Spring Break
CSU's green guy revealed
Campus mag: Cam the ram, look out
Erik Myers
Issue date: 8/27/08 Section: News
Since making his shirtless debut on banners around campus last spring, the green-bodied green man has caught on as a new mascot for CSU, and he's bumping the bighorn from center stage -- while Cam will be taking his usual trot in the homecoming parade this fall, university officials say the green man will be grandmaster.
The up-and-coming figure is the invention of Mark Minor, vice president of public affairs, and the university's team of marketers who saw the early version of their character in football fans covered in green body paint.
"We were helping athletics with some ads, and we had some guys that had painted themselves green for a football game, screaming their heads off in the stands," Minor said. "We started talking about that and somehow that morphed into 'Wouldn't it be cool if we could use something using that kind of an image?'
"When you think about how you advertise in a way that students aren't going to just make fun of, it's so hard to do. We were just kind of casting around for something whimsical and fun. We landed on (the green man) as the vehicle and it too has been very successful; people have been very receptive, people are always asking 'Who is the green man?'"
Good luck looking for an answer; Minor won't divulge the identity of the green man (except to say that he is a CSU student).
While his real name may never be known, it's no mystery that he is the poster child of CSU's recent "Green University" movement.
Since the summer of 2007, the administration has pushed to create a university where the campus is self-sustaining and the students are prepared to enter a workforce where alternative energy is in high demand. CSU has also announced the development of a School of Global Environmental Sustainability, expected to open by 2010.
The school will be dedicated to housing environmental classes on campus. According to the Associated Press, $350,000 will be spent to kick-off the program with a goal to raise $100 million during the next 10 years.
The up-and-coming figure is the invention of Mark Minor, vice president of public affairs, and the university's team of marketers who saw the early version of their character in football fans covered in green body paint.
"We were helping athletics with some ads, and we had some guys that had painted themselves green for a football game, screaming their heads off in the stands," Minor said. "We started talking about that and somehow that morphed into 'Wouldn't it be cool if we could use something using that kind of an image?'
"When you think about how you advertise in a way that students aren't going to just make fun of, it's so hard to do. We were just kind of casting around for something whimsical and fun. We landed on (the green man) as the vehicle and it too has been very successful; people have been very receptive, people are always asking 'Who is the green man?'"
Good luck looking for an answer; Minor won't divulge the identity of the green man (except to say that he is a CSU student).
While his real name may never be known, it's no mystery that he is the poster child of CSU's recent "Green University" movement.
Since the summer of 2007, the administration has pushed to create a university where the campus is self-sustaining and the students are prepared to enter a workforce where alternative energy is in high demand. CSU has also announced the development of a School of Global Environmental Sustainability, expected to open by 2010.
The school will be dedicated to housing environmental classes on campus. According to the Associated Press, $350,000 will be spent to kick-off the program with a goal to raise $100 million during the next 10 years.
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