UB fans ‘HornsUp’ over their Bulls

A UB Athletics tradition is gaining steam in the streets of Columbus, over the Internet waves and in the stands.

Selfie photos of UB alumni and fans giving the “HornsUp” sign have been all over social media in the days leading up to Friday’s NCAA Tournament game. More than 100 HornsUp photos have been posted across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, including a dog giving his paw up, a HornsUp made of fire and President Satish Tripathi, his wife, Kamlesh, and Athletic Director Danny White doing the gesture at the women’s WNIT basketball game on Thursday.

Tom McArthur, a UB alum who currently works in the alumni relations office, posted a photo of himself en route to Columbus Friday morning in a blue-and-white wig.

“It is super cool and everyone around the world has gotten behind this movement,” he said. “I have seen people in Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing, all getting behind the movement. The excitement and investment is awesome.”

Added Rebecca Bernstein, director of strategy and online communications in the Office of University Communications: “It is so exciting to see the HornsUp fever hit our UB Bulls fans. We are getting to show our Bulls just how proud we are of them, and how proud we are to be a part of UB.”

Band member and UB freshman Trevor Forman has seen the movement catch on in the stands, as well. He said the band would do the HornsUp signal during free throws at the beginning of the season, but it was usually just the band.

At the MAC semifinals and finals, he said, entire sections of the crowd were doing HornsUp.

“It seemed like everyone was putting their hands up doing HornsUp,” Forman said. “It’s been real fun to be a part of.”

In the days leading up to the big game, UB’s Office of Alumni Engagement launched another social media campaign to engage enthusiastic UB alumni worldwide.

Alumni were invited to take selfies and hold up signs indicating from where they’ll watch UB play its historic first game in the NCAA Tournament. Singapore, Tokyo, Japan, Dallas, Beijing, India and Alabama were just some of the places represented.

This effort synched perfectly with the HornsUp photos flooding the Internet.

“The two initiatives took on a viral nature of their own by morphing into one successful initiative,” said Andrew J. Wilcox, associate director of alumni engagement.