Mountaineer mascot finalists announced; winner to be named during WVU-Pitt game
Four West Virginia University studentsall from the Mountain Statewill battle for the title of 2006-07 Mountaineer mascot.
They are Brady Campbell , a junior wood science and technology major from Charleston; Kyle Chapman , a freshman engineering major from Bridgeport; Matthew Chapman , a senior political science major from Cross Lanes; and Andrew Donato , a sophomore secondary education/social studies major from Fairmont.
Campbell is active in the WVU Cycling Club, Mountaineer Maniacs, Colleges Against Cancer, Delta Tau Delta Fraternity and St. John University Parish. He has also been involved in numerous community service activities, including the Snowshoe Mountain Volunteer Courtesy Patrol, Camp Hope and Special Olympics. He was named to the spring 2005 Dean’s List.
Kyle Chapman has participated in Young Life, WVU Collegiate 4-H Club, Baptist Campus Ministries, Mountaineer Maniacs, WVU Honors College and Campus Crusade for Christ. He traveled to Haiti twice on mission trips, organized a beautification project in his hometown and is presently promoting a documentary,Invisible Children,to raise awareness about the civil war in Uganda .
Matthew Chapman is currently the Mountaineer mascot alternate. His extracurricular activities have included the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, Racquetball Club, ROTC and Mountaineer Maniacs. A PROMISE scholar, he was inducted into the Golden Key, Pi Sigma Alpha and Mortar Board honoraries. Chapman has received Dean’s and President’s list honors, and he participated in the Frasure-Singleton Student Legislative Intern Program last year.
Donato is involved in the Mountaineer Maniacs, Italian American Organization, College Republicans and intramural basketball. He has been active in the Marion County 4-H program since he was 9 and held every office at the club level, from song leader to president. At the county level, he served as vice president and president of 4-H Teen Leaders. His volunteer activities have ranged from ringing bells for the Salvation Army to visiting nursing homes around the holidays.
Nineteen students applied to be the mascot, according to Jenny Margolin, Mountaineer Selection Committee co-chair. To be considered, candidates had to have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 and be enrolled as full-time undergraduate or graduate students on the WVU Morgantown campus.
The ideal Mountaineer mascot is someone who, of course, has an enormous amount of school spirit and is active in service within both the school and the community,said Chris Casto, Mountaineer Selection Committee chair.He or she should also be willing to represent and serve as a role model not just for WVU , but the entire state of West Virginia .
The WVU mascot is selected by a group of WVU students, faculty and staff based on an application, interview and cheer-off scores.
Mountaineer hopefuls will don the buckskins and carry the musket at a cheer-off competition during the first half of the WVU -Louisville men’s basketball game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the WVU Coliseum. Finalists will be judged on their performance and interaction with the crowd, Casto said.
The selection committee will announce the winner during halftime of the WVU -Pitt game at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, at the WVU Coliseum. The duties of the new Mountaineer officially begin at the annual Gold-Blue Game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 15, at Milan Puskar Stadium, home of Mountaineer Field .