Students hit with blitz of Redhawk marketing

Redhawks have overtaken the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

Plastic Redhawk decals are stuck to dorm windows.

Bulletin boards announce free T-shirts to the first 500 students who come a special celebration at the recreation center at 3 p.m. Seven MP3 players will be given away, the invitation says. Climb to the Redhawk roost. Participate in an egg guess. See red-tailed hawks from a bird sanctuary.

Student Nathan Bright spent about 40 hours painting a 7-foot-by-5-foot Redhawk in Dearmont Hall.

One hundred banners, purchased by the student government, are strung all over campus. Then there are the stories in the media. The advertisements.

"They're throwing it in our faces," said freshman Becky Walsh from Imperial, Mo. "It's like, we know we're getting a new mascot."

Students say there is no way anyone on campus wouldn't know about the introduction of the Redhawk mascot and the corresponding festivities.

"They made sure the halls were completely decorated when we came back from Christmas break," said Colleen Rose, a freshman from St. Louis.

But who are "they"?

Dr. Charles Wiles, director of athletic marketing, said the hype for today's mascot introduction has taken on its own life. He doesn't even know where it's all coming from.

Resident hall groups, student government, student activities council are among the groups responsible for the on-campus Redhawk frenzy.

"I've been here for 35 years," Wiles said. "I was here when we changed from state college to state university, I was here when we celebrated our 100th anniversary and I've never seen participation like this. You go into New Hall and every inch is decorated. This thing is feeding on itself."

Wiles said the school hasn't officially done much beyond the normal marketing of a typical basketball game.

"We don't have any money to spend, so all we do is trade" advertising with certain media outlets, he said.

The event goes beyond athletics.

"When you graduate from Michigan State, you're a Spartan," Wiles said. "When you graduate from Oklahoma, you're a Sooner."

The mascot will give the university an identity, he said.

"The kids will love it, I promise you," he said of the mascot. "Even if you're a diehard Indian, you'll not be able to be against kids hugging a Redhawk. This is far broader than athletics. It affects admissions, the size of the student body. We won't have to hide or be embarrassed. We can say we're Redhawks."

Freshman Ben Anderson of Gainesville, Mo., said he didn't think the change was necessary.

"But I'm going to go to it," he said. "I still think it's kind of neat."

The hype surrounding Saturday's men's and women's basketball games is more about the mascot introduction than it is about the competition -- which is Austin Peay, by the way.

Wiles said he didn't think there would be a sell-out crowd, "but I don't know. We have very few of those. It will be way above average, we hope. Students get in free and wait until the last minute. The activity on campus is a great indication, and I have some feeling there will be a pretty good crowd of students."

Southeast has never had an official sellout, sports information director Ron Hines said. The largest crowd was 7,241 in a nationally televised game against Murray State on Feb. 12, 2000. The Indians have had four games draw more than 7,000 fans.

Among the pregame and halftime entertainment will be children acts. Blanchard Elementary School's 80-member jump-rope team will perform.

UPN the Beat and BA Promotions are the event's corporate sponsors. More than 1,500 T-shirts will be given away as part of the celebration.

The mascot introduction will be the end of a long transition.

The university's board of regents, after much debate about the Indian and Otahkian nicknames being insensitive and offensive, voted in June to go with Redhawks. In October, the school retired the use of its Indian and Otahkian nicknames at a ceremony. In November, regents accepted the new logo. In December, the school unveiled its new merchandise.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635