This June, a student started an online petition to create a statue of Temoc on the roundabout at the campus main entrance. The petition has since amassed over 460 signatures.
Eric Aaberg, a business administration sophomore, said he first thought of having a Temoc statue after noticing the emptiness of the roundabout and proposed it to his friends. He received mixed responses at first, but ended up contacting Student Government President Ayoub Mohammed and was instructed to create a petition to generate more support.
“I truly think when people are entering UTD, they have that cool idea of the roundabout, however I think that the mascot would just add to the campus beautifying vision that higher ups have at UTD,” Aaberg said. “And it establishes what our mascot is, and that way people could be like ‘Oh my God, that’s Temoc.’”
Aaberg said he envisions the statue to be about 10-20 feet tall, made of metal such as bronze and standing on a concrete platform. He added that the statue could be crossing its arms, holding a comet or catching a comet. Aaberg said he had other suggestions for things around the statues such as crosswalks so students could safely cross and take photos with the statue, having lights on the statue and flowers around the platform.
Aaberg said despite people not being sure about how they feel about Temoc or being scared of him, his love for Temoc made him pursue this project and improve school spirit overall.
“I love Temoc, and I think truly we need to embrace that school spirit and (have) a statue in a place where people could take photos and things like that and (have) an actual physical piece of Temoc rather than just the old costume in the Visitor’s Center building for whenever he comes out,” Aaberg said. “It’s a sign that UTD’s dedicating its spirit to our mascot.”
Aaberg reached out to multiple campus departments including officials at the Alumni Center, who supported the idea. In addition, Aaberg is working towards sending emails to former alumni who were around when Temoc was first introduced and students as well.
“I feel like at UTD, we have a good sense of school spirit but it’s kind of like you see either people with a lot of school spirit or not a lot, it’s not a mix between,” Aaberg said. “What I really want is to contribute to school spirit and I think having a statue and having other things too would definitely contribute.”
He said he plans on having about 3000-4000 signatures total to get a large enough number to show students support the idea. The petition is currently circulating on social media.
In addition, Aaberg is working towards sending emails to former alumni who were around when Temoc was first introduced and students as well.
“I feel like at UTD, we have a good sense of school spirit but it’s kind of like you see either people with a lot of school spirit or not a lot, it’s not a mix between,” Aaberg said. “What I really want is to contribute to school spirit and I think having a statue and having other things too would definitely contribute.”
He said he plans on having about 3000-4000 signatures total to get a large enough number to show students support the idea. The petition is currently circulating on social media.
Biology junior Allyson Kizer signed the petition after speaking to Aaberg about the possibility of a Temoc statue and liking the idea.
“I feel like I have more school spirit than most people. I have a Temoc tattoo, so I feel like our school needs a lot of school spirit and having the terrifying Temoc at the Visitor’s Center isn’t really enough, you know?” Kizer said. “Most people only see that one, and they think our mascot’s terrifying. So, I feel like if we had an updated statue, it might help with that.”
Compared to other universities, she said, UTD could improve in its school spirit. Being on the dance team, Kizer said she notices students aren’t as enthusiastic at school games as college students tend to be.
“I mean, just because we don’t have a football team doesn’t mean our other teams aren’t really fantastic,” Kizer said. “I don’t think it would immediately make everyone want to support the team… but I think having a Temoc statue could eventually help.”
Aaberg said he hopes to get as much support for the statue as possible to increase school spirit at UTD. He said possible future statues could be made in honor of the university’s founders.
“I’m very excited to see where this goes because regardless, I truly think this is going to happen,” Aaberg said. “We’re going to be able to make a change at UTD and it’s going to represent the students’ voice as well as the SG’s position and influence.”