Mascots compete

When ACC's new mascot, the Riverbat, starts making appearances in and around Austin later this year, it will be more than just a friendly, costumed caricature; someone from the ACC student body will be inside the fuzzy bat-suit.

The mascot will be revealed in November, and students can vote in an online poll on ACC's website for the campus that will be the site for the big ceremony. The mascot will perform at local events and educational institutions to help inform people about ACC.

Tryouts for the paid position of ACC mascot were held earlier this month at the Riverside campus, and the Accent sent one of its own, this reporter, to compete for the job.

I didn't really know what to expect when I arrived for the tryouts. It was 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday, and the Riverside campus was quiet.

Inside, the other four contestants were already there and were inspecting an assortment of animal costumes. A respectable selection had been provided: a bulbous bumble bee, a brown dog, a pink bunny, and a Barney-esque kangaroo. My heart sank; no dinosaur costume.

The judge's panel consisted mostly of ACC employees. Lexi Lea, daughter of Brette Lea, ACC's executive director of public information and college marketing, was there to give a young person's perspective.

The Bumblebee, a commercial music management major named Jennifer Sheperd, buzzed through her audition.

Next up was Clayton Adams.

Adams was older than the other contestants, and I didn't know what to think of him when he was squeezing into the purple kangaroo costume. Then he began his routine. While his specially-mixed audition CD played hit after hit, he charmed the judges with comedic mime and funny dance moves.

He was a professional.

Something inside me, some primal competitive instinct, was awoken. Before Adams auditioned, I had just come to report the story. Now, I was motivated. The kangaroo had upped the ante. I decided I was going to try to win this thing.

It turned out Adams wasn't the only experienced performer in the house that morning. The dog, a science major named Dallas Diaz, danced with judge Darla Johnson, ACC's dance department chair.

The bunny, a talented young woman did some funky dancing to ‘Kung Fu Fighting' and ‘Thriller'.

I wore the dog costume. I had no CD, so I had someone cue up Britney Spears' ‘Freakshow'. Turns out it's incredibly difficult to dance sexy in a giant animal costume. I could not see, and my hands were fingerless mitts.

The high point of my audition was giving a lap dance to Paula Ribeiro, a graphic designer for ACC's marketing department. I found out later it probably cost me my chance to be the Riverbat; the ‘Mascot Commandments', which were included in an instructional packet we received, dictates that mascots "never use lewd or extreme gestures." Oops.