OU shows its animal side during next year's Homecoming

by Colleen Schmidt
Staff Writer

Bobcats will be overrunning the Ohio University campus Fall Quarter.

The Student Campaign Advancement Committee, which involves students in the Bicentennial Campaign, has proposed selling 100 four-foot tall Bobcat mascot statues to student organizations, said Leonard Raley, executive director for the Ohio University Foundation. Then the groups will decorate and display the models around campus so the bobcats can be sold to OU supporters at a fundraising auction.

"We're going to find a way to make it happen," said Amanda Cunningham, 2001-2002 co-chairperson of the committee.

The painting and displaying would take place during Homecoming, Oct. 26-28, next fall, after student groups buy the statues for $35 per bobcat, Raley said.

Money raised from the bobcat sales will help fund a new student center, said Alissa Galford, 2001-2002 co-chairperson of the committee. The total cost of the center will be between $41.2 and $45.9 million, according to an OU program planning report.

"This is a student effort to try to get people to contribute and take part in this campaign," Raley said. "I think it is a terrific idea."

The funds raised also will count as part of the OU's Bicentennial Campaign to raise $200 million by 2004, Raley said. The university now has raised almost $124 million.

The cost of making the bobcats was originally thought to be more than the money it would raise, Raley said.

"They (committee members) didn't have any idea – neither did I – how much money it would take to get the bobcats made," OU President Robert Glidden said.

OU officials and the committee have been researching bobcat cost estimates from different companies, Cunningham said. She said she does have one company in mind but does not want to release the name because details are not yet finalized.

Estimates have ranged from $5,000 to $40,000 for molding and casting of the bobcats and vary based on the material used, she said. OU is considering plastic and several different types of foam.

Additionally, the Student Campaign Advancement Committee originally had scheduled a concert on South Green on Saturday to help raise awareness about the fund-raising campaign, Galford said. But officials decided to reschedule the event for Fall Quarter 2001.

"We felt that if we had it in the fall, we'd attract more attention," she said.

– Ben Roode contributed to this story.