Two of the University’s unofficial mascots were revealed to a roaring hockey crowd at Saturday night’s SIC SIC unmasking.
SIC SIC is graduating two of it’s six members, and as part of the University’s long-standing tradition, the two were unmasked in what members consider to be a bittersweet celebration.
“It’s the best time of the year, but I’m bummed to see the two leave,” said SIC SIC member dressed as Herman Munster. “Throughout the years we have grown close and are like a family.”
The two students unmasked were senior Shane Strausbaugh, who wore the mask of talk-show host Jay Leno, and senior Kristen Gyorgak, who donned a Gene Simmons mask, the lead singer of the band Kiss.
“Every member of SIC SIC is initiated at the end of their first year and then is revealed toward the end of their senior year,” wrote Associate Dean of Students Michael Ginsburg in an email.
Strausbaugh’s membership, however, was an exception.
“Actually, there was an opening this year and I ended up interviewing and got in,” Strausbaugh said. “So this is my first and only year in [SIC SIC], but it’s been so amazing.”
The spirit group goes to various sporting events throughout the year, and their presence at the University is also seen at Dance Marathon and on the “SIC SIC Sez” signs around campus, Strausbaugh said.
“I can’t pin-point one memory. Honestly, it’s not just like one big memory,” Gyorgak said. “It’s the little things we do. It’s going out to the dorms to meet people. The little interactions are what made the three years worth it. It’s everything that makes this perfect.”
The group convenes privately once a week in a “secret-hideout” somewhere within the city limits of Bowling Green, Ginsburg said.
“SIC SIC meets one night a week to create and hang ‘SIC SIC Sez’ signs around campus and … also [attends] campus events, the number of which varies from week to week,” Ginsburg said.
The members are kept secret and few people know of their true identity.
“Once members are admitted to the group, I send a letter to their parents,” Ginsburg said. “There are only three people on campus who know their identity: me, the Senior Associate Dean of Students, Jodi Webb, and the Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Jill Carr.”
In previous years, University’s president Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey met SIC SIC members and is herself an honorary member of the group, Ginsburg said.
“I think we have the strongest group now then we ever have before,” Gyorgak said. “I have no worries for the future. For freshman that want to apply, step it up; you’ve got some really cool people applying.”