Bretton Cole
Reporter
Two Crowder students are the recipients of both the Crowder Mascot Scholarship as well as an acting role for Crowder events.
Rowdy the Roughrider is Crowder’s very own mascot, and two students wear the costume to athletic events, on-campus functions and recruitment endeavors. Crowder offers a scholarship to students willing to make the commitment of acting as Rowdy the Roughrider.
“The mascot scholarship is $1,000 that can be divided up,” said Kristi Chapman, admissions advisor at Crowder. This year’s scholarship is divided among two students, who received $500 each.
Because Rowdy the Roughrider is his own character, the names of the two scholarship recipients are confidential. Rowdy has his own persona, and it’s important that the recipients act in character.
“We want the students to be in Rowdy’s persona when they have the mascot on,” said Cindy Brown, director of public information at Crowder College. “When they’re in costume, that’s who they become.”
Crowder has settled on Rowdy as its mascot in the last few years, but the scholarship was implemented for the first time this semester to increase participation. “The motivation of the scholarship is to give an incentive because honestly, it is a time-consuming responsibility,” said Chapman. “We want to make sure they are invested in it.”
The scholarship requires students to keep up with their grades, attend many Crowder events and be in good standing with the college. There were six tryouts this semester, with two students who split the scholarship.
The students also had to complete training to learn the way a mascot acts, responds to questions and watch a 45-minute video entailing the specifics of acting in the role of a mascot. Crowder’s mascot gives an opportunity for any Crowder student to receive a scholarship while playing an important character role as Rowdy.
“When someone asks Rowdy a question, we want the response to be the same between the two different students,” said Brown. Because there are two students that alternate roles as Rowdy, it’s important to keep consistency.
“Kids sometimes ask, ‘Rowdy, what’s your favorite animal?’ and he’ll act like he’s riding a horse,” said Chapman. “He has his own persona.”
Though Rowdy has been established as Crowder’s bona fide mascot, Crowder has a new star: Roosevelt the Roadrunner, named this semester. Will there be competition? Only time will tell.
Leave a Reply