Lynnette Wukie is making history at the University of Notre Dame. It was officially announced in April 2019 that Wukie has been selected as the first-ever female to be the university’s famous leprechaun mascot. Wukie also becomes the third African-American to earn the spot.
Other students serving as leprechauns next school year will be senior Samuel Jackson and junior Conal Fagan, according to Notre Dame Insider.
Wukie is going to be a junior during the upcoming school year and is majoring in film, television, and theater. When attending Midview High School in Grafton, Ohio, Wukie was the captain of the school’s cheerleading team.
“I talked about being a role model (during the tryout process) because even through high school and into college, it’s always been important to me to be someone people can look up to,” Wukie said in a statement. “I think I hadn’t (yet) found that thing, like I wasn’t fulfilling my true purpose here to be that face and that role model, so when this opportunity came about I thought it was destiny. This is what I’m meant to be doing. … My rector told me, ‘Little girls are going to want to be you,’ so to be that role model for young women is really special.”
The leprechaun mascot is present at football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and hockey games. They also represent the university at on-campus events and other events around the South Bend, Indiana area.
In a video application for the gig, Lynnette said, “Who says the Fighting Irish can’t fight like a girl?”
You can check out more photos of Wukie below.
#aeriereal
: @alexareymaddock
#WeWantGeorgia