Wednesday, August 29, 2001

Mascot to charge for appearances
Most campus organizations exempt
Erin LaMourie
staff reporter

The TCU Athletic Department will offset the cost of cleaning and repairing the Superfrog suit by charging $45 per hour for appearances at off-campus events.

Jeff Tucker, TCU’s head cheerleading coach, said the rate has been in effect since January of this year, but there has been some confusion about who will be required to pay to use Superfrog.

Tucker said Superfrog will still do most campus events for free. He said that campus organizations will not need to pay for the use of Superfrog for events centered around students or athletics but said they will be charged if they use Superfrog to market TCU’s image.

Tucker said the students who wear the suit will receive about $30, and the rest of the money will go towards maintenance of the outfit. The cheerleading budget is used to fund any other costs.

Tucker said requests are made daily for Superfrog to attend various events including parades, birthday parties, weddings and Mardi Gras. He said Superfrog became more in demand for off-campus events when the new Superfrog suit was introduced in fall 1999. Taking the suit off-campus places more wear and tear on the suit, which needs to be cleaned each time it is used, Tucker said.

Tucker said that those who reserved the suit for off-campus events in the past usually offered to pay about $45. He said schools like Nebraska and Oklahoma State University also charge for use of their mascot and TCU’s new set rate would make the payment process official.

Kristi Hoban, director of Alumni Relations, said she would not mind paying a fee for Superfrog.

“I think in the long run it will be better for all of us, because the suits will be better maintained,” she said.

Hoban said the fee will not affect how much the Alumni Association will use Superfrog because Superfrog is important to their events.

Tucker said he still wants Superfrog to be on-campus as much as possible.

“Superfrog, when I went to school here, was more sacred than it is now,” Tucker said.

“We really need to focus on what our mascot is. It is a representative of our school spirit and (Superfrog) probably needs to be more devoted to the campus itself.”

Erin LaMourie
e.m.lamourie@student.tcu.edu