Bangin' Bertha - Bangin' Bertha is the bell on the trailer that is carried to all the Texas Tech football games by the Saddle Tramps. It was donated by the Santa Fe Railroad, and the original of the name "Bangin' Bertha" is questionable. Bangin' Bertha is considered such a spirit raiser and tradition at Texas Tech that it was featured on the cover of the 1969 yearbook, La Ventana. It was designed in 1959 by Joe Winegar, former Saddle Tramp sponsor.
Carol of Lights - To celebrate the Christmas season, Texas Tech holds the annual Carol of Lights throughout the month of December. The event commences with the Texas Tech University Combined Choirs performing selections of classic holiday songs at the Science Quadrangle. When fully lit, over 25,000 red, white, and orange lights illuminate the 13 buildings surrounding Memorial Circle.
Double-T logo - The Double-T logo is the most readily identified symbol of Texas Tech. While no one has come forward to claim credit for its design, historical evidence recognizes Texas Tech's first football coach E.Y. Freeland, who put the logo on sweaters for the football players, as its creator.
The Double-T existed in its original form as an official logo from 1963 to 1999. In 2000, an updated version of the logo was created. The new logo maintains the original premise, but incorporates three-dimensional beveling effects coupled with a white trim. Several alternate logos incorporating the Double-T with various supplemental symbols have been used in the past. Current identity guidelines specify that the only appropriate uses of supplemental images in which the Double-T is partially obscured are those of the Red Raiders and Lady Raiders logos.
Showing the importance of the Double-T to Texas Tech, the class of 1931 donated the Double-T bench which is located in the courtyard of the Administration Building. An announced tradition states that no freshmen are allowed to sit on the bench.
The class of 1938 donated the first Double-T neon sign, found on the east side of Jones AT&T Stadium. It was reputedly the largest neon sign in existence at the time of purchase and installation.
The tradition started in 1959 when Harold Hinn provided the funds and the idea of covering the science quadrangle and the administration building with lights. Unfortunately, students were away on Christmas break and did not see the display. The next year, the Residence Hall Association sponsored the Christmas Sing, incorporating Harold Hinn's original idea. The Carol of Lights, as it is now called, is one of Texas Tech's most well-known traditions.
Goin' Band From Raiderland- The original band was clad as matadors, with huge red cummerbunds to hide alterations, for the first football game in 1925. W.R. Waghorne played the bass drum with his small army of 21. D.O. Wiley, director from 1934-1959, was responsible for establishing Texas' first Kappa Kappa Psi and the founding chapter of Tau Beta Sigma in the nation. There is plaque in front of the Music Building that recognizes Professor Wiley as the "Father of Texas' Bands." Dean Killion, who directed the Tech band, created a whole new concept of music--"open field stereo"--by increasing the size of the band to 300 members, which are divided and led by two separate drum majors.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Texas Tech proudly presents the Goin' Band from Raiderland!" are the words heard by thousands of eager fans before each game and at halftime. With over 400 members, of which 75% are non-music majors, the Goin' Band is a source of pride at Texas Tech. The band consists of horn players, flag corps, twirlers, and a percussion section, known as ZIT. The band prepares an average of four chows per year and travels to two away games each year. In the spring the band is divided into concert bands, jazz ensembles, and the Court Jesters. The director of the Goin' Band is Christopher Anderson.
**In 1999, the Goin' Band won the Sudler Trophy, which is the trophy for the best college band in the nation.
Guns Up - The hand sign of Texas Tech is the "Guns Up" which was created in 1972 by a Texas Tech Graduate who was attending law school. The sign is made by extending the index finger outward while extending the thumb upward and tucking in the middle, little and fourth fingers to form a gun. The idea is that the Red Raiders will shoot down their opponents. The Guns Up sign is the widely recognized greeting of one Red Raider to another. It is also the sign of victory displayed by the crowd at every athletic event.
Mascot and School Colors - The first suggestion for a new mascot for Texas Tech came from the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The newspaper suggested the mascot be the "dogies," because a dogie is a calf that has lost its mother and has been forced to look out for its self. The newspaper quoted, "If ever anything had to rustle itself, it was the West Texas and Tech College." But, Mrs. E.Y. Freeland, the Tech head coach's wife, had an idea the team like better. Influenced by the Spanish architecture at Tech, she suggested the team be called the Matadors. School colors of scarlet and black were chosen because they represented the full matador's colors of the red cape and black costume.
The early Matadors had several mascots, the first one coming after the third football game. A black calf was donated to the team after Tech's 30-0 victory--the Matador's first clean victory. The calf was branded with the winning score. The animal was killed and barbecued for the team with the idea that the hide would be tanned and placed in the trophy case. However, because of improper handling, the hid did not retain its hair and was lost. The accomplishment the calf made during its one year reign was that no opposing fan was able to ride it without being thrown. This became a regular performance during the halftime of Tech's first games. The Matadors later had a mascot bull named "The Black Invader," which proved to be more of a jinx than a help and was soon replaced with a full-dressed matador on horseback.
