Abstract
The Jim Ratigan Collection on Mike Miller (1982-2014) is primarily comprised of materials representing Mike Miller's involvement with creating Hey Reb! the official mascot for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1982. Materials include meeting minutes from UNLV's mascot committee, various renditions of Hey Reb! created by Miller, newspaper clippings, as well as printouts of email correspondence from Miller to Jim Ratigan about the story of how he came to create the mascot. The collection also includes a copy of Miller's book,
Finding Aid PDF
Date
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Scope and Contents Note
The Jim Ratigan Collection on Mike Miller (1982-2014) is primarily comprised of materials representing Mike Miller's involvement with creating Hey Reb! the official mascot for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1982. Materials include meeting minutes from UNLV's mascot committee, various renditions of Hey Reb! created by Miller, newspaper clippings, as well as printouts of email correspondence from Miller to Jim Ratigan about the story of how he came to create the mascot. The collection also includes a copy of Miller's book,
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
UNLV's early mascot, Beauregard, was created as a cartoon wolf dressed in a Confederate soldier's uniform as a direct response to the University of Nevada, Reno's (UNR) wolf-pack mascot. Beauregard, who was created by students at Nevada Southern University in the 1960s, symbolized the university's break away from UNR in northern Nevada. Nevada Southern University evolved into the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the 1970s and the student body consequently also decided to change the school's mascot. African-American student-athletes in the early 1970s voiced objections to Beauregard's Confederate imagery. In 1976, the student senate voted to officially abolish Beauregard. The students at UNLV also decided to retain the "Rebel" name associated with the school.
In 1982, Mike Miller was a partner for a local advertising agency that had UNLV as a client. He was inspired by 19th century mountain men who traveled to the West looking for new trails, gold, and agriculture. Miller wanted to create a mascot that was representative of these mountain men who discovered new resources and built communities in uncharted areas like Nevada. This new mascot, called Hey Reb!, was reflective of Western independence. Miller sold the Hey Reb! concept to UNLV for one dollar as a donation. In 1982, Hey Reb! debuted at a basketball game between UNLV and UNR.
Sources:
"Hey Reb! and "Rebels" Nickname," Campus Life. Accessed October 21, 2020. https://www.unlv.edu/campuslife/mascot-nickname.
Teach, Byron. "Las Vegas family shares how Hey Reb! mascot was born." Last modified June 18, 2020. https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/las-vegas-family-shares-how-hey-reb-mascot-was-born/article_56c6c254-b1ec-11ea-a865-07bd6d3a0697.html
Wingert, Gregan. "The Story Behind the 'Stache." Last modified October 05, 2014. https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/story-behind-stache.
Preferred Citation
Jim Ratigan Collection on Mike Miller, 1982-2014. MS-01007. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated by Jim Ratigan in 2019; accession number 2019-159.
Processing Note
In 2020, Tammi Kim minimally processed the collection and wrote the finding aid in ArchivesSpace.