For an entire year, Hannah Super harbored a carefully protected secret, one she promised to uphold: Whenever she showed up to her college’s football and basketball games, she wasn’t Hannah — she was Freida the Falcon, the mascot for Bowling Green State University. But at the end of the semester, the jig was up. It was time for reveal day, when graduating mascot performers retire from their roles and publicly reveal their identities for the first time. There, surrounded by family, friends, and her mascot teammates, Super finally stepped out from behind the character she had spent her senior year bringing to life.
“You’re saying goodbye to the secret you’ve kept for so long, and you’re letting the world in,” Super tells Her Campus, “which is scary, but it was well worth it at the end of the day.”
With the 2026 graduation season just wrapped up, similar moments have been playing out on college campuses across the country. Schools have tons of different traditions when it comes to their mascot unveilings. Some have a photoshoot and share pics on social media, while others allow students to unveil their identities during an end-of-season sporting event or even at their commencement ceremonies. It’s a big moment for these students; after countless months spent hyping up crowds and appearing at campus events, the people behind the masks can finally acknowledge the highly revered role they’ve kept secret for years.
For many college mascots, the secrecy is a key part of the experience. Behind the costume is an entire hidden world of traditions, friendships, and rituals that most students never get to see. Until now.
Why are mascot identities so secretive?
Schools have different rules about mascot anonymity. Some programs require performers to keep their identity confidential until graduation or their big reveal, while others take a less formal approach and leave it to the mascot to decide. Regardless of the specific regulations, former mascots say the secrecy is less about hiding themselves and more about embodying the character they’re portraying.
“When it comes to secrecy, it’s not about protecting your own identity, but protecting the integrity of the mascot itself, of the character,” Super says. “We want people to see us as Freddie and Frida Falcon. We don’t want people to see us as, ’Oh, that’s Hannah Super walking down the street.’”
Former Northwestern University Willie the Wildcat mascot Emma* echoes this sentiment — maintaining the illusion helps preserve the authenticity of the character. “When Willie shows up somewhere, I really want people to believe that they are getting the authentic Willie experience,” she says. “When you are more public about who you are, then people start to see it as different versions of the same character instead of believing the continuity of the character always appearing as the same Willie every single time.”
Texas State’s former Boko the Bobcat mascot Sophia Robinson says anonymity also helps performers fully immerse themselves in the role. And yes, sometimes that means interacting with your closest friends without them realizing who’s inside the suit. Robinson recalls running up to friends during games, hugging them, and giving them special attention as Boko, all while they remained completely unaware that it was her. That way, they still got to enjoy the magic of the mascot.“When we’re suited up, we’re not us, and it’s not about us,” Robinson says. “It’s about highlighting an important member of the Texas State community who’s been around for generations.”
A mascot is more than a costume.
While mascots are usually associated with dancing on the sidelines and posing for pictures, the performers say the role involves far more preparation and physical effort than most fans realize.
Emma notes that mascot hopefuls at Northwestern must go through a multi-step audition process involving interviews, skits, improvisation, and crowd engagement exercises before ever stepping into the suit. Once selected as part of the mascot team (usually consisting of four or more students), there’s still more training to be physically and mentally prepared, including participating in regular strength training, learning cheers, rehearsing crowd interactions, and getting ready for game-day responsibilities. “We do a lot of training so that everybody on the mascot team looks the same,” Emma says. “So what does it look like when you’re interacting with a family? What does it look like when you have to do the T-shirt toss? What does it look like when Willie dances on the sidelines? [There’s] a bunch of stuff that we’ll work on in a group to try to all look like the same character.”
Ellie Butcher, a Virginia Tech graduate and former HokieBird, says much of that practice focused on consistency for game day. Mascots participated in strength training sessions, practiced crowd interactions, and collaborated to develop a cohesive style. “We worked together to try to have similar mannerisms when we were performing,” Butcher says. “That way the character, for the most part, remained mostly the same.”
Fans often underestimate how difficult performing in mascot suits can be. Limited visibility, heavy costumes, and large crowds can create stressful situations, especially during chaotic game day environments. “People often forget that you, like anybody else, are a person inside the suit,” Emma says. “Maybe they can’t see very well. Maybe they can’t hear very well. But they’re working their hardest to really bring this character to life.” It’s a long day, too — for many mascots, game days begin at least three to four hours before kickoff, and can include everything from leading the football team’s entrance to performing skits throughout the game.
For many mascots, interacting with fans is one of the best parts of the job. Super recalls a great interaction with a rival Penn State fan at a football game. “I wasn’t sure what she was going to say to me because we’re obviously playing a heated game against each other,” says Super. “But she just stopped me and held my hand and told me how wonderful our university is and how our spirit team is.”
Once a mascot, always a mascot.
Mascots spend a lot of time hiding their identity, but one group they can be their full, true selves around? Other mascots. At Bowling Green, Super says the mascots refer to each other as “sibs,” short for siblings, because of how closely they work together throughout the year. “I have no relationships that are like this, and it’s just really cool to see how close you can get with someone in such a short time period,” Super says. “By the end of our first month, I feel like I knew almost everything about these people. And I think part of that is because you do have to lean on each other so much and so heavily, and it’s just really cool to see not only them show up for you, but you get the opportunity to show up for them.”
The camaraderie can extend to the larger mascot community as well. Emma describes meeting performers from rival schools during games and competitions, often forming friendships that exist entirely behind the scenes. “There [is] a Big Ten mascot group chat,” Emma says. “If we see each other on TV or a skit that one other mascot does, we’ll text each other and say, ‘Oh, that was great stuff.’”
Butcher had a similar experience. “There’s just a shared passion for the school that you attend and how much you love it,” she says. “Everyone that I’ve met in the community is so kind, and they just care about their school and the mascot so much.”
While mascots can appear competitive, Emma says the atmosphere is often more supportive and collaborative off the field. ”You’ll see mascot shenanigans happening in public where the mascots will be beefing with each other. And then as soon as you get back inside to your little changing room and take the head off, everyone’s congratulating each other,” says Emma. “‘Oh, that was so funny. I loved when you did X, Y, and Z. Oh, that dance move was so great. You’re gonna have to show it to me sometime.’”
For many former mascots, the role often becomes one of the defining experiences of college. Even after graduation or their reveal, the friendships and experiences are lasting. “Being HokieBird was genuinely like a dream come true for me,” Butcher says. “I’ll never forget all of the special memories and moments that I was able to have because of my time with the mascot program.”
*Name has been changed for anonymity.