for input from the campus community.

The president said he chose the Vaqueros “because he wanted to recommend something authentic to the Rio Grande Valley that represents the spirit of South Texas,” according to a UT System news release.

While the selection drew the support of the Edinburg and Brownsville mayors, it also created a backlash on social media from students and alumni who wanted to keep legacy institution UT Pan American’s nickname, the Broncs.

More than 7,000 people signed an online petition in Fall 2014 urging the board of regents to reject Bailey’s recommendation.

However, in its third year, UTRGV and its campus community have remained the Vaqueros.

It has also taken the university almost three years to unveil a Vaquero or Vaquera design, but students should expect to hear an announcement in the upcoming weeks on the choices for the first-ever UTRGV mascot.

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