The Lobo Mascot

 1920

In 1920, George S Bryan was a sophomore at UNM, and put forth the notion that all University football teams have a mascot, so UNM should have one too. The mascot Bryan had in mind was the Lobo, the Spanish word for a wolf. The student and faculty were reportedly enthusiastic about the name, calling it “…the ideal name for the Varsity boys who go forth to battle for the glory of the school” in an October issue of the UNM weekly paper of the same year. The UNM weekly would soon be called The Weekly Lobo. Bruno Dieckmann, an alumnus from the class of 1902, retrieved the first live lobo for the university at his own expense. The lobo was taken care of by the cheerleaders until later on in the 1920’s when a child teased the wolf and was bitten, necessitating that the wolf be taken away.

Since then the idea of a live wolf has been thrown around but has never officially acted as the mascot at an event. In place of the live wolf, UNM created Lobo Louie, a human wolf mascot costume to cheer for the Lobos at sporting events. In the 1980’s, a female mascot by the name of Lobo Lucy was added to the program, to cheer alongside and interact with Louie during university outings. Louie and Lucy have stuck around since their initial inception into the program, with a small baby lobo mascot assisting them from 1999-2002. The other representation of the lobo mascot that has become a key tradition at the university is the famous Lobo Head cheer. The cheer is done by raising your index and pinky fingers, while touching your middle and ring fingers down to your thumb. After emulating the shape of a wolf with your hand, you proceed to chant, “Everyone’s a Lobo, woof woof woof!”.
The Lobo has been the symbol of UNM since early on in the years of the University, and is a major tradition embodied in the hearts and minds of the students and faculty. The Lobo has become a symbol for inspiration through leadership, prowess, and cunning to the University body and has done so for decades. Students and faculty can always strive to be like the mighty lobo, and stand above the pack.

Jake Weber, psychology, ‘19