Search Begins for UHV Mascot Name
As preparation continues at the University of Houston-Victoria for baseball and softball teams to take the field in spring 2008, an important question is being answered: What about a mascot?
Interim athletic director Ashley Walyuchow unveiled plans this week to allow students to take the lead in the mascot selection process. Faculty, staff, administration, alumni and members of the surrounding community are all invited to join students in nominating mascot names.
“Naming a mascot is important to the university’s identity,” said Walyuchow. “It helps market the school and teams and develops our reputation both on the field and in the classroom. We’re hoping many people will contribute suggestions.”
The official school colors for UHV are purple and yellow with a red accent. Though the school has periodically used the cougar mascot of the University of Houston, this will be the first time UHV will have a mascot of its own.
“This is history in the making,” noted UHV President Tim Hudson. “Who better to lead the effort to choose the mascot that is going to represent our university than our students, who regularly demonstrate their creativity in the classroom? I’m eager to see what names rise to the top.”
Suggestions can be submitted via e-mail to athletics@uhv.edu until December 1. Once the names are collected, they will be submitted to a student-led committee to be evaluated and ranked. University officials hope to announce the official mascot in February.
UHV baseball and softball teams will use the mascot during their inaugural season competing as members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, which includes Houston Baptist University, Huston-Tillotson University and the University of Texas-Brownsville. For more information, contact Ashley Walyuchow at (361) 570-4343.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
