The White Buffalo has made its grand reveal and so has the new Buffalo Stadium by the Virgil Henson Activities Center. Football games will now take place there after 52 years of being in the Kimbrough Stadium. 

The community gathered across the sidewalks entering the stadium around 11 o’clock Fridaymorning as they were led by the cheer team,  dance team, and marching band in chanting the “Buff Fight” song. 

The event opened with speaker Todd Raspberry, the vice president of development, who credited many of the contributors of the new stadium. He also spoke highly of the new features that the stadium will include such as the new Wi-Fi  6 network that will have real time stats and high definition scoreboards, which will boost fan interaction.

“Today will be ushered in a new era for WT students, staff, alumni, and faculty… We seek to provide a complete residential, educational experience for our Students,” said Raspberry shortly before the ribbon cutting that took place. That’s when students, alumni, staff, and WTAMU staff and faculty were brought in to tour the new Buffalo Stadium

Students are looking forward to the new experiences the stadium will bring. Including senior football player, who plays safety on the football team and is a sports exercise major, Chazz Slatinsky. “I think it’s just cool, I think it’s gonna bring a whole new atmosphere to the campus and community,”  he said. Slatinsky also said that it is an upgrade from playing at Kimbrough for the first three years of his football career. 

Bentley Tennison, freshman and dance major, who is part of the dance team said that this new stadium will bring opportunities for students to start new traditions and be more involved. Also there will be more tailgating opportunities with free food for students according to Mike Knok, vice president of student affairs. 

 One of the notable contributors mentioned earlier in Raspberry’s speech, was the original sculptor of the White Buffalo, the late Mike King Hill who has passed his legacy on to his family. “My father was the one gave that gave the university the idea,” said King Hill, son of the deceased sculptor. “It’s a symbol of courage, a symbol of strength and  pride, and it fits everything WT stands for,” Hill added. Keeping the same buffalo was important to Hill as he was contacted by many students and alumni to restore the sculpture. He also described the White Buffalo has a sacred meaning to the Native Americans of the panhandle.

To class of ‘69 alumni and college sweethearts, David and Sandy Cook, the White Buffalo is a symbol of their love and hard work. “The day that the original buffalo was placed at Kimbrough Stadium,  David gave me his fraternity drop and a month later we became engaged and later that year we married” Sandy Cook said. In addition Mr. Cook’s fraternity Lamba Chi Alpha raised the funds for the original buffalo. 

The WTAMU football team will host Azusa Pacific at Buffalo Stadium at 6 p.m. on Saturday September, 7. Tickets for the first home football game are sold out.