“When I’m walking across campus, I see Sparty and he waves at me to say ‘hello,’” Zhu said. “That wouldn’t happen in China; the mascots there aren’t celebrities.”

Sparty, MSU’s “celebrity,” as Zhu refers to him, is putting his popularity to the test as he participates in the Capital One Mascot Challenge for the second year in a row.

The beloved mascot is competing against 15 other mascots from universities across the country as fans vote for their favorite figures every week in a different face-off.

Sparty has gone through five rounds so far and has won four of them since the beginning of September. He currently is in fourth place.

The competition playoffs will begin Nov. 26, and the top eight mascots will be ranked and entered into the rounds.

If Sparty wins, MSU’s Sparty Mascot Program will receive a $20,000 scholarship.

Prior to the voting period, which began Sept. 3, Sparty took a trip to Los Angeles for a week, said Ty Richards, associate director of the Sparty Mascot Program for the Student Alumni Foundation.

“Sparty was flown out there with the other mascots; they filmed all the videos, took all the photos and did all the marketing Capital One wanted to release throughout the campaign,” Richards said.

Richards said to promote Sparty, the Student Alumni Foundation has been posting on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr each day, and Sparty has been doing the same on his social media accounts.

Fans of Sparty can vote for him on the Capital One Mascot Challenge Facebook page, on the competition’s website or using the hashtag #CapitalOneSparty on Twitter.

Twitter votes are limited to one per day, but fans can cast an unlimited amount of votes on the competition website and Facebook, Richards said.