He lives in the mountains behind CLU’s campus.

You can see his profile from Olsen Road. He is Kingsmen Kong.

The profile of a gorilla can be seen in the rock formation at the far left edge of Mt. Clef. Barry Burns and Jarvis Streeter discovered his presence during this semester’s commencement ceremony.

“I’ve been here 14 years and never noticed. And I looked up one day and saw it,” said Burns, art instructor at California Lutheran University, and the adviser behind Kingsmen Kong.

The gorilla has made quite a stir on campus, especially in the art department.

After discovering the profile of the gorilla, Burns employed his graphic design class to create a campaign to raise school spirit on campus.

Based on the Oakland A’s rally monkey, Kingsmen Kong is meant to be a rally gorilla.

Burns hopes it will become an icon seen at future football games.

Burns has a vision of everyone waving purple gorillas in the air at sporting games.

The class also has plans to produce car air fresheners, banana thunder sticks and even a video tutorial on how to fold a towel into a gorilla.

“I like the idea of the fans having something to wave around,” said junior Zach Kaija, a member of the school’s swim team. “I would love to see more school spirit at meets.”

Burns and his class are also looking into having a giant gong present at all CLU sporting events, which would be struck with every goal or touch down.

They have yet to decide between a real gong or a fake that would play the sound of a gong.

“Kingsmen Kong is a great way for students, faculty and the community to get excited for the football games,” said Carly Boulier, a student in Burns’ graphic design class.

“It’s also a way to set our fan base apart from other schools. The legend of the Kingsmen Kong in Mt. Clef is already here, our class is just bringing it to life.”

The class presented their work to university marketing specialist Patty Lynch who gave her input.

Burns feels that if the class and marketing department work together it could form a beneficial relationship for both parties.

The next step is to present all of the information to the marketing department and see what steps they want to take.

The class wants this to remain a student led campaign.

Britney Zamora
Staff Writer
Published Nov. 6, 2012