Our friendly, furry friends Master Bob Thomas Jr.
Research is incomplete, but the following students have portrayed Willie or other wildcat-costumed mascots through the years. Help us complete the roster by emailing robin.saylor@acu.edu:
In July 1926, an Abilene resident and ACC fan named Mr. Stedman presented the college with a weeks-old wildcat cub named Master Bob Thomas Jr. that lived in a cage in the backyard of coach A.B. Morris on Sayles Boulevard. “He is turned loose during the day, when he is pleased to annoy the neighbors by climbing around … their housetops,” reported The Optimist student newspaper. The Kitten Klub was organized in 1927 to develop student loyalty and aid Athletics. Members wore purple and white uniforms with a likeness of “Old Bob Thomas” on their sweater.
1964 Tal Solomon 1965 Dwight Sowle 1979-80 Ty Cross, David Lang, Rick Young 1980-81 Ty Cross, David Lang, Gary Hanna 1982-83 Jim McKissick, Charles Pullen, Bobby Griffith, Danny Dodds 1983-84 Wilma Janie Webb, Tamara Childers, Jobie Cabbell 1985-86 Brad Mitten 1986-87 Wendy Brashear Dickerson, Jim Bales 1989-90 Matt Robbins 1992-93 Daysha Sanford 1993-94 Laura Bolin Carroll, Carl Manuel 2002-03 Laura Zengerle Huddleston 2003-04 Laura Zengerle Huddleston, Lajours Taylor, Tori Watson 2004-05 Julianna DeBrine, Andrea Gorsline, Tori Watson 2005-06 Andrea Gorsline 2007-08 Julianna DeBrine 2008-09 Jason Creed 2009-10 Mary Swantek 2010-12 Collin Graves 2012-13 Collin Graves, DJ Acevedo 2013-14 DJ Acevedo, Julia Prior, Brantly Houston 2014-15 Julia Prior, Brantly Houston, Katie Gibson 2015-17 Katie Gibson
Acey Early in 1952, a trapper near Alice, Texas, gave a newborn wildcat to Willow Dean Ellis, sister of student Sonny Cleere (’54). Named Acey, the cat was bottle-fed until Cleere brought it to campus that spring to live in the athletics dorm.
Chris Willie and a friend in Moody Coliseum, circa 1980.
In 1953, ACC’s Student Council purchased a 5-month-old lynx from student Allan McDaniel (’58) and named it Chris. The Optimist reported Chris was on the field for Homecoming that fall.
Cleo
Talmadge “Tal” Solomon (’66) portrayed a costumed mascot during the 1965 football season, but Willy the Wildcat was born in 1979 when the Students’ Association purchased a fur-and-latex costume from a Cleveland-based company. His name was later changed to Willie.
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Three different pieces of artwork have served as official Wildcat logos for Athletics.
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Willy/Willie/Wilma the Wildcat
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ACC basketball player Wayne Shamblin (’62) and his wife, Barbara, found a baby bobcat in October 1960. With permission from dean Garvin Beauchamp (’41), Cleo lived with the Shamblins in their married-student apartment on campus, where he was given the run of the house.
So many women applied to be the mascot in 1982 that the selection committee decided to add Wilma. A wedding was planned for the two love-struck mascots following a pep rally. A new costume for Willie was purchased in 1996 from a company in Canada, and worn for the first time by normally shy ACU Today editor Ron Hadfield (’79) during a campus operations division Town Hall meeting. Willie enjoys posing with new graduates at May Commencement like (from left) Hannah Henderson (’14) and Megan Teel (’14).
Today, the Wildcats are represented by Willie at games, parades and special events on campus and around the community (see image above). PAUL WHITE
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