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New
menacing SuperFrog suit bought by SGA will be used by
TCU Cheerleaders
The
House of Student Representatives purchased a new SuperFrog
suit for on-campus events
By
Matt Turner
SuperFrog
will soon be sporting a more menacing face around campus
because of a bill passed by the House of Student Representatives
to help buy TCU Cheer a new mascot suit.
Cheerleading coach Jeff Tucker said the new suit is necessary
because the two suits are 2 years old. He said the suits
typically only last three years because of wear and tear.
He said the new suit will be used exclusively for campus
engagements, making the other two available for off-campus
events to try to prolong their usefulness.
Tucker said he came to the House Finance Committee because
the $28,400 cheerleading budget doesn’t allow enough
funding for the new suit after paying for salaries, equipment,
competition fees and scholarships.
“I went to the sports marketing and athletic departments
first and was respectfully told no,” Tucker said.
Tim George, the director of sports marketing, said the
suits usually come out of the cheerleading budget and
sports marketing didn’t have the funds to help them
purchase the suit. There are currently discussions in
the athletic department about how to provide more financial
support for TCU Cheer, he said.
Tucker said he was willing to pay for half of the suit
with his own cheerleading salary if he absolutely had
to, but requested the entire $6,300 cost of the suit from
the committee.
The committee decided to give $3,000 for the suit because
the full amount, $6,300, is $300 more than it has budgeted
in the special projects fund for the entire semester,
Treasurer David Watson said. The committee usually funds
three or four special projects a semester, he said.
That proposal was amended during Tuesday’s House
meeting to pay for the entire suit using “special
projects” money that was not spent last semester.
The bill was officially passed Thursday when available
funding was confirmed by Watson, who said they still have
$5,700 for “special projects” this semester.
“In the future, the athletic department should fund
this,” Watson said at Tuesday’s House meeting.
“If suits have to be replaced every few years, it
needs to be in their budget.”
The consensus of the committee was that the donation would
be visible to the student body and allows the other suits
to go to more public functions and increase TCU’s
visibility in the community.
Previous suits have been funded with help from an outside
donor and the House, which donated $4,000 for two suits
in 1999 and $1,000 for a suit in 1980, Watson said. Tucker
said he didn’t want to go to the donor, who he asked
to remain anonymous, again because “you can only
dip into that well so many times.”
Tucker and his wife also purchased a suit and donated
it to be used exclusively for Monday at TCU.
Tucker offered space on the new suit for a Student Government
Association logo if it desired one, along with primary
use of the costume for SGA events. House Adviser Larry
Markley said Programming Council has tried to book SuperFrog
several times in the last few years and couldn’t
get him.
Tucker said SuperFrog attended 456 events last year and
was requested for 1,500. He said “the phone has been
ringing off the hook” since the mascot appeared in
Nokia commercials during the bowl season. It costs $45
an hour to book SuperFrog. The money goes to the student
inhabitant, according to the TCU Cheer Web site.
Tucker said the new suit, which was ordered six months
ago, is almost finished, and will feature “a more
menacing face that will add depth to the character.”
He said the suit was ordered before they had the funds
because they “needed it badly,” and they were
planning on doing a fundraiser to pay for the suit before
they decided to talk to SGA.
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Nicole
Martinez/Staff Photographer
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| SGA
has decided to buy a new SuperFrog suit because
the current one is worn out. |
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