Anyone who has ever attended a UVM hockey or basketball game can recognize the same familiar catamount face amid the crowd.

Beloved UVM mascot Rally Cat can be seen at campus events doing everything from dancing with the dance team to handing out pizza to lucky members of the student section. However, few know what it’s really like to wear the suit. 

“We love Rally,” said sophomore Mary Wallace, a flutist in Pep Band. “He’s so iconic.”

Rally plays an integral role in UVM’s pep team, frequently supporting the UVM pep experience at sporting events with Dance Team, Cheer and Pep Band, she said.

While Rally frequently interacts with Pep Band, his identity and true role on campus is still somewhat elusive to even his closest colleagues.

While walking through Patrick Gym last year, Wallace accidentally caught a glimpse of Rally Cat without his head on through the window of a closed door, she said.

“I was like ‘oh my God I shouldn’t see that’ and I turned away as if Rally Cat was actually naked,” she said. 

While Rally’s identity is kept secret from the general public, some Rally Cats choose to reveal their identities to a select few, said UVM ‘24 alum and former Rally Cat Britta Zetterstrom. 

“It’s not like MSU or some of the other colleges where their mascot is, like, super top-secret,” she said. 

Zetterstrom, who served as Rally for about two semesters, found it entertaining whenever she was able to reveal to someone that she wore the suit, she said.

“You’re doing it for the bit a little bit,” she said.

Similar to other on-campus jobs, prospective Rally Cats can apply for the position on JobX, interview with faculty members and complete their training. Training involves shadowing an experienced Rally as well as education on topics such as assault, Zetterstrom said.

Because Rally Cat interacts so frequently with crowds, both prospective Rally Cats and Rally Cat support staff are trained in how to respond to potential misconduct. When wearing the suit, there is a chance of being touched in uncomfortable ways during photos or being harassed by disrespectful crowds, she said. 

Being Rally Cat may be quite different compared to other on-campus jobs, however, due to the job’s schedule.

With four to eight Rally Cats on the payroll at any given time, each Rally gets to choose their own schedule from week to week. The time commitment ends up being about one or two shifts a week, each lasting about two to four hours, said an anonymous current Rally Cat.

Shifts can be home sporting events, away playoff sporting events or on- and off-campus promotional events, Rally said. 

A downside of the job is that some promotional events, as well as sporting events without engaged crowds, can be dull at times, they said. 

Another downside of being Rally is the suit itself. There are three full Rally suits and five Rally heads currently in rotation with an additional extra suit that is in rough shape and isn’t used often, Rally said. 

“It definitely gets really hot and sweaty,” Rally said. “It’s pretty gross and the big thing is that your vision is pretty limited,” they said.

Wearing the suit is a small sacrifice, however, for what can be an entertaining job. In addition to general crowd interactions, Rally also plays drums with Pep Band, interrupts lectures to entertain students and hands out free swag, which makes the job worth it, Rally said.

“It was a chance to just do whatever I wanted with no real personal accountability to my name, so I just go around and be goofy,” they said. “I think if you talk to some of the other Rallys they might not think it’s as fun as I do, but I love it.”

Another lesser-known side of the Rally Cat operation is the position of the Rally Cat handlers.

In addition to emceeing raffles, tossing t-shirts into the stands and coordinating mini games at half time of sporting events, the marketing and promotion interns for UVM Athletics are also tasked with being “Rally handlers,” said sophomore and former marketing and promotion intern Henri Zamanian.

Handlers are charged with informing Rally of plans and procedures during events. Whenever an intern was working a specific sporting event, which was typically once or twice a week, that intern was expected to periodically step in as handler, said Zamanian. 

Similar to the training to become Rally Cat, the handlers were also educated on safety and how to avoid potential misconduct, he said. 

“Some people are just annoying and weird to Rally,” said Zamanian. 

Zamanian was unaware that being a handler would be one of his responsibilities when he accepted the internship and while the role was entertaining at times, handling was only a small fraction of the responsibilities of the internship and it could also be extremely exhausting, he said.

“It was fun and it was a great experience,” said Zamanian. “Specifically, my job was way more work than what I was rewarded for.” 

Through the ups and downs, Rally Cat continues to be an iconic character, livening up campus. As long as you have the right energy and willingness to wear the suit, being Rally Cat is actually a pretty fun gig, said Zetterstrom. 

If you ever find yourself surfing JobX and see an opening for the Rally Cat position, you can be assured that the position is recommended by its predecessors.