Evers Has Firm Handle on All Her Pursuits
Soccer player a rare student-athlete Ram Handler
School visits are designed to draw a potential student-athlete to a program and even the campus. With each prospective entrant being different, it’s not always easy to predict what may catch their eye and help them call your school home.
What caught the attention of Aleyse Evers was CAM.
“I was able to see him on campus at an event, and the Ram Handlers in the black hats,” she said. “I was just so excited to see him. I’d heard of our mascot before, but that was the first time coming to the school and I really feel in love with CAM. He’s an awesome guy to have there.”
The whole scene piqued her interest, especially a young lady with experience on a ranch and someone who is set out to pursue a career as a veterinarian. Her freshman year was all about getting accustomed to what was now new in her life. The challenge of classes in biomedical science, the life of a collegiate soccer player and just being on her own at her new school. However, the idea of wearing one of those black hats and handling CAM never left her mind.
Her plans for the next year were diverted by the pandemic, but at the end, she pursued the chance to become a Ram Handler, successfully becoming one of three known student-athletes to do so since the group became a tradition at the school nearly 70 years ago. She is the first student-athlete to serve as a handler in more than 20 years.
Dani Magana, the Manager of Alumni Center Guest Relations and Event Services, oversees the Ram Handler program. To her, the ideal Ram Handler is somebody who embodies the spirit of Ram pride, is invested in the student experience and is dedicated to upholding the traditions of the university.
Recently, she said the group has steered away from just looking for agriculture majors to serve as handlers, with each of them going through extensive training on how to handle CAM – named so for the history of the school as Colorado A&M.
In Evers, she found an ideal candidate, and she felt her role as a student-athlete only accentuated her qualities.
“I think she did a good job of tying in how being a student-athlete would relate to being a Ram Handler,” Magana said. “All the school pride and spirit she had, that was really nice. She’s everything you would think you want in a student to represent CSU. She’s really passionate, and this is customer-service focused, and she’s good with that.
“We’re trying to get toward not just working with CAM, but be at an event without CAM and represent the Ram Handler program. Aleyse gets that as a student-athlete, because she’s always representing the women’s soccer team.”
It was a special moment for Evers to be selected, but not just in the way people might think. The events are great, but the training sessions which provide the opportunity to be around CAM are a gift all their own.
So too has been broadening her horizons on campus.
The best part is developing that relationship with CAM. He has personality traits you get to see when you train him and go to events. It’s just really awesome to form that relationship, and definitely the relationship with the handlers, too.Aleyse Evers
“The best part is developing that relationship with CAM. He has personality traits you get to see when you train him and go to events,” she said. “It’s just really awesome to form that relationship, and definitely the relationship with the handlers, too. I’m so involved with that athletic bubble, it’s nice to get out and meet people who have the same interests, who want to go on the vet track.”
The handlers are required to do at least two trainings a month with CAM, though Evers said they all sign up to do more. They teach CAM basic commands, she said, mostly for him to become desensitized to certain things the animal and the handlers will encounter with crowds. Training served to get him used to being approached, even to become comfortable running alongside the cheerleaders at football games.
He gets his rewards, mainly lettuce, which she said is his favorite snack. He’s also fond of head scratches.
The handlers, in turn, are trained in crowd control, because as Evers puts it, “CAM is a celebrity,” and people are always trying to approach him and have their picture taken with him.
“He’s a goofy guy; he’s pretty sweet,” she said. “He’s great. He’s fun to be around. At first I think he’s a little timid, but once he gets to know people, he really cares about them it seems. It’s fun to see.
“It’s been great. I just think I definitely went into it wanting to form a relationship with CAM and getting to know him, and I’m continuing to do that. But I’ve really been able to meet some alumni in the process and form relationships with people who might be able to help me in the future.”
It has required some balance in her life, especially between the soccer team and the Ram Handler program, with both groups very aware each pursuit is important to her. Her soccer season hasn’t gone as she would have hoped, as an injury during an exhibition match has kept her out the remainder of the season.
First-year soccer coach Keeley Hagen was more than willing to work with Evers, noting the full college experience for an athlete shouldn’t be just about their sport.
“I’m a big fan of any way you can engage in the community, represent the community well, whether you’re on the field or off the field,” Hagen said. “Obviously we talk about things not conflicting with soccer, because you’re here to get a degree and play soccer, but we’ve been able to work with her. I think it’s a phenomenal representation for us and the women’s soccer team that she gets the honor to do that.
“I think it’s an awesome avenue, and it just allows for her to continue to grow, and when she gets in the real world, she’s checked a pretty special box. Employers are going to notice that.”
CAM is most definitely a celebrity on campus, and being one of his handlers has some perks beyond the attire they wear and the event they attend.
It also means your friends may ask for a favor.
“A couple of teammates have come up to me and said, ‘hey, when can you take me to meet CAM, when can you bring him to my house?” she said. “There are forms we can submit to get CAM to certain games, so I’m seeing if we can get him to a soccer game. That would be fun.”
And the request was granted, as CAM is expected to make an appearance this Sunday for Senior Day against UNLV.
Being a handler is not something Evers said she’s had to find time for, because it’s become a very important and special time of her life at Colorado State. Having done so this year, she would like to continue as a handler in the future, too.
CAM is a big reason, for sure, but she’s also gained more from being a Ram Handler than just getting to know CAM himself. It’s given her a bigger-picture view of what being part of Colorado State is all about.
“I’ve come to appreciate just how involved CSU is with their alumni and with the student body,” she said. “Just the amount of attention they give any CAM event and all the preparation that goes into it is really just astonishing. There are so many different ways they want to get people involved, and that’s great.”
Even if it means finding a bit of lettuce in her boots when she takes them off at the end of the day. CAM may be a celebrity, but he is a bit of a sloppy eater.