Associated Students of UNM teamed up with University Communication and Marketing, to celebrate 127 years of UNM while introducing some rebranding to the University.
Jordan Scott, executive director of LoboSpirit, said the celebration this year was special due to possibilities the collaboration with UCAM provided.
“They helped design flyers and the t-shirts as well as purchase them,” she said. “So we were able to get more shirts and kind of help with the whole rebranding unveiling on the undergraduate level.”
The shirts are a direct result of the rebranding initiative being done by UCAM, Scott said. Recently, UCAM surveyed more than 800 students on campus and asked: “What do you think of when you think of UNM?”
With this question in mind, the shirts were designed to be red and white, with a blank space for students to write, in their own words, what it means to them to be a Lobo.
“So, the idea is, what kind of Lobo are you?” Scott said. “It’s just, kind of, make it your own and make it your own individual experience. Because one of [UCAMs] little stanzas or sayings is, ‘individuals together,’ and I think that’s reiterated with diversity and everything like that at this campus.”
As a transfer student from another country, Scott said she knows UNM has one of the most diverse campuses in the country.
In addition to the t-shirts, festivities included postcards, a photo booth and refreshments as well as the annual atrium photo, which will hang outside Chick-Fil-A in the SUB.
ASUNM President Jenna Hagengruber said UNM Day is important to celebrate.
“It is not only allowing students to appreciate the 127th birthday of the University of New Mexico, but it fosters an environment that is allowing students to celebrate a school, community and group of people that have given so much to them,” she said. “On top of that, free cake and singing 'Happy Birthday' to a school that has been creating better lives for 127 years is always enjoyable.”
Hagengruber said, to her, being a Lobo means being part of a community that is focused on both the individual and the whole.
“It means that I am part of a family that is 25,000 students large, and that I am supported as a unique member of such a diverse group of people that make up the University of New Mexico,” she said. “To be a Lobo means that I am appreciated for who I am, what I do and why I love the University, no matter what that may be. I wouldn't want to be anything other than a UNM Lobo.”
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Scott said she encourages student input on the annual celebration and, as an ASUNM event, if there was ever a time where a student has a concern about it or wants to add something, they should voice that opinion.
“We use their student fees and I think that needs to be known a little bit more, that all these different agencies in ASUNM, we do everything because the students allow us to,” she said.
Matthew Reisen is the news editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @dailylobo.
