Board of Trustees Chair David Miller said the phrase “Pony Up” had “died a natural death,” according to a report by the Dallas Morning News.
DALLAS — SMU stirred up controversy over the weekend, pitting ponies against mustangs.
Board of Trustees Chair David Miller said the phrase “Pony Up!” had “died a natural death,” according to a report by the Dallas Morning News, hinting that the university would be phasing out the iconic rally cry ahead of a Friday night screening of the new ESPN documentary “Thunder On: Resurgence of the SMU Mustangs.”
SMU Athletics seems to have already bid farewell to the rally cry. #PonyUp hasn’t been used by the SMU Athletics account since May.
However, SMU admissions hasn’t gotten the memo, using the hashtag as recently as Monday.
“Pony Up!” has been an iconic rally cry for the university and its athletic program for over 15 years, according to the admissions website. The athletics department which is now looking to phase out the phrase, rolled out a major marketing campaign using “Pony Up!” as its main slogan in 2007, as reported by The Daily Campus.
The rally cry has often been used alongside the pony ears hand sign, which is essentially a relaxed peace sign, and it’s even featured on the SMU admissions’ traditions page.
In announcing the move away from “Pony Up!”, the athletics department has created a schism between itself and fans. Social media was a firestorm this weekend, with many staunchly defending the rally cry.
At the end of a Tuesday press conference, SMU football head coach Rhett Lashlee addressed the controversy — unprompted.
“We love our fans, and we love passionate fans,” Lashlee said to reporters. “And if you say Pony Up to me, I’m gonna freaking say Pony Up back. And if you say Go Mustangs, I’m gonna say Go Mustangs, and if you say Kick ‘Em ‘Stangs, I’m gonna kick something, like, whatever.”
Still, Lashlee showed some personal favoritism to the “Mustangs” moniker.
“We’re the SMU Mustangs,” Lashlee said. “We wear a Mustang on the side of our helmet. It’s ‘Hail to the red and the blue, we’re the Mustangs of SMU,’ so our mascot is what it is… It’s the Mustangs playing, not the ponies.”
“…the branding needs to be SMU and the Mustangs and there needs to be no gray area in that,” Lashlee continued.
Many fans have one question: Why? After all, SMU’s associations with ponies started long before the inception of “Pony Up!”
The university’s live mascot is a Shetland pony named Peruna since 1932. SMU’s most iconic pair of running backs, Eric Dickerson and Craig James, were nicknamed “The Pony Express” in 1982. The athletics department even hosts an annual awards event honoring its student athletes called what? The Pony Awards!
In the latest statement from SMU AD Damon Evans, the message to fans is clear: do whatever you want.
“There is room for everyone here on the Hilltop,” Evans said. “Some love Pony Up, some love Go Mustangs. We are going to embrace the strength and boldness of the Mustang because that’s who we are, and Pony Up will remain the rallying cry for many of our fans, with traditional and new opportunities to use that theme. We’re all part of the same community, proudly supporting the red and blue.”