Oakland Zoo (cheering Section) - History

History

The Oakland Zoo was independently formed by Pitt students in the winter of 2001. The initial idea for the Zoo came from Matt Cohen during the January 6, 2001 basketball game against Syracuse where he and fellow student Zach Hale determined the Pitt student section was too calm. Cohen and Hale, popularly regarded as the club's founders, rounded up eight of their fellow students from the university's Litchfield Towers dormitory to initiate the club first appearance at the January 13, 2001 victory over then 15th-ranked Seton Hall. The name "Zoo" was meant to represent "a bunch of kids in a zoo acting crazy" whereas "Oakland" is the neighborhood of Pittsburgh in which the university resides. Students adopted gold t-shirts and eventually grew to consume the majority of the student section at the team's home court then inside Fitzgerald Field House. Originally, upon seeking official sponsorship from the University for the 2001-2002 season, the group was denied and the athletic department attempted to implement their own counterpart to their football student cheering section called the "Aero-Zone", named after then athletic department apparel sponsor Aéropostale, and issued free t-shirts to the students emblazoned with this name. However, the "Aero-Zone" failed to catch on while the Oakland Zoo continued to grow, transitioning into the Petersen Events Center when it was opened in 2002 and filling the larger student section of the "Pete". The group is now an officially recognized student group of the University, and with over 2,000 members, is the largest such group. The Pitt Athletic Department now also works hand in hand with the Oakland Zoo, using the section's leaders as liaisons to the student body to make game experiences better. Following Cohen, other presidents of the Oakland Zoo include Andy Nagy (2003–2004), Ian Smith (2004-2005), David Jedlicka (2005–2009), Josh Frantz (2009–2010), Robert Hogan (2010–2011), Eric Haybarger (2011–2012), and Joe Lassi (2012-present).