This presentation is intended to provide UNM students with a brief overview of the colorful history of the University of New Mexico. It was put together by Matthew Maez, UNM alumni and staff member. It is not meant to serve as the official history of the university but rather to highlight some of the interesting aspects of student life throughout the years. For a complete history of UNM, please visit Hodgin Hall, UNM's Alumni Center or the UNM Archives at the Center for Southwest Research.

The bulk of the information in this presentation was compiled from the following three sources:

"Miracle on the Mesa: A History of the University of New Mexico 1889-2003" by former UNM President William E. Davis

The UNM Alumni Website http://www.unmalumni.com

The personal stories told to and/or experienced by Matthew Maez

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANtiz3qDWG0

UNM was founded at a time when Albuquerque was developing two separate identities. Old Town, the traditional center of Albuquerque, was located near the Rio Grande River and served as the social hub for the village's largely Hispanic and Pueblo communities.

New Town, located several miles east of Old Town, was largely constructed by and for the booming rail road that passed through town. This new community was primarily comprised of Anglo businessmen and railroad workers who were new to town.

The railroad was essential to the development of Albuquerque as a consequential city. Without it, the town was likely to remain a small agricultural community.

Where the railroad chose to lay tracks and hubs was of vital importance to communities in the west. Several towns tried to leverage the arrival of the railroad to boost the local treasury, a tactic that often failed. Instead of putting rail lines and buildings in central locations at top-dollar, the railroad would often establish lines on the outskirts of town to save money. When Albuquerque was selected as a major transportation hub, local leaders wisely decided to offer the companies fair prices. Although the line was located several miles away from Old Town, the location was still accessible and allowed for Albuquerque to grow without the threat of the station being relocated elsewhere.

Albuquerque was little more than a village and railroad hub in 1880
ABQ traced history to arrival of Coronado in 1540
Spring 1889, four UNM families donated 20 acres of land two miles east of New Albuquerque (downtown)
Total population of Albuquerque was 6,000

The most common origin of New Mexico's school colors dates back nearly 100 years. Apparently, the school colors in the early 1890s were black and gold. Ms. Harriet Jenness, a faculty member who taught drawing, delsarte (drama), penmanship and music, suggested a change in school colors because black and gold did not give a true feeling of New Mexico. She suggested the crimson evening glow of the majestic Sandia mountains to the east. The silver came from when students and faculty took picnics in the Sandias and noted the Rio Grande looked like a silver ribbon winding through the valley below. Her ideas were enthusiastically adopted by the faculty and staff. The crimson was later changed to cherry, the color of a Sandia sunset. Miss Jenness died in 1895, two years before the colors were adopted as "official."


From 1973-79, turquoise was integrated into the official school colors, at least, for the athletics teams. The football team wore turquoise jerseys at home during those years. Cherry and silver returned as the predominant colors in 1980.

For the University's 100th birthday in 1989, a new logo was designed and turquoise (teal actually) was the main color. An array of blues were used until President Richard Peck began encouraging departments to use the University's traditional colors, Cherry and Silver. His encouragement had mixed results. In June 2007, University Communication & Marketing Published University Identity Standards- A Manuel for Building a Stronger Identity. This booklet defined the University's standards and applications for the use of the University's seal and logo as well as the accepted "cherry" and "silver" palette.

After "Lobo" was adopted as the school's nickname in 1920, it was not long thereafter that a real Lobo became the mascot.

Bruno Dieckmann, class of 1902, and by 1920 a successful Albuquerque insurance and real estate agent, acquired the first Lobo for the University at his own expense. At the time he was treasurer of the Athletic Association and "one of the most admired men in town."

Elsie Ruth Chant, class of 1923, recalled, "All of the girls on campus wanted to be seen with him. He was an accomplished concert violinist as well as being a successful businessman, and he was rich. He drove a Stutz Bearcat convertible around town and all of the girls would compete to get rides with him. Sometimes he had five or six girls in the car, and when he finally got married, he left broken hearts all over campus. Anyway, he either caught it himself or he paid to have a wolf captured in the Mount Taylor area. The wolf was brought into the school and a student by the name of Bowman would take it on a leash to the football practice area."

Apparently, a government trapper named Jim Young caught a wolf pup on the Floyd Lee Ranch near Mount Taylor in western part of the state. The cub became the responsibility of the cheerleaders and it appeared in harness at every football game. However, in the late 20s, a child teased the wolf and the child was bitten at one of the games. UNM officials were forced to dispose of the wolf, as one historian put it, "for fear other ill-bred brats might become tempted to play with the wolf and bring a damage suit."

A live wolf has really never been a part of the athletics scene since. In the early 1960s a human mascot named "Lobo Louie" was created. A second mascot, Lobo Lucy" was created in the early 1980s. Both are now members of the school's cheerleading squad.