Draft:Peter the Anteater

• Comment: Significant parts of the article are unsourced, including the illustrations and costumes. I think that there is a worthwhile article in here, consider restricting to just what there are references for. Take a look at the articles for other mascots. Category:College_mascots_in_the_United_States... Naraht (talk) 04:08, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

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Peter the Anteater
Peter the Anteater in 2023
Born	Henry Peter the Anteater (1965-11-30) November 30, 1965 Irvine, California, U.S.
Education	University of California, Irvine
Occupation	Student
Years active	1965–present
Known for	UC Irvine Athletics, UC Irvine Anteater Band, UC Irvine Spirit Squad, Antourage, ASUCI, Cross-Cultural Center, Greek Life, Residence Housing
Height	6 ft 9 in (206 cm)
Species	Giant Anteater
Residence	Bren Events Center

Henry Peter the Anteater (born November 30, 1965), an anthropomorphic male anteater, is the official mascot of the University of California, Irvine. He’s well known for his appearances at Men’s Basketball games and ripped physique.

Longtime superstar of UCI Athletics, Peter has established a long history of campus culture and controversy.

History

Early History

In the fall of 1965, Pat Glasgow, Schuyler Hadley Bassett III, and Bob Ernst were freshmen playing water polo at the newly established UC Irvine campus. 12 days after the beginning of the academic year, UCI's Men's Water Polo team defeated Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in front of a crowd of 900 students. To rally the student body over the triumph, the school knew it was time to decide on a mascot character.

During the prior summer, Glasgow had been working as a lifeguard when he thought of an anteater mascot. “It was the ’60s. I was part of a generation that questioned everything. So I wasn’t thinking about a traditional mascot, like Tommy the Trojan or a bear. Don’t ask me how or why, but the word ‘anteater’ just came to me.”

Ernst supported Glasgow in advocating for an anteater mascot after being unimpressed by mascot suggestions from the university administration. They were met with defiance by Chancellor Dan Aldrich and the regents, whose sentiments did not agree with the antiestablishment symbolism of the anteater. Bassett joined Glasgow and Ernst as he spearheaded the marketing campaign for the anteater.

Created by Bassett, Ernst, and Glasgow, the first anteater design was based on the idea of a “playboy anteater.” It was a simple side profile with a bow tie and bunny ears. 200 copies of the image were then distributed to students. As fans of Johnny Hart's comic strip B.C., which featured an anteater character, they used the character’s design to further promote the anteater mascot. Hart would later enthusiastically agree to let his character be the model for Peter the Anteater.

Letter from Schuyler Hadley Bassett III including an original Peter design

Opposing freshmen petitioned to add more mascot choices. Joining the anteater on the ballot with the required 100 signatures each were the seahawk, roadrunner, the unicorn, and “none of these.” Students also advocated for the alligator, the bearcat, the mariners, the golden eagle, and the centaur—all of which lacked enough signatures. Mascot election day was held on November 30, 1965. With a 56% majority of students’ votes, the anteater was elected as the official UCI mascot.

Campus Culture

Johnny Hart’s "B.C." comic strip served as a huge inspiration for student culture at UCI. In addition to being the model for the school mascot’s design, the anteater’s iconic “ZOT” became the official “war cry” of students. “Zot” would become synonymous with UCI. The campus has embraced the mascot with Zotmail, anteater statues, a campus store called the Zot-N-Go, and a student spirit group known as the Antourage. The student bookstore, The Hill, also receives its title from the suggested common area name “The Anthill.”

Campus marketing and chants had also introduced the shortened “Eater” commonly heard at sporting events. Another common phrase at sports events is “Rip ’Em Eaters.” This phrase comes from the anteater’s natural defensive stance, as it stands on its hind legs with its tail as a balance. In this tripodal position, the anteater will stretch its arms out, putting on display its full size and threatening claws, which are used to “rip” at its enemies. Hence, “Rip ’Em Eaters.”

Costumes and Depictions

Illustrations

There have been many iterations of Peter throughout the years. The first official version of Peter is a simplified drawing of an anteater wearing a UCI shirt, all in the colors of the school—blue and gold. This drawing is still frequently used and can be seen in many areas around campus. The next logo of UCI starred a sturdy anteater with ferocious eyes. This version is now uncommissioned with rare sightings at UCI.

There are many other versions of Peter that different organizations around UCI put to use. These can be anything from realistic to cute to cartoonish. Everyone has the freedom to create their own vision of Peter. Aside from official depictions of Peter from the school, there is a vibrant community of artists at UCI that take Peter’s likeness to create their own spin on the mascot. These are called Petrs (pronounced: ˈpɛtə˞). The originator of this tradition goes by the username petr_the_anteatr on Instagram where they posted the very first Petr on October 31, 2018. Since then, there have been dozens of artists putting their own spin on Petrs, often combining the derpy anteater with other popular characters from various media.

