Pharmacy's Fur-ternity Brothers

LEXINGTON, KY (Feb. 3, 2011) — When Ross Turner was a child, his parents told him not to talk to strangers.

What's the first thing Turner always did? Talk to strangers. He hasn't stopped since. In fact, any game day in Wildcat Country, he talks to thousands of strangers who come together as one big family of Wildcat fans, making them laugh, smile and keeping them pumped up over their University of Kentucky Wildcats.

Turner, 22, is a first-year student at the UK College of Pharmacy from Russell, Ky., and the official UK Wildcat mascot.

Josh Pruitt, 21, of Hanson, Ky., is also a first-year pharmacy student. Like Turner, Pruitt was also part of the mascot program as Big Red for the Western Kentucky University Hilltopper's during his sophomore and junior year, before he came to UK in 2009. Pruitt will graduate from WKU in May in a program that allows him to simultaneously complete his WKU degree and his first year of course work at the UK College of Pharmacy.

Although the two UK pharmacy students have striking similarities and differences in their personalities, one common characteristic that links them is once the mascot suit is on, so are they.

Pruitt at first appears quiet, even a little reserved. However, once he starts talking about taking on the role of Big Red, a smile crosses his face. Pruitt tried out for the mascot position at the end of his freshman year at WKU and was trained by a friend who was a former Big Red.

"I wanted to do it because everybody loves Big Red," Pruitt said. "He's very mischievous, animated and playful."  Pruitt adds that Big Red is in the National Mascot Hall of Fame. "He's respected and I'm proud to say that I was part of that program along the way."

Interacting with the crowd verbally is not an option when wearing the big red furry suit.

"You have to find new ways to communicate with people because you can't talk to them, so everything you do becomes exaggerated," he said. "You also have to learn the popular moves, the belly slide and belly shake."  

One of the most challenging things was to learn the Big Red autograph: "It is especially hard to hold and write with a Sharpie when you only have four fingers."

Pruitt always had a strong interest in medicine and chemistry in school and completed an internship at Regional Medical Center in Madisonville, Ky. He developed a particular interest in clinical pharmacy and can see himself someday working in a hospital pharmacy. "I decided on UK's College of Pharmacy because it's a top-notch school and because it's only three hours away from home."

Portraying Big Red, attending community events, and juggling college classes at WKU kept Pruitt very busy but he was happy doing it. However, leaving his Western Kentucky home for Lexington to attend UK meant giving up Big Red. You can see it in Pruitt's face before he even says the words: "I like making people laugh and smile and I miss it very much."

Although Pruitt has traded the Big Red suit for a pharmacist's white coat, chances are good that Big Red's passion for connecting with people will carry over enhancing his career in pharmacy.

Turner played basketball in high school and had offers to play at several small schools. Trying out for the UK mascot was a joke at first.  At the urging of a friend and former back-up to UK's Scratch, the UK Wildcat Kid's Club mascot, Turner tried out with 35 others and made it.

"It's every kid's dream to play basketball in Kentucky," he said. "I say I have the second best thing to being in a jersey. I'm the Wildcat mascot!" Being the mascot for the UK Wildcats turned out to be much bigger than Turner ever imagined.

Being the UK mascot for the past four years has truly been a passion and a role Turner takes very seriously. Over-the-top antics — the push-ups he does every time Kentucky scores in football or standing  at the top of the cheerleader's pyramid 
— are the Wildcat's trademark.

Turner readily admits he doesn't physically train and says that after football games, his "arms feel like Jell-O!" And the pyramid? "I've never been so scared in my life as the first time I was on top of the pyramid."

Turner loves interacting with the crowd the most. "I'm a keen communicator, and I can make a 7-year-old smile or a 70-year-old," he said. If he needed any proof of his success, he placed fourth overall in the Universal Cheerleading Association's Division 1A Mascot National Championship, the highest ranking for any UK mascot in the 11 years UK has been participating at the event.

Turner's energy is further fueled by the enthusiasm of the crowd. "I get chills every time the lights go out and I run out onto the court or field with the players," he said. "It's cool to see the pride the university has for the sports programs and that pride carries on."

Like Pruitt, Turner did an internship as a college freshman at a pharmacy in his hometown and fell in love with the community aspect of pharmacy, the idea of giving back and the ability to work closely with people. He was also influenced as he watched his sister go through UK's pharmacy program (2000) and go on to enjoy her job as a Kroger pharmacist in Nicholasville.

This is Turner's fourth and final year as the Wildcat mascot and while soon he may not be entertaining the crowd at Rupp Arena or doing push-ups on a board high up in the air, look for him making people smile at a local pharmacy, maybe near you.

"It's going to be hard to hang it up and I'm going to miss it and the fur-ternity of the other mascots," he said. That "fur-ternity" Turner refers to is his back-ups, Scratch, the Kentucky Children's Hospital mascot named Stitches, and his mascot friends all over the NCAA and NBA. "It's going to be a totally different perspective being in the stands and not on the floor."