Rowdy the Roadrunner

"Rowdy (mascot)" redirects here. For the NFL mascot, see Rowdy (Dallas Cowboys).

Rowdy (officially Rowdy the Roadrunner) is the mascot of the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners.^[1] He appears at athletic events, such as football and basketball games, and other university sponsored events. An anthropomorphic roadrunner, Rowdy is based upon the Greater Roadrunner.

Rowdy
Rowdy the Roadrunner
University	University of Texas at San Antonio
Conference	The American
Description	Anthropomorphic roadrunner
Origin of name	Student election
First seen	1977

History

The origin of Rowdy dates back to 1977, when the Student Representative Assembly (SRA, the forerunner to the modern Student Government Association) was openly debating the university's mascot.^[2] An original vote, which favored "Armadillos" and "Stars" was declared null and void by the SRA, making way for a second campus-wide poll.^[2] The second election was hotly contested between "Roadrunners" and "Armadillos"—with vigorous support on either side.^[2] Supporters of "Roadrunner" made t-shirts depicting the cartoon road runner from Warner Bros.^[3] After the final vote, the roadrunner was announced as the official mascot of UTSA at a bonfire celebration later that year.^[2][4]

The older version of Rowdy.

On March 1, 2008, UTSA unveiled the new Rowdy and UTSA logos at the homecoming men's basketball game vs. Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. Many students and administrators at UTSA thought the previous Rowdy bore too much resemblance to the Kansas Jayhawk.^[5]

In 2013 UTSA unveiled a statue of Rowdy.^[6][7]