Petrs

• 
  The original design for Petr the Anteatr, designed and first posted by the Instagram account petr_the_anteatr
• 
  A variation of the Petr the Anteatr sticker, depicting a trombone player of the UC Irvine Anteater Band

Costume

The very first costume of Peter the Anteater was a costume of a fairly normal anteater. Unfortunately, the official debut of Peter’s mascot costume was not as flattering. In 1985, Peter was embodied by a large, rotund anteater costume. A UCI shirt hung from his frame but could not distract from the unnervingly skeletal mask that covered his snout and unaffected eyes. This costume would be replaced by another version in 1988. Peter now had a more slender frame topped off with a large head, complete with giant eyes. In 1994, Peter went for a more realistic look as he was just a normal anteater costume, reminiscent of the original Peter costume. Gone was the indicative UCI shirt. The iteration of 1995 attempted to combine the previous two designs by opting for a reddish brown anteater with a more realistic head and snout. This time, the blue and gold UCI shirt returned. The very same year, Peter adopted a form whose influence can still be seen today. This time around, Peter was gray in color with a full jersey and long snout. A similar look can be seen in 2004, in which Peter was given more cartoonish eyes. At sporting events, Peter once wore “65” or “40” jerseys, which are for the year UCI was established and its 40th anniversary in 2005. Nowadays, he can be spotted wearing his “50” and “65” jerseys—“50” being a holdover from the school’s 50th anniversary back in 2015.

An array of Peter the Anteater Mascot Variations ranging from the original costume to the modern design

2005 was the year for Peter to evolve. This Peter was not the same Peter as the ones of the past. Peter worked out intensely and grew to fill in his jersey. His head was a narrow shape with black stripes across his eyes that echoed the design of the fierce anteater logo of the early 2000s. Six years later in 2011, Peter reached peak physique in the form he still takes today. His bulging muscles squeeze out of his fitted jersey, showing off a strong chest and even stronger biceps. His thick neck supports the head with fierce eyes that stare down as Peter strides through the court. He cuts through the crowd with his massive build and impressive stature.

Career

Affiliations

Peter has many involvements with UCI Athletics. He is a part of the Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, and Soccer programs. He is particularly involved with Basketball as he travels with the basketball teams to the Big West and NCAA tournaments. Peter is often at home games and hypes up crowds as a participating member of the UCI Spirit Squad and Antourage. In the UCI Anteater Band, Peter has had a few turns playing on the drumset. In collaboration with UCI Athletics, the Associate Students of UC Irvine (ASUCI) is in charge of Peter’s image and even confirmed his first name as Henry on September 30, 2022. Peter makes appearances at events held by ASUCI. This includes homecomings, the Anteater Involvement Fair, and world record attempts. He also walks the campus on his birthdays and special holidays, and he can be seen during Welcome Week helping UCI Housing when new students move onto campus. Other student organizations Peter is associated with include Greek Life programs and Cross-Cultural Center special events.

Media Appearances

Outside of ESPN broadcasts, Peter held the spotlight in a few media appearances over the years. In 2015, he went on TBS’s “Conan” in a segment for Episode 713. In the segment, Conan O’Brien traveled to UC Irvine and met Peter the Anteater at Crawford Hall. They exchange pleasantries and the costume wearer for Peter unmasks himself, while retaining anonymity with a blurred face. For Conan’s “makeover” suggestion, Peter wears a costume head resembling Conan’s image. Conan ends the bit by creating a mascot with a chicken body and Conan head.

Peter was also featured in ESPN’s Jayson Tatum ad campaign in 2023. In “Meeting Lineup,” Peter was seated at a table with SportsCenter anchor Gary Striewski. Their meeting is interrupted by Celtics announcer Eddie Palladino’s voice as he announces the arrival of Jayson Tatum and SportsCenter anchors Nicole Briscoe and Steve Levy. In “Security Badge,” Peter can be spotted in a line with SportsCenter staff as they wait to get their office picture taken. He peeks out when Tatum holds up the line.

Achievements

• Guinness World Record 2012 - Largest Game of Dodgeball
• Guinness World Record 2013 - Largest Water Pistol Fight
• Guinness World Record 2014 - Largest Pillow Fight
• Successfully campaigned for President Barack Obama to speak at the UCI Commencement 2014 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California
• Guinness World Record 2015 - Largest Game of Capture the Flag
• Mashable’s 2015 NCAA Tournament Mascot Madness Champion
• Guinness World Record 2018 - Largest Game of Balloon Tag
• 2020 Tokyodachi Mascot Mania Winner
• Guinness World Record 2023 - Largest Game of Red Light/Green Light

Lore

Personal Life

UCI celebrates Henry Peter the Anteater’s birthday every November 30th. A giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), Peter has outlived his estimated 14-year lifespan and is 58 years old (as of the writing of this article). He proudly embodies his zodiac sign: Sagittarius. Peter’s favorite movies are Empire of the Ants, Antz, and Ant-Man.

