Rowdy (officially Rowdy the Roadrunner) is the mascot of the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners.[1] He appears at athletic events, such as football and basketball games, and other university sponsored events. An anthropomorphic roadrunner, Rowdy is based upon the Greater Roadrunner.
| Rowdy | |
|---|---|
 Rowdy the Roadrunner | |
| University | University of Texas at San Antonio |
| Conference | The American |
| Description | Anthropomorphic roadrunner |
| Origin of name | Student election |
| First seen | 1977 |
History
editThe origin of Rowdy dates back to 1977, when the Student Representative Assembly (SRA, the forerunner to the modern Student Government Association) was openly debating the university's mascot.[2] An original vote, which favored "Armadillos" and "Stars" was declared null and void by the SRA, making way for a second campus-wide poll.[2] The second election was hotly contested between "Roadrunners" and "Armadillos"—with vigorous support on either side.[2] Supporters of "Roadrunner" made t-shirts depicting the cartoon road runner from Warner Bros.[3] After the final vote, the roadrunner was announced as the official mascot of UTSA at a bonfire celebration later that year.[2][4]
On March 1, 2008, UTSA unveiled the new Rowdy and UTSA logos at the homecoming men's basketball game vs. Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. Many students and administrators at UTSA thought the previous Rowdy bore too much resemblance to the Kansas Jayhawk.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Bird Watching: You've Come a Long Way, Rowdy". The University of Texas at San Antonio. Sombrilla. Spring 2015.
- ^ a b c d Peters, Anne (December 19, 2008). "Go…Dillos?: How UTSA's Mascot Became the Roadrunner". The Top Shelf. UTSA Libraries Special Collections. Archived from the original on 2013-01-21.
- ^ Pinkard, James (December 21, 2005). "UTSA Uncovered: Folklore". UTSA. The History of Rowdy. Archived from the original on 2005-12-30.
- ^ "Roadrunner Days: UTSA Roadrunner Spirit". UTSA. August 18, 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-08-23.
The roadrunner, a bird representative of the Texas Hill Country and the Southwest, was voted the UTSA mascot in 1977.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Stephens, Kyle (February 29, 2008). "UTSA Athletics unveils new logos, word marks". UTSA.
- ^ "The Rowdy statue — a tradition yet to come". The Paisano. May 27, 2014.
- ^ Davis, Vincent T. (September 27, 2013). "UTSA swift mascot statue took a while". mySA.