Patrick W. Glasgow ’68, Robert G. Ernst II ’67, Schuyler H. Bassett and Johnny Hart
Some contributions to a university are easy to measure: discoveries made, careers distinguished, organizations led and resources generously shared. Others are felt – in the energy of a crowd, the pride alumni carry into the world and the sense that belonging to a community means something.
The Anteater Alumni Spirit Award was created to honor that second kind of impact.
Introduced at the 55th Lauds & Laurels celebration, this inaugural award recognizes exceptional contributions to Anteater pride, ambassadorship and advocacy. It celebrates those who rally others around UC Irvine, champion its accomplishments, connect fellow Anteaters and create the traditions and relationships that transform a university into a community.
The award looks beyond the measures most often associated with alumni recognition. Recipients may have distinguished careers, remarkable accomplishments or philanthropic legacies, but this honor recognizes something different: people willing to strengthen the greater Anteater community with their time, talent, ties, trust, testimonials – and sometimes treasure.
They are the people who make pride contagious. They welcome others into the community, keep traditions alive, create new ones and remind generations of students and alumni that being an Anteater is a connection that extends far beyond a degree.
The inaugural recipients embody that spirit in perhaps its most recognizable form. Patrick W. Glasgow ’68, Robert G. Ernst II ’67, Schuyler H. Bassett and, posthumously, cartoonist Johnny Hart helped give UC Irvine its distinctive identity: the Anteater mascot.
What began in 1965 as student imagination, creative campaigning and the generosity of an artist across the country became something far more impactful and enduring: the Anteater mascot, “Zot!” and a shared language of UC Irvine pride.
Future recipients may express Anteater spirit in entirely different ways, but they will share the same instinct: to leave UC Irvine more connected, more spirited and more welcoming than they found it.
The awardees do more than contribute to UC Irvine. They help others feel that they belong – and ensure that the Anteater spirit is renewed with every generation.
The four inaugural recipients – three resourceful students and a cartoonist working across the country – played essential roles in shaping an identity that has united Anteaters for more than six decades.
Their story began in 1965, when UC Irvine’s first students had the rare and exciting opportunity to create new traditions.
Patrick W. Glasgow ’68 supplied the spark. A member of UC Irvine’s first water polo team, Pat began thinking about a mascot even before the university opened. Conventional choices held little appeal, but the Anteater did. He shared the idea with his friend and teammate, Bob Ernst (better known as “Ernie” to his friends), and together they introduced it to fellow students as soon as Mesa Court opened. Pat would become one of UC Irvine’s first twoAll-Americans and, decades later, return to the university as a volunteer water polo coach.
Robert G. Ernst II ’67 recognized what being part of a new university made possible. Ernie remembers telling Pat, “This is a brand-new school – we can do a lot of stuff.” He embraced the Anteater idea and helped turn it into an organized grassroots effort, from welcoming new residents to promoting it at UC Irvine’s earliest athletic events. That instinct to build something from the beginning stayed with him throughout a celebrated rowing career that eventually included national championships and coaching the U.S. women’s eight to Olympic gold in 1984.
Schuyler H. Bassett gave the campaign its personality and promotional force. A Mesa Court neighbor of Pat and Ernie, Schuyler understood that an unusual idea would require people to embrace it. He helped create drawings and promotional materials, arranged for buttons and bumper stickers and enlisted other students to spread the word. He also helped connect the campaign to “Zot!,” the memorable sound the anteater made in Johnny Hart’s B.C. comic strip. What began as an unlikely suggestion became a campuswide movement.
Johnny Hart gave the movement its visual identity. The celebrated creator of B.C. had already imagined a determined, long-snouted anteater, and its emphatic “Zot!” captured the irreverent spirit UC Irvine’s students were already embracing. After being approached about using his creation, he welcomed the connection and sent the university an original, autographed drawing of his anteater in UC Irvine colors. His daughter later recalled how proud he was to be associated with the Anteater as the mascot, and how the family kept newspaper clippings.
Together, the four contributions formed something that could not have been created alone: Pat had the idea. Ernie saw the opportunity. Schuyler promoted the movement. Johnny gave it a face and a voice.
The result was more than a mascot; it was an identity that today’s Anteaters are still making their own.
Zot! Zot! Zot!
Join us as we honor this year’s distinguished recipients and celebrate the remarkable achievements of the Anteater community.
