Wichita State is planning a big bash for the university’s one-of-a-kind mascot. Circle Wed., Nov. 19 on your calender and nab some tickets to the Shocker men’s basketball game versus UMKC, with tip-off at 7:05 p.m., because at half-time everyone inside Charles Koch Arena will be celebrating WuShock’s 60th birthday. Wu and special guests will be there.
Designed in 1948 by Wilbur Elsea, the first WuShock “gave a tough impression” and had “a serious, no-nonsense scowl,” as Elsea put it. Here are a few other snippets of Wu lore:
Some Quick WuShock Facts
• WuShock, an interpretation of a shock of wheat, reflects the fact that a number of early Fairmount students, many of them football players, earned money for college by harvesting wheat in nearby fields.
• In 1948, the Kappa Pi society held a competition calling for the design of a mascot “typifying the spirit of the school.” Wilbur Elsea’s design won.
• University of Wichita freshman Jack Kersting suggested the moniker “WuShock,” thereby winning a naming contest.
• In 1976, the first professionally made WuShock costume was so big it required a football player to be inside it.
• The 1984 WuShock version featured wheat extending down from the waist, not unlike a hula skirt.
• In 1998, WuShock had its 50th birthday, and the mascot, often known simply as “Wu,” received a redesign and a more “pumped-up” image.
