The University of Wyoming Spirit Program is one of the most visible groups at University of Wyoming Athletics events.  They can be seen on the sidelines and on the court, entertaining Cowboy and Cowgirl fans and enhancing the exciting atmosphere that surrounds college athletics.
     
On the Spirit Program's web page, they describe themselves as:  "The team behind the team.  We are WYO Cheer!  With over 40 diverse, skilled and passionate members, we cheer on our Wyoming teams with pride and actively engage our university, community and state!  We are proud to be a part of the University of Wyoming Athletics Department and love our Wyoming fans!"
     
Under the direction of head coach and program director Matthew Ortega, the UW Spirit Program's reach and involvement has gone far beyond Wyoming game-day activities.  The team has become a campus leader in both community outreach and in celebrating diversity.
     
Celebrating diversity for the Spirit Program begins from within, as individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds are members of the team.
     
"We have kids from many different ethnic backgrounds and with a variety of different abilities.   
     
"We have gender diversity on our team.  Cheerleading has typically been seen as more of a female-driven sport, but we have quite a few males.  We're not quite 50-50 but almost.
     
"I'm very proud of the Native-American students that we have.  I know that is important to our university to engage that community.
     
"We have members of the LGBT community, specifically gay and transgender students.  We just have a wide variety of kids.  Kids who come from conservative backgrounds and kids from very liberal backgrounds. 
     
"We make it work and make it a point to find things in common, which is relatively easy to do if you focus on the team.  We focus on what our game-day responsibilities are and what our responsibilities are as ambassadors for the athletic department and the university."
     
When asked how he has gone about developing diversity in the UW Spirit Program, Ortega said, "I've actually been asked that quite a bit the past few years.  This is my fifth season here at the University of Wyoming Athletics Department, and we've increased our diversity numbers quite a bit.  Because of that, I've had some other coaches within the spirit industry, especially in collegiate cheerleading, as well as some folks on campus and in our community ask me, 'What is it that you are doing?  Why has this increased so much?'                      
 
"The honest answer is I haven't really done much.  I think what sometimes people miss is there is a quote, I'm not sure who said it, but the quote is, 'You can't be what you can't see.'
     
"Myself, being a member of the Latino and Native American communities and also the LGBT community, and me just being visible and empowered the way this department has empowered me as a diverse person and a diverse leader I think that alone is what folks see. 
     
"I haven't done any specific, strategic work in terms of recruiting certain pockets of students.  I've been very fortunate that people have seen me as being supportive and obviously that conveys a message of diversity and inclusion for our department."
Another area that Ortega and his team members have been committed to during his time as head coach at Wyoming is community outreach.  He has also worked to get other UW Athletics teams involved in community activities.  The basis for that desire to be involved in the community grows out of Ortega's background growing up.
     
"Growing up in New Mexico, I was the son of two pastors, so community service, giving back to your community, being involved was just something that was a part of my family's culture," said Ortega.  "That led to me wanting to work in the field of social work and community and mental health, and that is what I did in my early career as a social worker -- engaging in the community, networking, being involved in my community.
     
"I think it is a hugely important part of the collegiate athletic experience to learn how to give back to the community, because our student-athletes, including cheer, receive so much support from our Wyoming community.  It is not only important for us and our student-athletes to give back but it is important for people to see us being grateful and contributing to the community.
      "Whenever an event on campus presents itself to support others, whether that be the opening of the Native American Student Center or something else along those lines we jump on it to make sure we are there showing that visible support from our athletics department.  This past summer in particular, I tried to engage some of the other coaches in our department and create opportunities for their teams to get out in the community.  I believe we have been pretty successful in increasing our participation and our visibility in the community.
     
"I'm very passionate about showcasing how amazing our student-athletes are here at the University of Wyoming."
     
Asked if there are any specific things he does to help educate or mentor his team members about how to be more open and accepting of individuals from different backgrounds, Ortega said, "I definitely am proactive with that.  We have a creed or mantra for Wyoming Cheer that is 'Element 79'.  It is kind of a play off the periodic chart.  Element 79 is gold, and obviously that is one of our primary colors that we're proud of here at Wyoming.  We talk about the particular characteristics of that element.  That it's valuable, and it has worth.
     
"We have developed a creed that talks about what 'Element 79' means for us at Wyoming Cheer.  In it, it has statements that we recognize and celebrate everyone's uniqueness and the diverse contributions that they bring to the team, so we talk about those things quite a bit."
     
Ortega did say he couldn't take credit himself for the 'Element 79' concept.
     
"I took what someone taught me and kind of ran with it," said Ortega.  "Miche Traina was a mentor of mine as a very young adult and is still a friend of mine.  He had a way of communicating with young people who were going through the typical trials, tribulations and pitfalls that young people do.  He used to call it hurts, habits and hang ups.  He was very intentional with the way he mentored a lot of us as youth.  He wanted us to feel after we left his leadership and his mentoring that we knew our worth and we knew our value.  He called our group 'Element 79.'
     
"It seems to fit here at Wyoming better than anything else I have done."
     
There are also other benefits that Ortega believes his team members enjoy from being part of a diverse team?
     
"I had one young man from Wyoming who had not been exposed to as much diversity as maybe some other people his age had been when he first came to UW," said Ortega.  "We were doing our training that I was referring to earlier, and he raised his hand and wanted to share something.  He is now a senior and said he was so grateful for being part of our program because he felt that being exposed to people different from himself had prepared him to better interact with people from different backgrounds as he was getting ready to graduate and enter his career.
     
"He got choked up, and I got choked up.  Then I thought to myself, yes, that is what this is about.  Athletics at its core is a vehicle to shape and mold young people to be successful members of society, and diversity has to be a part of that because we are part of a very rich, vibrant, diverse country.  It was one of those high-five moments for me."
Like other teams on campus that have a vision for what they want to accomplish, Ortega also has a vision for what he wants to accomplish with the UW Spirit Program.
     
"First and foremost, we want to be a feather in the cap of our athletic department," said Ortega.  "We want the student-athletes and staff members of our athletic department to say, 'We've got the best cheerleaders and mascot crew in our conference and our area.'  We want them to be proud of us. 
     
"We want to be seen as a team that complements and enhances our athletic department's ability to create great experiences for our fans.  We want our university to see us as visible, valued contributors and ambassadors of the Brown and Gold. 
     
"For us last year was a historic year," said Ortega.  "It was the first time a team from the University of Wyoming competed at the Universal Cheerleaders Association College Nationals.  Like any sport, you become a better team by competing against better teams.  These types of competitions cultivate a culture of excellence."
     
Finally, as he looks at his team's commitment to diversity and dedication to community outreach, does he believe his team has had an impact and an influence on the fans and community members they have touched in past years? 
     
"I think it is an organic by-product of being visible and getting to know one another regardless of what community you are in," said Ortega.  "I feel like community members are eager to embrace our student-athletes regardless of their backgrounds.  I think they want to see that our athletic department representatives, students and staff, love the Wyoming community as much as they do. 
     
"It is really cool at some of these community outreach events to see community members engaging with a 19-year old minority student-athlete from some other part of the country and to see that the Bucking Horse on both of their shirts is what is uniting them."