Big Red, WKU’s infamous mascot, which the jury is still out on what Big Red exactly is, turned 38 today. 

{{tncms-inline account=”Big Red” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It’s the first day of December. We all know what that means…It’s my birthday! 38 has never looked so good! <a href="https://t.co/uJfMdwOxwA">pic.twitter.com/uJfMdwOxwA</a></p>— Big Red (@WKUBigRed) <a href="https://twitter.com/WKUBigRed/status/936603572615237636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/WKUBigRed/status/936603572615237636″ type=”twitter”}}

We dug through the Herald archives to compile some photos of Big Red over the last few years and to provide the origin story of our beloved mascot.

Big Red was introduced to the Hill in 1979. Before Big Red, WKU’s unofficial mascot was Mr. Hilltopper, a man dressed in a red tuxedo, sporting a top hat and carrying a cane.

The previous mascot did not gain a large fan base, according to former President Gary Ransdell. In 1979, a group of WKU administrators set out to develop a mascot because the university had not established one officially.

Ralph Carey, a senior from Cincinnati, was asked to draw designs for a school mascot. Carey had previously worked at Kings Island Amusement Park, where he learned how to work a crowd while wearing a costume.

“The University wanted to develop a new symbol of spirit, one that might not necessarily be considered a Hilltopper,” according to the WKU Archives.

So Carey designed Big Red: a big, red, fuzzy mascot. The original Big Red’s mouth smiled constantly and was big enough to eat a fan’s head. 

Thus, Big Red was born on Sept. 21, 1979.

Carey, with the help of Ransdell and others, presented the project to Donald Zacharias, WKU’s president at the time. The project cost the university, the athletic department and the Alumni Association $900.

Big Red was presented to the public on Dec. 1, 1979, at the first home basketball game of the season. Head Coach Gene Keady was called to center court, where a big white box sat wrapped in a red bow. Coach Keady unveiled the surprise inside to the crowd of fans. It was then that the Hilltoppers met their mascot.

Also pertinent to the history of Big Red is a bizarre legal battle which started several years ago involving the Italian Supreme Court and the question of a potential Big Red lookalike named Gabibbo. The question was whether Gabibbo infringed on the copyright of Big Red. The court ended up ruling there had been no copyright infringement just earlier this year. 

Anyhow, we wish you a very happy birthday, Big Red. 

{{tncms-inline account=”WKU Admissions” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Happy Birthday to the best mascot ever! We love <a href="https://twitter.com/WKUBigRed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WKUBigRed</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WKU?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WKU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BigRedWay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BigRedWay</a> <a href="https://t.co/3PiA78pTIy">pic.twitter.com/3PiA78pTIy</a></p>— WKU Admissions (@WKUAdmissions) <a href="https://twitter.com/WKUAdmissions/status/936601845476323328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/WKUAdmissions/status/936601845476323328″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”WKU Redzone Radio” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">When you wake up and it is your birthday 🎂🎉 Happy Birthday to the true 🐐 <a href="https://twitter.com/WKUBigRed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WKUBigRed</a>! <a href="https://t.co/YJmnJWVjUQ">pic.twitter.com/YJmnJWVjUQ</a></p>— WKU Redzone Radio (@WKURedzone) <a href="https://twitter.com/WKURedzone/status/936612290832556032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/WKURedzone/status/936612290832556032″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”thereisaparty” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Happy Birthday to America's favorite large adult son <a href="https://t.co/jSp7yNvmeM">https://t.co/jSp7yNvmeM</a></p>— thereisaparty (@thereisaparty) <a href="https://twitter.com/thereisaparty/status/936608770611957760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/thereisaparty/status/936608770611957760″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”Will Puckett” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Happy birthday, to the greatest mascot in the world! <a href="https://twitter.com/WKUBigRed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WKUBigRed</a> <a href="https://t.co/GdFavCT4m6">https://t.co/GdFavCT4m6</a></p>— Will Puckett (@WillWYMT) <a href="https://twitter.com/WillWYMT/status/936605717624221697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/WillWYMT/status/936605717624221697″ type=”twitter”}}

{{tncms-inline account=”Drew #GoArmy” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Best mascot in sports! <a href="https://t.co/2sdhnhiUZI">https://t.co/2sdhnhiUZI</a></p>— Drew #GoArmy (@Sarge_73Z28) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sarge_73Z28/status/936605524593963009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/Sarge_73Z28/status/936605524593963009″ type=”twitter”}}