Rowdy (officially Rowdy the Roadrunner) is the mascot of the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres, UTSA is the largest university in San Antonio and the eighth-largest by ...

Roadrunners. He appears at athletic events, such as football and basketball games, and other university sponsored events. An

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

roadrunner, Rowdy is based upon the

Greater Roadrunner The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along wit ...

History

The origin of Rowdy dates back to 1977, when the Student Representative Assembly (the forerunner to the modern Student Government Association) was openly debating the university's mascot. An original vote, which favored "The Armadillos" and "The Stars" was declared null and void by the SRA, making way for a second campus-wide poll. The second election was hotly contested between "The Roadrunners" and "The Armadillos"—with vigorous support on either side. after the final vote, the

roadrunner The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, us ...

was announced as the official mascot of UTSA at a bonfire celebration later that year."Go...'Dillos?: How UTSA's Mascot Became the Roadrunner." The Top Shelf: Blog of the UTSA Archives and Special Collections, December 19, 2008.
/ref> On March 1, 2008, UTSA unveiled the new Rowdy and UTSA logos at the

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

men's basketball game vs.

Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi (Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, TAMU-CC, A&M-Corpus Christi, or A&M-CC) is a public research university in Corpus Christi, Texas. It is part of the Texas A&M University System and classified among "R2: Doctora ...

. Many students and administrators at UTSA thought the previous Rowdy bore too much resemblance to the

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Jayhawk.UTSA Athletics unveils new logos, word marks
/ref>

References

Conference USA mascots UTSA Roadrunners Fictional birds {{Texas-sport-stub