Rameses

Coordinates: 35°54′27.48871″N 79°2′58.25124″W / 35.9076357528°N 79.0495142333°W / 35.9076357528; -79.0495142333

Rameses
Costumed Rameses at Carmichael Auditorium
University	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Conference	ACC
Description	Bighorn Ram
Origin of name	Jack ("The Battering Ram") Merritt
First seen	1924
Official website	Rameses

Rameses is the Bighorn Ram mascot of the North Carolina Tar Heels. Two versions of Rameses appear at UNC sporting events. One is a member of the UNC cheerleading team in an anthropomorphic ram costume; the second is a live Horned Dorset Sheep named Rameses who attends Carolina football games with his horns painted Carolina Blue.^[1]

Origin

The origin of a ram as Carolina's mascot dates back to 1924. In 1922, the star fullback, Jack Merritt, was given the nickname "the battering ram" for his performance on the field. Vic Huggins, Carolina's head cheerleader at the time, suggested the idea of a ram mascot to the athletic business manager, Charles T. Woollen, and had the idea approved. Charles gave Vic $25 to purchase a ram. Rameses the First was shipped from Texas, just in time for the pep rally.

The first appearance of Rameses was at a pep rally before the football game against Virginia Military Institute on November 8, 1924.^[2][3][4] After the pep rally the ram was taken to Emerson Field. Through three quarters the game was scoreless. Late in the fourth quarter Bunn Hackney was called out to attempt a field goal. Before stepping out on the field he rubbed Rameses' head. Just a few seconds later Hackney kicked a 30-yard field goal that eventually won the game for the Tar Heels; the final score was 3-0. Rameses has been a fixture on the sidelines at UNC football games ever since. The current Rameses ram is under the care of the Hogan family of Chapel Hill.

The origin of the costumed version of Rameses is unknown. The costumed Rameses appears primarily at UNC basketball games.

Jason Ray

On March 23, 2007, Jason Ray, the cheerleader assigned to the Rameses costume, was struck by a vehicle outside the Carolina cheerleaders' hotel on Route 4 in Fort Lee, New Jersey prior to the men's basketball team's Sweet Sixteen game with the University of Southern California. He died on March 26, 2007 at the Hackensack University Medical Center as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident.

Jason was an honors student and was due to graduate that May with a degree in business, and minor in religious studies. He was an Eagle Scout with Troop 38 in Concord, NC , had gone on three missionary trips (Haiti, Honduras, and Puerto Rico) to work with children, had visited the Sistine Chapel, run with the bulls in Spain, and spent a summer studying in Copenhagen, Denmark. Jason was also an active member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, his church choir, and was lead singer in the band 9pm Traffic.^[5][6]

The ESPN website published an E-ticket article on Jason Ray's life, and the lives of four people who were saved because he chose to become an organ donor.^[7][8]

References

v t e University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Academics Scholarships • Center for Global Initiatives • Center for the Study of the American South • Kenan-Flagler Business School • School of Information and Library Science • School of Journalism and Mass Communication • School of Law • School of Medicine • School of Pharmacy • School of Public Health • School of Social Work • Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research Athletics Teams: Baseball • Men's Basketball • Women's Basketball • Field Hockey • Football • Men's Lacrosse • Men's Soccer • Women's Soccer • Softball Facilities: Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium • Bynum Gymnasium • Carmichael Arena • Dean Smith Center • Eddie Smith Field House • Fetzer Field • Finley Golf Course • Henry Stadium • Kenan Memorial Stadium • Tin Can • Woollen Gymnasium Other: Atlantic Coast Conference • Carlyle Cup • Carolina Basketball Museum • Carolina blue • Duke Rivalry • The Marching Tar Heels • "Hark The Sound" • "Here Comes Carolina" • "I'm a Tar Heel Born" • NC State Rivalry • Olympians • Rameses • The Rams Club • South's Oldest Rivalry • Tar Heel • Tar Heel Sports Network • Tobacco Road • Victory Bell Campus Ackland Art Museum • Airport • Botanical Garden • Carolina Inn • Coker Arboretum • Davie Poplar • Franklin Street • Hospitals • Hunt Arboretum • Images • Morehead Planetarium • Old Chapel Hill Cemetery • Old East • Old Well • Playmakers Theatre • Silent Sam • Town of Chapel Hill Student life Black Student Movement • Carolina Week • The Daily Tar Heel • Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies • Dramatic and Performing Arts • Order of Gimghoul • Student Television • WXYC History Alumni • Presidents and Chancellors • William Richardson Davie • UNC system • speaker ban

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