After three years of making signs, handing out Laffy Taffy and bringing spirit to BGSU, Granny and Black Panther are ready to hang up their masks.
On Feb. 8 at the Slater Family Ice Arena, senior SIC SIC members Granny and Black Panther’s true identities will be revealed at the hockey game against St. Thomas, starting at 7 P.M.
“I am very excited and also very nervous. I think there are a lot of emotions that come with unmasking. You don’t join SIC SIC thinking about unmasking,” Granny said. “You join it thinking about the interactions that you’ll have with the community and then when it comes to be your time to get revealed, there’s a lot of emotions. I think it’s a weird feeling of also having to lie about this for three years and then on a random Saturday everyone finds out.”
While Granny has mixed emotions about the event, Black Panther is nervous due to his actions as a member.
“I’m a little nervous because people are gonna know who I am and I’ve done some crazy stuff during my three years here,” Black Panther said.
During his three years, Black Panther has committed embarrassing acts, whether he meant to or not.
“I fell in front of a group of people on the way to a football game. It wasn’t like I intentionally did it, it was like an actual fall,” Black Panther said. “Back then it was embarrassing, but it’s funny now.”
Black Panther isn’t the only member to commit embarrassing acts while wearing the mask. He said that in order to be a member of SIC SIC you have to be willing to do embarrassing things, which Granny has experienced plenty of times.
“I was sitting down with this group of girls that already looked horrified of me, which I’m used to, then all of a sudden I was on the floor of the Oaks staring at the ceiling. I looked over and I saw my friend Blue Spirit, who had pulled a chair up from under me,” Granny said. “I also forgot to mention I was holding a cup of lemonade in my hand and just threw it in the air. It was all over me and all over the girl next to me. That haunts me to this day.”
When thinking back, she remembers a funny moment she shared with Flash, who was revealed to be Emma Horner last year.
“She decided to wear this red wig to the football game and during halftime, we normally go up to the President’s Suite. In the President’s Suite are distinguished alumni, so we have to be on our best behavior,” Granny said. “My friend Flash, wearing this red wig, is going through the food line and I look over and her wig had fallen into a bowl of butter. I had to grab the wig out of the butter and there were just strands of red hair all in the butter. And all of these nice, wealthy people that are dressed nice were just staring at us.”
Just like Horner picked a sloth mask, Granny and Black Panther both picked their SIC SIC characters when they first joined.
“I wanted a helmet because I feel like it’s just better, but I really just wanted to be an icon like Black Panther,” Black Panther said.
“I came across this beautiful grandma mass and I just felt like it could be so fun if like put piercings and jazz her up,” Granny said. My advisor, Jacob Clemens, hated the idea, but I told him that was the only mask that I wanted and I was doing it anyways.”
After three years behind the mask, what matters most to both Black Panther and Granny are the students. Since 1946, SIC SIC has been providing BGSU students with school spirit, including Granny and Black Panther.
“We’ve just been so grateful for this experience. It’s such a longstanding tradition at BG and just to have the opportunity to carry on the legacy is just been so awesome,” Granny said. “The big moments of football games, homecoming and unmasking, they’re great, but I feel like one on one moments with students really mean a lot to us.”
