If someone were to look over at the student section at John Paul Jones arena during the past few years, they might have seen something a little unusual. In the middle of one of the front rows, packed in between students decked out in orange gear, stood Jerry Reid, a 71-year-old alumnus who graduated just two years ago.
Reid left the University with a packed resume. He walked the Lawn in 2014, graduating with a degree in Creative Writing from the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies program in the School of Continuing Professional Studies. A member of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, winner of two intramural football championships and initiated brother of the Chi Phi Fraternity, Reid found his home at the University.
“I wanted to sample everything on Grounds,” Reid said. “I was willing to sample everything even if it kept me up until all hours of the night studying.”
However, Reid did not become a part of Hoo Crew — the official student section for the Cavalier’s athletic teams — until his last year as a student.
Members of Reid’s academic program are charged the regular activities fee and must opt in to pay the sports activities fee traditionally part of the average undergraduate student’s tuition. However, Reid said when he went to do so, there was no path to make payment, so he lobbied the student ticket office and was eventually allowed to purchase tickets to sit in the student section.
From there, a few of his undergraduate friends invited him into section 102 to officially sit with Hoo Crew in 2014.
“He’s just like one of us,” second-year College student and Hoo Crew member Ryan Zimmerman said. “He comes to every game, dresses up. He usually brings an orange wig and hands it out to someone in the crowd. He makes them keep it on the whole game.”
Hoo Crew decided to name Reid an Emeritus fan and extend him an invitation to do a “victory lap” in the 2015 season. Reid plans on rounding out four years of cheering alongside Hoo Crew. The 2016-17 basketball season will be his last on active, every game status.
“It’s like graduating from Hoo Crew after graduating from U.Va.,” Reid said. “They thought I might be a good luck charm or something.”
After securing student tickets for SCPS members, Reid continued to push for more integration with the regular undergraduate population.
“We got UJC seats awarded to us because I pushed it,” Reid said. “I became one of [SCPS’s] first ever reps on Committee. I got the CIO rules adjusted to give us full-status as U.Va. students.”
The 71-year-old fan’s outfit has morphed over time, but it now includes an orange Hoo Crew t-shirt layered over a blue and orange plaid shirt, V-sabre eye black patches and an orange hard hat over a variety of lucky wigs. He hands out hats and wigs at part of his pre-game preparation.
“I think his biggest contribution is his energy,” Zimmerman said. “It’s inspiring to all of us to see how passionate he is about U.Va basketball. I just hope when I’m 70 I can still be jumping and screaming like him.”
He has also made up his own cheer, “‘Hoos! That’s ’Hoo, and now you know ’Hoo!”
“The noise, the experience of being in that section during a game, not even just a game like the Carolina game but every ACC game, it’s something that I participated in in high school,” Reid said. “I was always there, in the gym, cheering my team on.”
Reid played baseball while in high school and went on to play semi-pro baseball in Richmond. Reid said he even drove racecars at a point in his life.
Along with a love for watching and playing sports, Reid enjoyed writing about them. He eventually became the sports editor of his high school newspaper and moved on to cover college sports in the Richmond area. Reid now writes for the Crozet Gazette.
After dropping out of high school in 1962, he became more and more connected with the University.
“Since ’63, I knew all about the athletic programs and every time I got a chance I’d come up to Charlottesville to see a football game,” Reid said.
After the 2017 season Reid no longer plans on attending every game; however, he will still support Hoo Crew. In the future, he hopes to write for the Virginia Athletic Foundation to remain connected with his love for Cavalier athletics and the University.
“I think [what he’s doing] is important for school spirit,” Zimmerman said. “A lot of people will just be at U.Va. for four years and that’s it, but I think Jerry really shows that it’s a lifelong connection and commitment to the school.”
While Reid is cheering on a team he considers famous, he has become slightly famous himself, attracting a media following of his own through his late pursuit of higher education and the complete college experience.
“They love what I represent in real diversity and what I represent in the belief that your life is always in front of you and that age is just a number,” Reid said. “I’m humbled by the fact that they consider me to be inspirational and none of this would have happened if not for the University of Virginia and the opportunities I’ve been given to be a full, complete Wahoo.”
While the Cavaliers did win every home game this year in the regular season, it is not yet certain whether Reid is really a good luck charm for the Cavaliers. Reid has one more year with the team to find out.
Correction: This article previously said Reid was an honorary member of Chi Phi. He is an initiated brother. This article also previously said Reid dropped out of high school in 1963.
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