During the 1930s, Collier Parrish, then sports editor of the Lubbock Morning Avalanche, inspired by Coach Cawthon's team dressed in red satin and its coast-to-coast schedule of games, began calling the team the Red Raiders. The name caught on. The bullfighter figure gave way in the 1950s to a mustached western character created by a local sports cartoonist, Dirk West, with an acknowledged debt to Warner Brothers' "Yosemite Sam." The character, "Raider Red," was a parody of the Red Raider who rides a black horse around the football field every game.
Masked Rider - It was the Saddle Tramps who first sent a mounted horse racing around the field and leading the team onto the field. Wearing a scarlet cape made by Tech's Home Economics Department, the rider circled the field on Silver, a Palomino stallion. The traditional Masked Rider dates back to January 1, 1954, in Texas Tech's first Gator Bowl appearance. Bart Eades, member of the Hockley County Sheriff's Posse, came up with the idea of a horse leading the team onto the field. Jim St. Claire offered the services of his black quarter-horse, Blackie, and Joe Kirk Fulton, a Tech AG student, was chosen to be the first Masked Rider. As Fulton circled the field, Ed Dansforth, a writer for the Atlanta Journal, wrote, "No team in any owl game ever made a more sensational entrance." Fulton's father donated the first set-up for the rider, including a saddle and a horse trailer. Tech Beauty became the first official horse, born on campus and owned by Tech. Riders previously furnished their own horses. Some of her successors were Charcoal Lady, Showboy Huffman, and Happy V-VII. The Masked Rider is chosen by a selection committee and must display good horsemanship and be a good representative for Texas Tech in the public eye. The current Masked Rider is Ben Holland. The current horse was purchased by Texas Tech with the endowment from Wells Fargo last year and was renamed Midnight Matador.
Southwest Conference Circle - Constructed after Tech was admitted to the Southwest Conference, it once was the sight of many pre-game pep rallies and numerous spirit-raising events. The circle is divided into eight parts; each school in the SWC is represented except for Houston. The mascot of each school has been laid in tile around the circle, and these eight parts surround a bonfire pit. The pit and the circle were designed by W.D. Wisdom. Money for the circle was donated by Alpha Phi Omega, Saddle Tramps, and Circle K.
Texas Tech Ring - While a universal ring design had been used in the past, over the years many different styles came to be worn by alumni. To revive the tradition of all rings using a single design, in 1999, the Official Texas Tech Alumni Association Class Ring was introduced as the standard for the university's graduates. The ring symbolically captures the essence of Texas Tech with the prominent Double T logo surrounded by the school’s full name and date of foundation.
On one shoulder of the ring is an image of the Administration Building, with the bells which represent victory. On the other shoulder is the university seal, which features the American eagle perched above a book, representing the church; a star, representing the State of Texas; a key, representing home; and, a lamp, representing knowledge. These elements are separated by a cross featuring ten cotton bolls for Lubbock and its surrounding nine cotton-producing counties.
Tradition holds that an undergraduate who acquires the ring during his/her senior year must wear the ring with the Double T logo facing inward. Upon graduation, the ring is turned so the logo faces outward.
Victory Bells - This set of two bells weighing 900 and 300 pounds, respectively, was a gift from the graduating class of 1936. Located in the East tower of the Administration Building, they are rung after each home Tech victory in football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, and softball; when a Tech team wins the Big 12 Championship; or on other special occasions such as the Lady Raiders' 1993 National Championship. The bells were rung when Tech was accepted into the Southwest Conference on May 12, 1956; for the graduating class of 1936; on June 9, 1937, after Texas Governor James Allred signed a bill to construct the first library at Texas Tech; after the release of the American hostages from Iran in 1981; for the Saddle Tramps 50th anniversary in 1986; for the Bells Across America Celebration in 1987; on September 22, 1988, in celebration of President Laura Cavazo's appointment to Secretary of Education; and at the end of Desert Strom in 1991. The bells are also rung in December by the High Riders' seniors for Carol of Lights. A thirty-minute time limit for ringing the bells was established after a Tech victory in 1936, after which the bells were rung throughout the night. A new fifteen-minute time limit for weeknight games has been instigated.
There are 107 steps (the first step is for victory) to the top of the bell tower and 106 down. The first time the victory bells were rung for the women by the High Riders was January 21, 1978, after the Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M women's basketball game.
The Raider Red mascot was created after the SWC passed a rule prior to the 1971 football season which prevented members of the conference from taking their live animal mascots to away games, unless the host team gave permission. It was at this time that Saddle Tramp Jim Gaspard created Raider Red. Jim took money from his own pocket to make the head of the cartoon character, and persuaded a young lady to sew the clothes for Raider Red. Raider Red’s identity is kept a secret from the Tech community. In 1985, a new addition was made to the Raider Red attire. Two 12-gauge shotguns, using powder-filled shells, are fired by Raider Red after every Tech touchdown and field goal.
Prior to 2005, only members of the Saddle Tramps were able to serve as Raider Red. In 2005, the Center for Campus Life formed a partnership with the Saddle Tramps and extended the offer to the High Riders. Center for Campus Life and these two spirit organizations combine efforts in maintaining Raider Red. The students’ identity who serves as Raider Red must be a part of one of these organizations to be eligible to tryout. Tryouts are held each spring.
On April 15, 2007 a new tradition was formed to honor previous Reds and welcome the new ones. Passing of the Guns commends the Raider Reds on their performance, hard work and commitment to Texas Tech University and its community.