Students have referred to themselves as Wolverines from as early as the 1860's, according to the U-M campus information website, but no one is 100 percent sure why students took up this animal representative.

Benjamin Blevins, U-M athletic department external communications and public relations director, said there are a couple of theories on the topic. One is that people used to think that wolverines were very abundant in Michigan, which was later proved to be false. Another is that fur traders in Michigan used to trade wolverine pelts, while a third reason is that the French, who first settled Michigan, had gluttonous appetites that were deemed ‘wolverine-like.’

Whatever the origin of the name was, 1927 U-M football coach Fielding H. Yost made an effort to bring a live wolverine to U-M games, much like the University of Wisconsin would bring a live badger to games, Greg Kinney, athletics archivist at the U-M Bentley Historical Library, said.

Despite struggling to find a wolverine, Yost eventually succeeded in obtaining two live wolverines, named Benny and Biff, that would periodically be brought to games. This tradition only lasted a year as the wolverines grew too fierce to take to the games, Kinney said.

In the late 1980's, several years after Biff and Benny, a group of undergraduate students got together to try and make a mascot for their university, according to Michigan Today. The result was Willy the Wolverine.

Although some students appreciated the newly made, unofficial mascot, administrators were not pleased.

“Over the years there’s been a number of people that have tried to have a costumed mascot, but the university has never really sanctioned that,” Blevins said.

The university shut the students down when they came to a football game dressed as the mascot, as it said Willy obscured other students' views.

Kinney said that some students will once in awhile push to have a mascot, but others have taken on the perspective that U-M is too sophisticated to have a cartoon character mascot.

“A live mascot does not reflect the spirits and values of the athletic department,” Blevins said.

Blevins said that he does not know of any plans to implement a physical mascot in the future.

Sparty today

For approximately 60 years, Sparty has been the mascot for MSU and has been the embodiment of good at the university, Clint Stevens, Sparty Mascot Program coordinator, said. 

Once a paper mache head offered up by fraternities to the university, Sparty is now made of hi-tech materials. These include a vinyl chest plate and other parts composed of fiberglass molds, according to the MSU Official Spartan Athletics website.

Although it’s hi-tech, the costume is not outfitted with a cooling system.

“Sparty runs hot,” Stevens said. “He runs about 30 degrees hotter than it is outside.”

Stevens said his job consists of accompanying Sparty whenever the mascot needs to take a trip outside the state. In the past seven months, Stevens has gone with Sparty to Los Angeles for various events, in addition to mission tours and non-profit events, Stevens said.

It is also Stevens’s job to make sure that the volunteer students, who don the helm of Sparty, don’t suffer academically for representing MSU’s spirit. This is due to their identities needing to remain a secret.

Although he couldn’t say who Sparty was, or how many students share the responsibility of representing him this semester, Stevens did say that the last time the applications for Sparty were open, around 50 people applied.

Web applications will open for Sparty in January and both men and women are invited to apply. Requirements for the position include being between 5-foot-10-inches and 6-feet-2-inches tall, good grades and the ability to pass the fitness test, Stevens said.

The try out process for Sparty is rigorous, with applicants attending informational meetings, accompanying Sparty on ride alongs and completing the fitness interview, Stevens said.

For the fitness interview, applicants have 10 minutes to show the judges what they’d bring if they were to be Sparty, Stevens said.

The only time a Sparty is allowed to expose themselves as Sparty is at their graduation. Stevens said the students can wear Sparty’s boots and reveal themselves to the world.

Stevens said the best part about working with Sparty is getting to see the heart, soul and body of the MSU community.