Cosmo the Cougar is the official mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 of Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

's (BYU) athletic teams. He can be seen at many sporting events, wearing the uniform

Uniform

A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...

 of the team that is playing. In the past, Cosmo's job was a volunteer position, and no scholarship

Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...

 or academic assistance was given. However scholarships and other benefits are offered today.
The mascot is expected to be involved in civic events and university functions.

Before the costume

Cosmo comes to life

On October 15, 1953, Cosmo made his first appearance in front of BYU fans. Dwayne Stevenson, the pep chairman of BYU, bought the costume for $73 and persuaded his roommate Daniel T. Gallego to wear it and thus become the first Cosmo. The name Cosmo derives from the word "cosmopolitan" and was chosen because BYU had recently been selected as a Cosmopolitan school. Cosmo became immediately popular, and since Gallego many people have been Cosmo, including BYU president Ernest L. Wilkinson

Ernest L. Wilkinson

Ernest Leroy Wilkinson was an American academic administrator and prominent figure in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He was president of Brigham Young University from 1951 to 1971 and also oversaw the entire LDS Church Educational System. Prior to this, Wilkinson was a lawyer...

, who once put on the costume at a pep rally. Lavell Edwards

LaVell Edwards

R. LaVell Edwards is a former American football coach of Brigham Young University . With 257 career victories, he ranks as one of the most successful college football coaches of all time...

, the legendary football coach for the Cougars, wore the Cosmo costume during the final season basketball game against Utah in 1981 for the unveiling of that year's Cosmo, B. Larney.(In Dec. the Cougars had beat SMU in the "Miracle Bowl" led by Jim McMahon in San Diego) (The Basketball team led by Danny Ainge

Danny Ainge

Daniel Ray "Danny" Ainge is an American basketball manager and retired professional basketball and baseball player, currently serving as President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics....

 went on to the NCAA Tourney and beat UCLA and then Notre Dame in the final seconds.)

Cosmo undergoes cosmetic surgery

On September 2, 1997, BYU's Athletic Media Relations announced that while hunting Red Tail Hawks

Red-tailed Hawk

The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West...

(rival Utah's mascot) in Rock Canyon, Cosmo fell 100 feet. Several students saw the fall, however, and fortunately called Utah Valley Search and Rescue, which performed emergency surgery on Cosmo. This included reduction in head size, which allowed Cosmo more range in motion and the ability to perform more daring stunts. Cosmo frequently does flips, walks on stilts, rides motorcycles, and performs slam dunks in order to please the crowd. It was remarked once on ESPN that Cosmo was "probably the most athletic mascot in college basketball."

Cosmo and the media

Recently, Cosmo has been the subject of a series of short films, "Cosmo Begins," and "Cosmo: Reloaded," which have been displayed between the third and fourth quarters at home football games. These can be found at the official website.http://www.cosmocougar.com/ He also recently participated in the Capital One Mascot Bowl and was featured on several commercials that showed on national television.

Cosmo today

Cosmo's workload of performances at more than 130 functions a year necessitates that there be more than one Cosmo at a
time. A team of people, Team Cosmo, helps him with his antics. He drives around in the Cosmobile, a van retrofitted for Cosmo's active lifestyle, and also owns a go-cart.

Past Cosmos

Over 40 people have been Cosmo over the years.http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=1443 Some of them include:

• Daniel T. Gallego, 1954–55
• Ray Pope, 1955–56
• Peggy Herron Mortensen, 1955–56
• Henry Whiffen, 1956–57
• Betty Mathie, 1957–58
• Tamie Kirk Mahnken, 1958–59
• Buddy Youngreen, 1961–62
• Farrell Lines, 1962–63
• Ernest Olson, 1966–67
• John Paxman, 1967–68
• Christopher D. Dowling, 1970–71
• John Bennion, 1971–72
• Kirk Smith, 1972–73
• Cliff Holley, 1974–75
• Tom Nibley, 1975–76
• Michael T. Dowling, 1976–77
• Jim Daly, 1977–78
• Kevin Ludlow, 1978–79
• Matt Love 1979-80
• B. Larney 1980-81 (Miracle Bowl) (NCAA Sweet 16 Basketball Tourney BYU Beats Notre Dame)
• Bruce Grode, 1981–82
• Dave Wright, 1982–83
• Gary Saunders, 1983–84
• Marty Burton, 1984–85
• Scott Bateman, 1985–86
• Bob Cardon, 1986–87
• David Broach, 1987–88
• Paul Thorley, 1988–89
• C. Bret Pope, 1989–90
• Jerry Kearns, 1990-1991 (Detmer wins Heisman)
• G. Craig Randall, 1990-92 http://www.byucougars.com/cheerleaders/1990_1999.jsp
• Richard Dee Lalliss, 1990-92 http://www.byucougars.com/cheerleaders/1990_1999.jsp
• Brent Hales, 1992–93
• Gary Arbuckle, 1993–94
• C. Troy Allred, 1994–95
• Brian Carroll, 1995–96
• Rich Savage, 1996–97
• Adrian Dayton, 1997–98
• Brett Eden, 1998-02
• Chad Little, 1998–99
• Chad Payne, 1999-00
• Ben Westover, 2000–2001
• Devin Eden, 2001–03
• Richard C. Summers, 2001–04
• Jon Orgill, 2002–05
• Devin Nelson, 2003–06
• Justin Leavitt 2005-08
• Andrew Syndergaard 2005-09
• Keith Allen, 2007–10
• Stephen Jones ca. 2010 http://universe2.byu.edu/node/13629
• Josh Drean, 2008-2011

External links

• Cosmo's Official Website