It all began during the FAU Men’s Basketball Team’s run for the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship in February 2002. A small group of FAU students rallied around the team, showing more support than most student spectators at the games, and adorning themselves in the university’s trademark colors. This abundance of encouragement increased attendance at games and helped to create a true home-court advantage for FAU.

Pablo E. Paez, 2002 FAU SGA governor, along with Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity brother Will Pearson and student government leader Michael W. Moore, gathered this group of students and officially named them the “prOWLers.”

In Fall 2002, Paez brought in freshman Rick “$mitty” Smith as the athletic director for student government. Smith’s main duty was to ensure the future of the prOWLers as the official spirit group of FAU.

Smith reorganized the prOWLers in 2006 with the help of freshmen Jeffrey Osborne, Ryan Miller and Shawn Kings. With funding from the Student Alumni Association (SAA), and under the leadership of the SAA adviser Paul Metcalf, the prOWLers have since proven themselves as not only a group of spirited fans, but also student leaders.

The prOWLers can be found at most sporting events for FAU, teaching students and fans the university’s fight songs and cheers, while carrying on tradition from year’s past and creating new ones for years to come. The group also takes an active roll in fund-raising for the athletic department scholarship fund and the construction of new facilities, as well as attends national conferences to help other universities learn how to start traditions.

For more information or to become a member of the prOWLers, visit http://ua.fau.edu/students or contact adviser Paul Metcalf at 561-297-1248 or metcalf@fau.edu.