 "Photo: Jonahtan Resendez")
Texas Wesleyan will soon have more than 5 feet and 300 pounds of school spirit.
The Student Government Association will unveil a new bronze ram statue next month with the anticipation that it will raise campus pride.
Heath Scott, president of the SGA, said the statue is the first element of their three-part agenda for the year, which also include campus security and beautification. The statue will be used to spearhead the SGA’s school spirit initiative.
“It really frustrates me as student body president when I walk around the campus, and I don’t see the alma mater,” Scott said. “I don’t see any blue. I don’t see any gold. I don’t even see a ram.”
With school spirit lacking, Scott said he hopes the ram will be the first step in getting people to be proud of going to school at Wesleyan. The SGA hopes to “flood” the campus with blue and gold, as well as the alma mater and Wesleyan Flame.
“More spirit would make us more well known,” said Virginia Morales, freshman biology major. “The school would receive more recognition like TCU. So when someone says ‘Texas Wesleyan,’ people will know where it is.”
Marcus Johnson, a sophomore undecided major, said Wesleyan could improve school spirit by raising an interest in athletics or getting a football team.
“We need more students to go here and try to become something other than doctors or lawyers,” he said.
Sports may actually be a key factor in raising school spirit levels, said Scott, who hopes to establish “spirit crews” or “ram crews” for this year’s basketball season.
“I want a group of students [to go to the games] who paint themselves and put on all the Wesleyan gear and act crazy,” he said. “We’ll have coordinated yells and cheers and stuff like that.”
The SGA and Pati Alexander, vice president for enrollment and student services, started working on tracking down a ram statue in the summer. After scouring the Internet for five hours, Scott stumbled upon largeart.com, the largest marble and bronze dealer in the country.
An hour of negotiating eventually led to the purchase of the $3,000 statue. Other prospective sculptors and companies wanted to charge as much as $10,000 or more, Scott said.
The statue’s unveiling in front of the Brown-Lupton center is scheduled for October. An exact date will be set after maintenance completes its process of taking bids. It is also to-be-determined whether the ram will be placed on a concrete slab or mounted on top of a boulder.
The increase in school spirit, along with the ram, would rekindle memories of an earlier Texas Wesleyan University. For decades, Wesleyan had a live ram. A certain student organization was responsible for taking care of the ram, whose pen was by the current location of the maintenance building. During home games the ram, with horns spray-painted blue and gold, would be walked onto the court.
Willie, as the ram was known, died in the ‘80s and was not replaced, Scott said.
“I wanted to see if we could handle a bronze ram before we get a live ram,” he said.
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