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New Mountaineer Mascot radio spot - March 2, 2026
Transcript
Shauna Johnson: This is West Virginia University. Let's meet the new Mountaineer mascot.
Reese Allen: Hi, my name is Reese Allen and I am thrilled to be your 72nd Mountaineer mascot.
Shauna Johnson: A Bridgeport native, Allen is a senior dual mechanical engineering and data science major in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.
Reese Allen: This was my vision of college. Growing up, Statler WVU was what college meant to me and I applied everywhere else, but I chose to come here because this is home.
Shauna Johnson: A Buckley scholar, Eberly scholar and member of the Honors College, Allen has served as a presidential student ambassador and is the founding president of the Microgravity Research Club. And his new role?
Reese Allen: I want to connect with people around the state, spend time with them and really give myself back to the university because it's given me so much. As the Mountaineer mascot, I hope to celebrate West Virginia's success. I want to go spend time in every county. I want to hear your stories. I want people to stop and take photos. I want to hit a quick high five while I'm on my way down the road. I want to reconnect with all that it is West Virginia, share my stories with people, hear from them.
Shauna Johnson: Allen sees the Mountaineer mascot as a bridge builder.
Reese Allen: Mountaineer is a symbol, but it connects people within the state, ties us all together, and connects us to the larger world. The song Country Roads, everybody knows it by heart. You sing about West Virginia, but you don't really know what it means. Being the Mountaineer is your chance to tell somebody what it means, to really give them that sense of country roads, what does it mean to me to come home, and this is my home.
Shauna Johnson: So let's go. Follow our stories at wvutoday.wvu.edu.
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