For nearly three years, the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School had a high-flying national luminary in its midst, and no one was the wiser.
Over that time span, Miami Herbert student Carlos Polanco-Zaccardi painstakingly hid a madcap alter ego from classmates and professors alike. But upon receiving his B.B.A. in finance last semester, he finally unburdened: Polanco-Zaccardi and ubiquitous University of Miami mascot Sebastian the Ibis were one in the same.
“After I graduated, I had like eight people that I had classes with, and that I had been in organizations with, come up and say, `Wow, I cannot believe that you were Sebastian this whole time!’ said Polanco-Zaccardi, sounding simultaneously relieved and crestfallen.
Unlike fictional journalist Clark Kent, who’d duck into a telephone booth to don his Superman getup, 6-foot, 190-pound Polanco-Zaccardi stealthily lugged his Sebastian costume around UM’s campus in a large cloth bag. If asked what was up, quick-thinking Polanco-Zaccardi assured inquisitors he was the Hurricane football team’s equipment manager!
“Every mascot has to hide his identity, and that includes in pro sports,” Polanco-Zaccardi said of the secrecy he cloaked himself in. “I think part of it just comes with the magic of being a mascot. I think revealing yourself early kind of defeats the purpose.”
Now 22, Polanco-Zaccardi experienced a bit of foreshadowing while a high schooler in Columbus, Ohio, his hometown. EA Sports came out with a video game, NCAA Football 13, featuring a Mascot Mashup mode that enabled gamers to populate an entire football team with one school’s mascot. Polanco-Zaccardi loved to create teams where each of his 11 onscreen players were, drumroll, Sebastian the Ibis.
After spending his freshman year at the University of Rio Grande, a small college in rural Ohio that Polanco-Zaccardi attended on a volleyball scholarship, he transferred to UM and Miami Herbert in 2022. With a mom, Shezronne Zaccardi, who’s a realtor, and a dad, Juan Carlos Polanco, who’s an exec with a Hispanic-themed publishing company, not surprisingly, Polanco-Zaccardi gravitated to Miami Herbert.
During his first week on campus, Polanco-Zaccardi politely brushed off a young man who was handing out flyers to students strolling by. But something made Polanco-Zaccardi return to the spot where Jake Schloemann was standing.
Perhaps Sebastian the Ibis energy was in the air, because Schloemann had performed as Sebastian prior to Polanco-Zaccardi’s arrival. “It was unbelievable that he was also a fellow Sebastian,” Polanco-Zaccardi said. “He was telling me about the great experiences he’d had, including dealing with March Madness and being on Jimmy Kimmel.”
Intrigued, Polanco-Zaccardi went to a mascot tryout and beat out roughly 20 other competitors. He quickly discovered that portraying Sebastian came with unique rewards and challenges.
For one thing, the outfit weighs about 20 pounds, so being in peak physical shape is paramount. The crux of being Sebastian is “learning to communicate without talking. It’s forbidden to talk in the suit,” Polanco-Zaccardi said. “I’ve had full-on conversations with people that I’ve never said a word to.
“You don’t have peripheral vision, so the biggest adjustment when in the suit is how to see. You can’t see your feet, and Seb’s [Sebastian’s] feet are bigger as well,” Polanco-Zaccardi recalled. And on the hot, humid days that are South Florida’s calling card, “I’d have to bring Febreze bombs, or cologne,” he laughed. “It would help clear out the musk and ripeness in there, although the suit gets cleaned after every appearance.”
But the aforementioned experiences pale in comparison to “taking 15 seconds to run back and give a little kid a high five, and then take a picture,” said Polanco-Zaccardi, who has worked in the wealth management and financial planning field since graduation.
“They can always cherish that forever.”
