The Mesquite Online News - Texas A&M University-San Antonio

General the Jaguar, a tradition and mystery

By Ryan Carreon and Crystal Valentin 

Interested in becoming General the Jaguar, the university’s mascot?

Students will soon be able to apply and audition for the role through the recreational sports department.

“We need to see your character. You can not be somebody in the costume that’s gonna hold back,” said Art Olague, director of recreational sports. “You can’t really do it in an interview; you have to have the applicants put the costume on…it’s all caricature.”

Although role-playing an iconic character, the General’s identity will never be revealed.

Texas A&M University-San Antonio has a secret that embodies Jaguar pride. The person playing the General the Jaguar mascot will never be discovered. The custom follows long-established practices for mascots around the country.

“We [Rec. Sports] want to turn it into a student tradition,” Olague said. “In the light of, you have no idea who it is that’s in the Raider Red costume at Texas Tech. You have no idea who’s in the Bevo costume at Texas [UT Austin].”

As an ambassador for A&M-San Antonio, General the Jaguar can be spotted roaming around at many campus events such as the upcoming Festival de Cascarones, the university’s annual Fiesta event.

The General will soon be receiving a makeover. Photo by Paul Fernandez
General will soon be receiving a makeover. Photo by Paul Fernandez

Once the person dons the jaguar mask, they transform into General.

For the purpose of this story, we can’t — and won’t — identify who wears the Jaguar suit this semester, but we did have the opportunity to sit down and get the inside scoop on what it’s like to be General.

From the Inside

“For certain events I was there as myself and then disappeared,” General said, “and reappeared as the General and then again as myself.”

General always has a handler to help communicate and move throughout the events. Friends act as handlers because it’s hard to hear and see in the mask, and to prevent people from pulling his tail.

“Only a few close friends know because sometimes they help me,” General said. “You lose all but the view in front of you. Have a handler that you trust and have fun.”

The hardest task General the Jaguar endures is not the Texas heat —  it’s dancing.

“You have to try not to lose your head dancing,” General said. “When it’s hot outside, the secret person in the mascot suit is wearing ice packs with a small fan.

After events, the suit receives a few sprays of Febreeze to help with the smell or if needed, it’ll make a trip to the cleaners. The mascot is carefully transported  to minimize the chance of being discovered.

“I don’t want to know, even though I do know,” said Kelsey Bratcher, Student Activities Coordinator. “I’m not going to point out who that student is because I don’t want to ruin it.”

Bratcher said the best advice for being General is to have fun.

“You could be the quietest person and the most introverted person, but once you become General… then you take on that personality,” she said.

Don’t let the big paws fool you. This semester, General was sent to the groomers for a makeover to give a more welcoming look, so he doesn’t scare off younger visitors.

 

With the addition of three new identical suits, General will be more accessible for appearance requests. Each suit costs approximately $3,700.

Director of Student Activities Cheryl Le Gras also decided on purchasing one of the suits at a smaller height to combat the issues of not always having students tall enough to fill General’s role.

“We’ve made a lot of strides of getting the word out,” Le Gras said. “Now we’ve got to find people to go out as General.”

Students interested in carrying on the tradition of General can contact Art Olague at the Office of Student Activities at (210) 784-1329.

About the Author

Crystal Valentin
Crystal Valentin is a reporter for the Mesquite and a senior at Texas A&M San Antonio where she studies communications and journalism with a minor in business. Crystal previously worked at the Alamo City Golf Trails as the Events Coordinator and Public Relations Support. She enjoys event planning and her interests include sports and recreation. Crystal graduates Spring 2016.

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