 "Photo: Trent Barnes")
Texas Tech honored two retiring Raider Red mascots at the inaugural Passing of the Guns ceremony Sunday in the Student Union Building.
Tyler Bridge and Kari Rodgers, the retiring mascots, appeared unmasked at the ceremony and received praise and awards from members of the spirit program and its supporters for their contribution to the Tech tradition. Bridge and Rodgers also passed Raider Red's guns to the incoming mascots, whose identities will remain anonymous.
The Raider Red tradition used to be reserved solely for members of the Saddle Tramps spirit organization. In 2005, the Center for Campus life collaborated with the Saddle Tramps and extended the opportunity to the High Riders, a female organization, according to the spirit program Web site http://www.depts.ttu.edu/spiritsquads/.
Bridge has served as Raider Red for three years and said it is hard to see his time as Raider Red expire. He said he believes it is time for him to step aside and let the new mascots carry on the tradition.
"I've had the privilege of not growing into the costume but growing with the character," Bridge said.
Bridge is involved in several student activities such as playing the lead role of Danny Zuko in the Tech School of Music's rendition of "Grease." Bridge said he advocated women's opportunities to be Raider Red.
Rodgers said she is sad her time is over, but she will stay active with the program as a High Rider. Now she will have to get used to watching football and basketball games from the stands.
In 2005, the spirit program instituted a rule stating mascots can serve for a period of no longer than two years. The rule is designed to offer more students the opportunity to serve as Raider Red.
The program selects four students per year to serve as the mascot. The students' duties include appearances at Tech football games, men's and women's basketball games, women's volleyball games, men's baseball games and several philanthropy events. During the 2006-07 school year, Raider Red appeared at 150 events, which were coordinated by Bruce Bills, Tech's spirit publicist.
The first drawings of Raider Red were created in 1971 by the late Dirk West and developed into Tech's mascot by Jim Gaspard, who was a member of the Saddle Tramps at the time.
Dirk West's wife, Mary Ruth West, who is playfully known as "Raider Red's mom," attended the ceremony and offered words of encouragement and thanks for the students who carry on the tradition her husband created. Though the West family gave the rights to the mascot to Tech, she said Raider Red is still close to her family members' hearts.
"Raider Red is still family," Mary Ruth West said. "Dirk West would have never believed after 30 years (Tech) would still be doing this."
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