Rountree poses as Augustus with two young children at a sporting event.
Rountree poses alongside an Augusta golfer as he makes an appearance at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Rountree represents Augusta University as he makes an appearance at the Georgia State Capitol.
Now known and loved by sports fans across the world, their notoriety begs the question: where did mascots come from? The term mascot was first used in 1881, originating from the French “mascotte,” according to Merriam Webster; defined as “a person, animal or object adopted by a group as a symbolic figure especially to bring them good luck.” While there is no clear origin to the secrecy behind college mascots’ true identities, many universities and colleges consider keeping the identity of their mascot a secret as a time-honored tradition, one that keeps the magic of the character alive. Another tradition of importance to many of these schools is revealing their respective mascot’s identity when the individual inside the costume graduates and finally gets to share the secret with their peers, including their closest friends. In Rountree’s case, in addition to the opportunity to take graduation photos with Augustus (with someone else inside the costume for a change) that could later be shared on social media to reveal his secret to a wider audience, he received special recognition among his peers and their guests at their graduation when the provost announced that he had played the role for the past two years, a special moment that has become a tradition for the graduating mascots of Augusta University. Despite his reputation as a local celebrity and the opportunity to take part in Augusta’s time-honored mascot traditions, there were some challenges that came with the role. Aside from keeping his identity a secret from even his closest friends and his Pi Kappa Phi brothers, he had to learn to walk while wearing the massive feet of the costume, stay silent inside the costume despite people constantly talking to and interacting with him and learn not to smile for photos while inside the costume. Every time Rountree had his photos taken, it was in his nature to smile for the camera, which he admitted made him feel a bit silly despite him being the only person who could tell he was smiling. Perhaps the greatest challenge though was balancing a schedule of nearly 100 events as Augustus a month between him and the one other student who played the mascot role while also serving his chapter as a two-time archon. He hopes that through his involvement on campus, he was able to set an example that no matter what someone has going on or how busy they are, they can still be
involved in the Fraternity and utilize their brothers as a support system. “No matter what they are able to contribute on campus or to the chapter,” said Rountree, “I hope I left behind the notion that brothers should be there for each other and always strive to build the brotherhood.” After spending two years as the man inside the mascot, Rountree firmly believes in the importance of the role he played and the role of others like him, “Mascots matter. People coming to college still have that piece of them that’s like a little kid, and we help them keep that alive,” said Rountree. To him, the best part of his time as Augustus was having the opportunity to bring people that sort of childlike happiness, whether it be someone who just graduated from high school, community members, kids or alumni. “Everybody always has the same reaction and joy from seeing a mascot,” said Rountree. “It is so powerful to ignite that feeling in their hearts and put pride into their university.”
“It is so powerful to ignite that feeling in their hearts and put pride into their university.” Now that he has moved on to his next role as a collegiate leadership consultant for Pi Kappa Phi, Rountree is grateful to no longer be braving the heat or the smell within the jaguar suit but will forever cherish the memories and lessons his time as Augustus taught him. “Being Augustus reminded me that you always have the power to make someone smile, whether you’re in the mascot costume or you’re just an everyday person,” he said. Though much of his time in the jaguar suit was spent in anonymity, Rountree hopes to be remembered by his peers, friends and the Augusta community as someone who was there for everybody and anybody, whether he was making his brothers laugh at chapter meetings or making strangers smile from behind the face of Augustus.
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