Okay, I’m tired of this question both from people I know and on ESPN (last question there). I thought, since I am a Hilltopper, I could clear it up for you. Hilltoppers is what Western Kentucky University calls themselves. WKU sits atop a hill in Bowling Green, KY. It may be the highest land point in Bowling Green but I’m not sure. The sucky part about it, at least when I was there, is that mostly all of the classes are at the top of the hill and all the dorms are at the bottom. Hence, WKU students climb (or “top” if you will) the hill everyday for classes. We are the Hilltoppers. There may be more to the story, but that is the basics of it.
Now, on to the more important matter.
What is this?
This is Big Red, not a Hilltopper. I mean, sure, Big Red is a Hilltopper, but not all Hilltoppers are Big Red. So, what is a Big Red, you ask?
I guess you have to be a WKU student or alumni for it to really make sense and matter to you, but I’ll give it a shot. WKU’s motto is “The Spirit Makes the Master.” We’re big on spirit at WKU. The way it was explained to me was that Big Red is that Big Red Spirit that all of us Hilltoppers have. A big red blog of spirit. Another theory is that he’s a Big Red Hill. I personally go with the spirit one, but I can see how both works.
Any other Hilltopper alum want to jump in here, feel free.
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You got it right. Big Red is not a "hill", Big Red is not a "waving red towel", Big Red is just a Spirit Mascot, and a pretty popular one!!
WKU should really consider putting a section on their website that talks about Big Red and what a Hilltopper is.