Always in cherry and silver, President of Howl Raisers Wes Henderson tries to raise school spirit among students at UNM. Members of Howl Raisers go to the Lobos’ athletics events to cheer the teams on and promote sportsmanship. Henderson gathered over 1,000 members for the group this fall.
Daily Lobo: What started your interest in showing school spirit at athletic events?
Wes Henderson: When I moved here in 1997, I had been a Navy brat. I lived in so many different places. My parents took me to one of the greatest basketball games of all time — a game against Utah. Ever since then, I’ve been following the Lobos, which gave me a sense of something I could actually grasp. These games gave me an avenue for something that I could keep up with and really enjoy.
DL: What ways are you involving the students, and which groups of students are you targeting in particular?
WH: Obviously we target sports fans, but we also want to target students who are under the microscope in the chemistry hall, in the
astronomy building et cetera. Then we find out why they are not attending the games and how we can involve them. We want to change the philosophy of getting people to games through incentives. We put together an incentive program derived from Georgetown University, which allows students to scan a barcode and earn points when they attend a sporting event. These points work towards gaining free stuff.
DL: What is your main goal for Howl Raisers? How do you plan on reaching that projected goal?
WH: One of our goals is to increase student attendance at all sporting events. Howl Raisers wants our student section to be the best in the Mountain West — then, soon, the best in the country. We admire the larger schools’ student sections. We are bringing in more sponsors and increasing our volunteer base. We are also working at getting our Howl Raisers Web site to be accessible, therefore visible for all students and the community.
DL: Many students only support athletics when the team is winning. How do you keep these students involved and interested despite a few losses?
WH: We keep students involved through our incentive program. It is true, New Mexico students and fans are flicker fans. By having this point system, they have the incentive to go to the games in order to earn free stuff. This makes the games much more enjoyable. What student in college doesn’t like free stuff? We give out free food, shirts, Angelfire Ski Resort tickets and more.
DL: How has Howl Raisers personally affected you?
WH: It is something that UNM has never had before. I get jealous when I see other large student sections. This year was the first time ever that we presold out the student section prior to the New Mexico State game. Students were still able to get their free tickets, even though we sold out of the student section. It is really nice to be a part of this organization, because I can watch it grow. It has been great to see this organization grow so much — it brings new people in every day. Student involvement is great and is the main reason for putting this organization together.
*Join the Howl Raisers group on Facebook
Or go to unm.edu/~raisers*
