Rowdy Raider is a familiar sight at Wright State athletic and community events interacting with fans and attempting to energize teams on the field or court, but there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the WSU mascot.
Initially the WSU mascot was a Viking, but the university later elected it to be morphed into a wolf in 1997.
“That was for gender equity purposes and to make it not be related to a female or male. They wanted to shy away from that and to make it gender neutral,” Wright State Spirit Coordinator Joyce Whitaker said.
Rowdy is set apart from other mascots with the energy students in the suit bring. This is backed up by the second place finish the illustrious wolf brought WSU at the NCA Collegiate National Mascot Championships in Daytona, Florida, according to Whitaker.
“That proves the point that whoever is truly in the suit takes pride in what they’re doing and is going to make that particular mascot a success,” Whitaker said.
Four unknown student workers make up the mascot rotation. The rotation system adds flexibility to the schedules of the students who all carry at least a 3.0 grade point average that represent WSU through the suit, Whitaker said.
“It’s great when you have four of them because if mascot number one can’t do that community service event, maybe mascot number four can make that happen,” Whitaker said.
The interview process to don the infamous Rowdy suit is more active than most would be accustomed to in ordinary job interviews.
“A part of their interview process is a realistic preview. We have them put on the suit, do some characterization in the suit and do some miming in the suit,” Whitaker said. “They can understand what it is they need to do and what it’s going to take to be a good and effective mascot.”
Off the court, Rowdy is a visible representative year round at campus events like Raiderthon and April Craze.
“They choose a couple of community service events that they don’t even get paid for,” Whitaker said. “They just want to go and do it because they enjoy being in the suit, but they also are champions for whatever that cause is.”
During the fall semester, a mascot boot camp is held for the exclusive club of Raider mascots to prepare for upcoming athletic and campus events.
“All the mascots get together, and a couple of them prior to that will go to mascot camp,” Whitaker said. “They will bring back new types of material, new characterizations, things they can do out in the community and suggested ideas for skits.”
The true identity of Rowdy will remain a secret for this year, but next year it will be unveiled for at least one of the students in the suit.
“As far as an overall public reveal, it happens when they are a senior at the last basketball game, and they take their head off,” Whitaker said. “That’s pretty important to us, to have some anonymity as to who the mascot is."
