Tryouts for Willie the Wildcat, ACU’s feline mascot, are Saturday.

All current ACU students are eligible to tryout at 8 pm. in Moody Coliseum. Contestants will need to have a two- to three-minute skit prepared with props included.

Katie Gibson, freshman athletic training major from Aspermont, is the current mascot.

“This has been the coolest and best way I could have spent my first year at ACU,” Gibson said. “It is lots of fun, and it is just all around a great experience.”

According to No Ordinary University: The Story of a City Set on a Hill, Willie came about in 1919 when the football, baseball and intramural teams needed a playing field. A fundraising contest with the prize of naming a new proposed playing facility ended with Wildcat Park and the school’s new mascot, the Wildcat. Abilene Christian College Antelopes was the runner-up.

Gibson will continue to be Willie for the next two years as she mentors the new mascot in the coming year.

Being ACU’s mascot does have its perks, however.

“We do all football games, home basketball and volleyball games and get invited to go make appearances when requested,” Gibson said.

Being Willie is a great way to become involved on campus while also playing an important role in school spirit.

Audrie Trevino, sophomore Ad/PR major from Bryan, said she thinks Willie is a key part of what makes ACU.

“Willie was one of the first things I took a picture with when I first arrived on campus for Passport,” Trevino said. “He helps make ACU recognizable.”

With the recent switch that ACU made to Div. I, Wildcat Willie has become more valuable to the university and its collegiate sports. He’s been an ever-present force at home football games, exciting fans and athletes.

For more information or to tryout, email Gibson at kag13b@acu.edu.