Masked Rider Endowment
Helps Continue a Tradition
Of the many traditions at Texas Tech University, only the
Masked Rider (previously known as the Red Raider), has universal acceptance.
For many years, Texas Tech's Masked Rider has thrilled and excited fans, young
and old and in 1981 the fans established an endowment fund to continue the
tradition.
During the early years when the athletic teams were known
as the Matadors, the school did not have a mascot. After a sportswriter dubbed
the team "Red Raiders," a group of students decided the team should
have a Red Raider Rider. These early ghost riders would unexpectedly circle
the football field before home games and then vanish creating the aura of mystery
which still shrouds the Masked Rider through the identity of the student selected
for the job is made public.
In those early appearances, students who had access to horses
but not necessarily permission to ride them at games, would sneak the horses
to games and hurriedly return them after the impromptu rides.
The Red Raider survived on a sporadic basis trough World
War II and then was largely forgotten until the idea was received by coach
DeWitt Weaver. The first Texas Tech-sanctioned Masked Rider debut was on January
1m 1954 when Joe Kirk Fulton wearing Levis, red shirt, red and black cape and
black hat, let the team onto the field to play Auburn in the Gator Bowl, a
game which the underdog Red Raiders won 35 - 13. Fulton said, "At the
time, we didn't realize the impact the Masked Rider would have on Texas Tech,
or that it would be adopted as the official mascot of the University."
Newspaper accounts said the first appearance of the Masked
Rider awed spectators into a momentary stunned silence before they burst into
cheering. an Atlanta Journal sportswriter reported that, "No team in any
bowl game ever made a more sensational entrance."
An endowment fund was created to offset the many expenses
incurred by the rider each year as he or she travels over 14,000 miles and
makes well over 170 public appearances a year, including out-of-town football
games, rodeos, parades, school visits and ceremonies. Expenses include the
cost of horse care, handling of the horse, all travel related expenses, equipment
upkeep, trailer maintenance and costume repair and replacement.
The Saddle Tramps contributed
the first $2,000 to the fund in 1981, and the
Texas Tech Student Alumni Board presented a
Red Raider Scholarship of $1,000 to demonstrate
student appreciation for the rider. In 1995,
Norwest Bank (now Wells Fargo) established the
Norwest Bank Masked Rider Endowment Fund and
Scholarship. The Masked Rider will receive a
$2,000 scholarship as a benefit of the Wells
Fargo fund. The Wells Fargo fund has a 10 year
goal of $250,000. Both the original fund and
the Wells Fargo fund, when completed, will provide
the income necessary to keep the 51-year tradition
alive for the Red Raider fans of the 21st century.
Red Raider students and fans who want to help carry on the
tradition of the Masked Rider can send contributions to:
Texas Tech Masked Rider Endowment Fund
Texas Tech University
Center for Campus Life
P.O. Box 5014
Lubbock, Texas 79409-5014
For more information regarding
the Masked Rider Endowment Fund, contact Bruce
Bills, Masked Rider Publicist, at the above
address, by calling (806) 742-5433, faxing to
806-742-0138 or by e-mail to bruce.bills@ttu.edu.