There is no better time to celebrate the resilience of the Roo spirit than now. Our community has forged ahead through the challenges of an unprecedented year, 为了庆祝这种永恒的精神, 我们将为一尊新的罗罗雕像揭幕.
揭幕仪式在上午10点举行.m. 周一, 4月26日, 大学步道, between Swinney Center and Miller Nichols Library and Learning Center, 并邀请了整个UMKC社区.
这是一个酝酿了几年的历史性事件. 2018年学生会协会, 在私人捐款的支持下, commissioned Kansas City artist Tom Corbin to create a new Roo statue for campus.
Donations for the statue were made in 2018 in honor of the investiture of Chancellor Mauli Agrawal. It is intended to be a symbol of our community and our history as Roos in Kansas City, and will serve as a rallying point on campus for important and meaningful events, 聚会及校友探访.
最重要的是, the new addition to campus serves as an opportunity for students to establish new traditions. Former SGA president Abdul Ahmed offered a suggestion: “My hope is that future graduating classes will take photos in front of the Roo.”
UMKC的历史和校园传统
You would expect such a unique mascot to have an interesting origin story. We caught up with campus historian Chris Wolff to learn more 关于 how the Roo was embraced by the students at UMKC.
Since the university’s founding, one of its core strengths has been its kinship to Kansas City. When the University of Kansas City (predecessor to UMKC) was established by local civic leaders during the Great Depression, it was meant to become a cultural monument — to put Kansas City on the map.
虽然是杰出的社区成员建立了UMKC, its students are credited for much of what the university has become.
“The founders of UMKC were all-important businesspeople in Kansas City. 他们都没有任何教育经验, so they left it upon the students to create the college experience they wanted,沃尔夫说. 学生们选择了学校的校旗, established the student newspaper and wrote the school’s alma mater.
In 1936, editors of the student newspaper decided the debate team needed a mascot. Students proposed adopting the kangaroo as the mascot due to the animal’s popularity at the Kansas City Zoo. 倡导吉祥物, a group of students formed the SGA Kangaroo Party and when they won the election in the spring of 1936, 袋鼠成了大学的官方吉祥物. In 1938, Kansas City native Walt Disney drew the first picture of the kangaroo—you might see some similarities to a famous mouse!
The university has seen different versions of the Roo through the years. 沃尔夫说，纵观历史, students have been known to draw their own depictions of the kangaroo despite the university having official branding guides for the kangaroo, 第一组是在20世纪50年代.
“Even to this day you’ll see student groups draw their own depictions of Kasey Kangaroo. That’s one of the longstanding traditions of students,沃尔夫说. “The reason the kangaroo survived as the mascot all of these years is because of its uniqueness and because of its connection to Kansas City.”
One of the most popular and appreciated depictions of the Roo can be found in watercolor paintings and sculpted into small awards sculptures molded by Corbin, 一位著名的堪萨斯城艺术家.
While traditions from spirit week activities and other student experiences change with the times, UMKC有几个纪念碑, ones that remember classes of old and gifts dedicated by students and community members. 例如, the class of 1939 donated one of two flagpoles currently standing on the quad; the other was gifted by the family of Harry Kaufman, 在第二次世界大战中牺牲的学生, 并致力于学生退伍军人.
沃尔夫说，堪萨斯大学堪萨斯分校是和堪萨斯城一起长大的. Having been founded by the same civic leaders that established Liberty Memorial – which you can catch a glimpse of embedded in the university seal — and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 密苏里大学堪萨斯分校与堪萨斯城有着深厚而长期的联系. You can come from anywhere in the world, and if you come to UMKC, you are a part of that community.
“The reason the kangaroo survived as the mascot all of these years is because of its uniqueness and because of its connection to Kansas City.”
“Being a Roo means you’re more than just part of the university. It means you’re a part of a whole community that starts with the college,” he said.
With a renewed sense of school spirit and plans to establish a new sense of belonging for its students, 新的传统正在被创造. 一些最古老的, 然而, 学生和校友对堪萨斯城的影响, 这是给校园的一份永恒的礼物，也是新版本的Roo.
“堪萨斯城与艺术有着非常重要的联系. 我无法想象没有纳尔逊在这里, 或者肯珀, 或者能够来校园拍照,科尔宾说. “我希望Roo能激励其他艺术家. 当我开始雕刻家的职业生涯时, 有人告诉我，我永远无法以艺术家的身份谋生. 我想鼓励学生，让他们知道他们可以做到.
“I did a lot of research on kangaroos prior to sculpting the actual monument, and one of the things I learned is that Roos cannot go backward. 他们只能往前走.”
Join our campus community as we celebrate the installation of this monument. 仪式将于上午10点举行.m. 周一, 4月26日, next to University Walkway near Miller Nichols Library and the University Playhouse. 请继续遵循屏蔽和保持距离的指导方针.