UNM Alumni Association to Unveil, Illuminate Bronze ‘U’ Sculpture

In the early days of its his­tory, The Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico was known through­out Albu­querque as “the U.” To pro­mote Uni­ver­sity spirit, a 10-foot U, made of tin and fit­ted with elec­tric lights, was placed atop Hod­gin Hall in 1922. It remained there until the mid-1930s and was illu­mi­nated when the Lobos won ath­letic games.

As a nod to that great UNM tra­di­tion, the Alumni Asso­ci­a­tion is installing a new U as a gift to the Uni­ver­sity. The new U is made of cast bronze and will be erected in front of the main entrance to the Alumni Cen­ter at Hod­gin Hall.

“The Alumni Asso­ci­a­tion has made this gift to the UNM cam­pus to relight an old tra­di­tion and to cre­ate a cel­e­bra­tory space for spirit, com­mu­nity, and engage­ment for the Uni­ver­sity com­mu­nity,” said Karen Abra­ham, exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Alumni Association.

On Sun­day, Nov. 18, the Alumni Asso­ci­a­tion and Alumni Rela­tions Office will unveil and light up the U for the first time. This cel­e­bra­tion will take place after the inau­gu­ra­tion of UNM Pres­i­dent Robert G. Frank.

Sched­ule of Events
• 2 p.m. — Inau­gu­ra­tion cer­e­mony at Pope­joy Hall
• 3:30 p.m. — Recep­tion for Pres­i­dent and Mrs. Frank at the Alumni Cen­ter in Hod­gin Hall. Shut­tles will be avail­able to trans­port peo­ple between Hod­gin Hall and Pope­joy Hall.
• 4:30 p.m. — Unveil­ing and illu­mi­na­tion of the U on the patio of Hod­gin Hall. The build­ing will be open. There will be live music, refresh­ments, and giveaways.

“The Alumni Asso­ci­a­tion is so pleased to see Bob Frank, a three-time alum­nus, become UNM’s 21st pres­i­dent,” said Abra­ham. “The inau­gu­ra­tion is a cer­e­mony steeped in aca­d­e­mic tra­di­tion that marks an impor­tant begin­ning on the UNM campus.”

The unveil­ing of the U is free and open to the pub­lic. For infor­ma­tion about the inau­gu­ra­tion, visit: President’s Inau­gu­ra­tion.

Media Con­tact: Michelle McRuiz (505) 277‑4915; email: mgmcruiz@unm.edu