Hey Reb! is the mascot for the UNLV Rebels, the athletic teams of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada, USA. He performs live at all UNLV athletic events. The mascot, Hey Reb!, was first created in 1983 to depict the embodiment of an independent, rebel spirit at UNLV athletic events, intended as a tribute to western settlers.
Previous mascots
UNLV's original mascot was a Confederate uniform-wearing wolf named Beauregard. Beauregard was designed to contrast with the Wolf Pack's northern desert wolf mascot of the University of Nevada, Reno. Dressed in a grey uniform, Beauregard represented a "Johnny Reb" in defiance of UNR. In the 1970s, as race discrimination issues dominated national events, community members voiced concerns that Beauregard glorified the Confederacy and had little to do with the community's history. In the early 1970s, students had voted to banish Beauregard but retained the Rebels name, rejecting alternatives such as Big Horn Rams, Nuggets, A-Bombs, and Sand Burners. Replacing Beau was a musket-toting Minuteman, but that Revolutionary War figure failed to resonate in the West either. UNLV went without an official mascot for some time before Hey Reb was developed.
Design
Hey Reb was created as a replacement for Beauregard the wolf. In 1982, Miller was a partner in a local advertising firm and headed the UNLV account. When he heard of UNLV's search for a fitting symbol, he offered to sketch some ideas. He brainstormed about the kind of character that could embody the spirit of a Rebel while representing the community's history. His inspiration came from the mountain men of the 1800s. Hey Reb is always seen wearing a UNLV jersey with the number 57 on it, to commemorate the University's founding in the year 1957. In 2004, Hey Reb was named one of 12 All-American Mascots, and was given a chance to compete for the Capital One Bowl mascot of the year as part of the Capital One Mascot Challenge, finishing second in the online voting. Hey Reb has also been featured in two national commercials for ESPN's SportsCenter. In 2013, Hey Reb and Jon "Jersey" Goldman, the UNLV student who wears the costume to portray him, were featured in the Huludocumentary seriesBehind the Mask. The series followed four mascots, and the people who portrayed them, both inside and outside of the mascot costume.
Criticism
The campus community was divided over the contention that the mascot, looking like a Confederate soldier, still appeared to be a symbol of racism. In 2015, Nevada Senator Harry Reid called for the design to be revisited again. On June 16, 2020, amid protests of racial inequality related to the killing of George Floyd, UNLV announced they had removed the Hey Reb! statue in front of the Tam Alumni Center, stating: "In recent conversations with the donor we mutually agreed it was best to remove the statue and return it." The Univeristy's president Marta Meana clarified the decision: "Over the past few months, I have had discussions with multiple individuals and stakeholder groups from campus and the community on how best the university can move forward given recent events throughout our nation".
