MORGANTOWN, W.VA. — Mountaineer fans will see a familiar bearded face pumping up the crowd at countless sporting events, reading to children, and traveling the state.
Fairmont native Michael Garcia, a WVU political science major, was named the Mountaineer Mascot for 2015-2016.
Garcia is the just the third student in a decade to serve as the mascot back-to-back years.
“I cherish the men and women who have worn the buckskins before me as the foundation of this continuing tradition,” Garcia said. “Great things seem impossible until other people have accomplished feats that were not even dreamt up before.”
According to a release from WVU, Garcia has visited 35 different counties in West Virginia and has represented WVU at more than 200 events throughout the 2014-15 school year. His national trips include attending at Big 12 Conference Football Media Days, being at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis and heading to the Big 12 Men’s Basketball tournament next month.
“I have always thought of the Mountaineer as more of an ambassador than a mascot,” he said. “Now, after these months of experience, I am secure and confident in my actions. I have the energy and personality to reflect the good nature of our people. I am always the Mountaineer: a representative and an ambassador of my home.”
Garcia’s mother, brother and sister are all Mountaineer graduates.
Garcia will start his second year of duties for the 2015-16 year with the Gold-Blue spring football game in April at Milan Puskar Stadium.
There have been 63 different WVU Mountaineer mascots dating back to 1934.