Peter is currently a super senior majoring in Spirit, Loyalty, Entertainment, and Tradition—options no longer available to other students. He is also minoring in Myrmecology, or the study of ants. Within the Spanish department of UCI’s School of Humanities, Peter is a scholar best known under the alias of Pedro el Oso Hormiguero.

Since joining student life, Peter has made a huge impact on school spirit. With his studies, he brings the energy to all campus activities. At certain sporting events, he could be spotted wearing his “50” or “65” jerseys. “65” being the year that UCI was established and “50” being a holdover from the school’s 50th anniversary back in 2015. Peter has been invited to represent UCI Athletics on many media appearances but especially enjoys the spotlight at UCI sporting events. Though he doesn't speak, Peter brings the energy for the students and the cameras.

Peter posing with Rampage at the Rams Camp

Many photo opportunities with Peter have occurred at UCI Homecomings, charity events, his own involvement fair, and the summertime NFL Rams Camp, where he meets the team and fellow mascot friend, Rampage. He welcomes new students moving onto campus and bids farewell to the graduates. Peter is also said to have exceptional academic skills in the classroom and is a shining example of a disciplined scholar. He has also played with fellow gamers at the Esports Arena. In his spare time, Peter is at the beach working as a lifeguard.

Gay Allegations

Peter the Anteater is the first college mascot to be openly in the LGBTQ+ community. In the summary of Peter’s life on the UCIrvine YouTube Channel, Peter is explicitly stated to have “the rainbow pride” with a rainbow visible on him. There is a graphic that exists of him holding a small pride flag while wearing a white shirt with a rainbow heart.

In June of 2023, Peter posted an image of himself with a rainbow pride flag to celebrate Pride Month. A group of students rallied together to call this representation “demonic” but he remains a symbol defiant against hate. Throughout the academic year, he may be seen wearing his “UC Irvine Boyfriend” shirt because Peter loves everyone.

He will appear at Men’s Basketball games more than his attendance at Women’s Basketball games.

Controversies

Inappropriate Comments

During his formative years of coming into the public eye and becoming the official mascot of UC Irvine, one of Peter’s main chants used by the student body was, “Give ‘em the tongue, give ‘em the tongue, give ‘em the tongue, where? Right in the ear, right in the ear, right in the ear, Zot!”.

While the chant was meant to be lighthearted and to be used in a playful, competitive manner, it has since been viewed as inappropriate and distasteful. Since then, the chant has especially been viewed as ill-suited for Peter, as the up-and-coming unofficial mascot of the newly-founded UCI.

Physical Altercation

UC Irvine’s Women’s Basketball team played against UC Davis in the 2022 Big West Basketball Championships Semifinals game, on March 11, 2022. During the halftime portion of the match, Peter was videotaped getting into a physical altercation with the mascot of UC Davis, Gunrock the Mustang. The two are seen on video taunting and making mocking gestures to one another, before closing the gap and engaging in a hostile face-off with each other.

Eyewitness accounts from members of the UC Irvine Anteater Band say that Big West security personnel had to step in to prevent any further confrontation between the two mascots. As the mascot of the esteemed UC Irvine, this event has raised concerns regarding the professional conduct and public image of Peter the Anteater.

Present with Peter now during all of his public appearances is a handler. It is speculated that his confrontation with Gunrock during the Big West match led to the appointment of his handler, after the incident sparked concern for the safety of others during future events. The addition of the handler has given the impression that Peter needs someone to keep him in line in order to keep his appearance and reputation safe.

Peter the Anteater

• 
  Peter pointing to a courtside camera during a mens’ basketball game in the Bren Events Center
• 
  Peter stands among the crowd of students at the Bren Events Center
• 
  Peter demonstrates his ability to play the drums amongst percussion members of the UC Irvine Anteater Band during the 2023 Homecoming basketball game
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  Peter walking past the student section during a home basketball game
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  Peter romantically gesturing with a “Will you be my Valentine?” sign, wearing a UC Irvine Boyfriend shirt
• 
  Peter waving a traditional pride flag at UC Irvine’s Crawford Field during a soccer game
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  A UC Irvine Athletics event staff member shares a funny moment with Peter
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  The UC Irvine water tower, with the official cartoon depiction of Peter the Anteater
• 
  Class of 2003’s dedicated Peter the Anteater Bench Statue outside of the Student Center

External Links

• Photographs of the UCI Campus by Ian Parker - Peter the Anteater