SICSIC seniors Evan Steel and Ashley Materise were unmasked Saturday night at the Falcon hockey game, a culmination of their three-year experience with the organization.
Steel, formerly Spiderman, shed his identity first, followed by Materise removing her Laura Bush mask. Unmasking was met with roars of screams and cheers, not just from friends and family, but from all the people in the stands who have felt the effects of SICSIC’s presence on campus.
As a part of the longest continually active organization at the University, SICSIC members have several duties to accomplish, which were written into the SICSIC constitution when the organization was founded by President Prout in October 1946.
According to the SICSIC website, members of the organization must do everything in their power to “help make Bowling Green State University a better place by promoting school spirit and good will among the students and faculty.”
SICSIC accomplishes President Prout’s mission by creating signs that boast wet socks are better than Toledo, appearing at odd times to pass candy out around campus and cheering at sporting events.
Through these activities, members understand the importance of the University. Throughout their three years, members learn that SICSIC is not about any individual student or personality, SICSIC advisor and Assistant Dean of Students Jacob Clemens said. They learn to put the University first.
2014 University graduate and SICSIC’s Miss Piggy Kim Zaccaro described her humbling experience with SICSIC as servant leadership.
“Every time I was putting on Miss Piggy’s mask, I was serving the students and faculty at Bowling Green,” Zaccaro said.
As rewarding as SICSIC membership may be, the organization requires commitment to and passion for the University and its students. One challenge members face is dealing with the anonymous aspect of the organization.
Because membership in SICSIC is secret from the moment they are initiated freshman year until unmasking at the end of senior year, members need a repertoire of excuses and explanations for their whereabouts during SICSIC events and meetings. The lies can build up and cause confusion.
“For three years you tell your friends excuse after excuse, and it’s hard to keep track of what excuses you’ve used,” Steel said.
Matt Bruening, 2014 University graduate and former Herman Munster of SICSIC, described the secrecy of membership as “a blessing and a curse.” Bruening went to enormous lengths to keep the secret, but the secrecy also allowed him to see whom he could trust with secrets of SICSIC magnitude.
But at the end of the day, members of SICSIC are still University students. They attend classes, keep good grades, have jobs and are involved around campus.
“You want to commit all your time to this University and put your best foot forward for the wellbeing of the University and the spirit crew, but at the same time you have a whole academic life and student life to fulfill,” Materise said.
It is a tricky balance, but members of SICSIC must know what it takes to take care of themselves and serve the University and its students in ways that accomplish what President Prout intended.
