Amy Hurst drives around Ann Arbor, Mich., in her Mini Cooper, which is decked out in crimson and blue, with a license plate that proudly labels her as the first Baby Jay. Amy Hurst, who debuted Baby Jay at halftime during the 1971 homecoming game, is proud of her creation and the tradition it has brought to the University, and she is eager to show it.

“I’ve even got Baby Jay personal checks,” Hurst said. “I’m the original.”

Inspired during her freshman year at the University in 1970, Hurst spent the summer of 1971 creating Baby Jay’s first costume, which is now displayed on the first floor of the Kansas Union. She introduced Baby Jay to the University that fall by hatching out of a blue egg in the center of Memorial Stadium.

“Nothing will ever quite top the shock and awe of hatching out of the egg,” Hurst said. “In my little Baby Jay brain, I can still hear the stadium. It was like everyone inhaled at once, like ‘Oh my gosh.’ To surprise the thousands of people in that stadium was so grand.”

Alee Phillips, lecturer in accounting, also spent time as Baby Jay. She got her chance to shock the crowd in the 1996 basketball season, when the University unveiled a new line of costumes for Big Jay and Baby Jay.

“They came in two days before the game where KU had publicly announced the unveiling of the new Jayhawks,” Phillips said. “We had ordered them a certain way, and when they came in they looked hideous.”

However, because the University had announced that it would be premiering the new costumes at that game, the unveiling continued as planned. At half time, two large boxes, wrapped as presents, were wheeled out to the center of the court, Big Jay and Baby Jay waiting inside.

“We busted out of those boxes, and the crowd was almost silent,” Phillips said. “I mean, you should have seen Allen Fieldhouse. I don’t think people booed, but it was like ‘What?’ Then in the paper, for days, they were saying that they were terrible, and it was an embarrassment, and they looked like chickens. KU sent them back, and they never came out again for another game. Then they got what we have today.”

During their time as Baby Jay, both Hurst and Phillips experienced the shock potential that comes with wearing the Jayhawk suit. However, the women came to occupy that suit via two very different routes. Hurst was inspired by a bumper sticker depicting Big Jay, with a line of little Jayhawks following him. In addition, her friendship with Big Jay at the time led her to pursue the creation of Baby Jay. 23 years later, in 1994, Phillips, became involved when her friends dared her to attend tryouts.

“I guess they thought that I was outgoing enough, and that it would be a fun thing,” Phillips said. “They just dared me to go try out, so I did.”

Phillips said she was slightly surprised to have been selected and even more surprised by the tryout process itself.

“It was more intense than I anticipated. At the time, there was a physical fitness component, where you had to do timed runs and things like that to make sure that you were in decent shape, because it is very physically intensive, believe it or not,” Phillips said.

Not only was there no tryout process for Hurst, but the experience of being Baby Jay had evolved greatly by the time Phillips donned the mascot suit in 1994. One of the biggest changes was that a single person could no longer handle the mascot’s strenuous schedule.

“At the time, we had three Baby Jays and three Big Jays,” Phillips said.

For Hurst, Baby Jay’s workload was hers alone until her graduation in 1974.

“Now, they are involved with everything from private weddings to women’s athletics and alumni events. It is all such a great outreach and I think it’s wonderful. There would have been no way that one person or one costume could have kept up with what they are now doing,” Hurst said. “Their role today has greatly expanded, which I believe is absolutely fabulous.”

Mascot reunions, such as the Baby Jay reunion in 2001, give Hurst a chance to catch up on the mascot’s evolving role and meet Baby Jays who came after her.

“When I wore Baby Jay, I was the only one wearing her, so I never knew the people who came after me,” Hurst said.

Hurst said the reunion was special for her because the mascots shared their stories and experiences of being Baby Jay.

“You were either peeing in your pants laughing at some of the things that happened, or you were just overcome with emotion,” Hurst said. “We all share a passion for the mascot, so that was a great event.”

Though the generations of Baby Jay have had very different experiences, they all share a love of the Jayhawks and what they bring to the University community. Phillips said that having a pair of mascots added something to the performances.

“It allows them to be able to interact and sort of create a fun environment with each other,” Phillips said. “We would have skits that we would do at the beginning of basketball games, where we would run around the circle in the middle of the court, going opposite directions and then we would fall down and be silly, and I think that adds fun for the audience.”

Hurst said she agrees, and that she believes Baby Jay adds an entirely different component to the act.

“I think Baby Jay is the mascot that really establishes a connection. I think Big Jay can be imposing and fierce, and he should be. But Baby Jay is just a little sweetheart,” Hurst said. “Her outreach is great for the little ones, and she’s so great at cheering and getting people excited about the University of Kansas because she’s just so gosh darn cute.”

In addition to their love for Baby Jay, both Hurst and Phillips said they were grateful to be a part of the tradition.

“It was a really positive experience for me,” Phillips said. “I had a lot of fun, and I was connected with KU in a way I wouldn’t have anticipated.”

Looking back on it, Hurst said she was amazed that her idea had become a part of generations of tradition.

“The one thing that is just so delightful about this whole experience is that while it was all happening, I had no idea the impact it would have, because for me it was just a really fun thing to do,” Hurst said. “But it is just amazing to me the impact that Baby Jay has had. It is just wonderful to think that something that I never thought about a future with has taken off, and now she is historical, and part of a great tradition.”

— Edited by Sarah Kelly