West Virginia Mountaineer
| West Virginia Mountaineer | |
|---|---|
| University | West Virginia University |
| Conference | Big 12 |
| Description | Person in buckskins and coonskin cap, carrying a rifle |
| First seen | 1920s |
The West Virginia Mountaineer is the official mascot of West Virginia University (WVU). Selected annually since the 1930s from the university’s student body, the mascot is a popular tradition at the school. The Mountaineer appears in a buckskin costume at West Virginia Mountaineers football and men's and women's basketball matches and at other events.
Daily Athenaeum articles indicate that designating individuals to serve as the Mountaineer started as early as 1927. (The name is derived from "Mountain State", meaning West Virginia). Clay Crouse was designated that year, followed in 1932 by Burton Crow and then Bill Fahey. Others may have served. However, it was not until 1934-35, when trackster Lawson Hill was selected by the Mountain, that a more stable process was established. By 1937, the Mountaineer was being selected on an annual basis by Mountain. Mountain was not active for three years; during this time the president of the student body was responsible for choosing the Mountaineer. Beginning in 1934, The Monticola (the WVU yearbook) sponsored a contest to determine the male senior who had contributed most to the university throughout his four years in college. This male was entitled to be “The Mountaineer”. During the next decade the criterion was amended to specify a person who was suitable for the role.
In the 1930s the unofficial mascot appeared at WVU sporting events wearing flannel shirts, bearskin capes and coonskin caps and carrying a rifle. At first, volunteers including Burton “Irish” Crow, Lawson Hill, and William “Buckwheat” Jackson made appearances throughout the season.
Boyd H. "Slim" Arnold, a physical education major from Bayard in Grant County, was the first Mountaineer selected to serve three years in succession (1937-39) and was the longest tenured until Rock Wilson equalled it in 1991-93. During Arnold's tenure, he became the first Mountaineer to wear the now traditional buckskin uniform. Minutes of Mountain meetings from the late 1930s indicate that a donor gave the Honorary several deerskins asking that a buckskin costume be made for the Mountaineer.
In 1950, The Mountaineer Statue Festival raised $15,000. This bought the bronze statue of the Mountaineer, situated in the Mountainlair front lawn. The Mountaineer was first used in commerce in 1972 and registered as a U.S. trademark in 1985. Mountaineers' retired rifles, and costumes are housed in a glass case in the Vandalia lounge of the Mountainlair, located on the downtown campus.
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