The New Intercampus Shuttle is a Lose-LU Situation

You can see him coming from a mile away. 

His grin flashes down DuSable Lake Shore Drive, a vicious under-bite framed by hangover eyes. Macabre gray sausage-like fingers punctuate arms raised frighteningly above his head, showing off a grotesque hair-covered body hidden by an outfit which can only be described as a fashion major’s worst nightmare. 

This unorthodox concoction now infiltrates both of Loyola’s main campuses approximately every half hour  — The Brothers Grimm’s Big Bad Wolf combined with Troy Bolton.

I am, of course, referencing the latest depiction of LU Wolf adorning Loyola’s infamous intercampus shuttle — a frankly horrific addition, since it’s not only an acute failure aesthetically, but also doesn’t improve the shuttle system in any empirical way. 

Seemingly anyone who has spent a semester trekking between the Lake Shore and Water Tower Campuses has complained about the shuttle’s lack of reliability, offering anecdotes of waiting for upwards of an hour in minus 20 degree wind, or hastily emailing professors about missing class due to a shuttle mishap, like the notorious crash of fall 2022.

In addition to unreliable arrival and departure times — which remain inconsistent despite Loyola’s use of the tracking app Tripshot — the shuttle has been proven to be at least somewhat remaining on the traffic-heavy and pedestrian-ridden North Broadway for far longer than neighboring Northwestern University’s intercampus shuttle, according to a test conducted by the Phoenix. 

If the university wanted to invest in the intercampus shuttle, you’d think they would shell-out funds for improvements directly related to student satisfaction. 

Instead, the shuttle is running with the same issues,_, but sporting a garish new look. 

While I don’t mind the new maroon exterior, the word “LOYOLA” in bright white impact font framing an unsightly rendering of LU Wolf, draped in his signature basketball accoutrement, does little to inspire academic rigor or prestige. 

Worse still, his pose forms the “Y” in Loyola, but the graphic’s lack of readability makes it look like he’s in the midst of the “YMCA.”

This drawing of LU Wolf is cartoony, unserious and unfitting for a four-year institution — especially one boasting of its recent national accolades. Instead of signifying a distinguished research university, it leans into a performative, self-indulgent sense of unabashed and unwelcome school spirit which should be left in high school halls. 

None of these qualms are against the beloved LU Wolf, who excels at his job of “providing energy, spirit, dance moves and zany antics” to campus events, according to his biography on Loyola’s Athletics’ website. 

Not only is LU Wolf a welcome icon of Loyola, but he’s also a major improvement from the previous mascot — a homeless man named Bo Rambler, who was replaced by LU Wolf in 1990. The previous mascot, who was Loyola’s attempt at personifying a Rambler, was a controversial figure before he was replaced by our fearless lupine leader. 

But just because LU Wolf is a friendly face who helped Loyola shed past neglecting political correctness doesn’t mean he should be plastered to the side of every intercampus shuttle. 

If the university was determined to allocate funds to the intercampus shuttle, they could have used it to fund an interior upgrade to make them more comfortable, or given bonuses to the hard-working shuttle drivers. At the very least, if they were set on a new design, they could have embraced a more democratic process by asking for student input. 

Even if this was Loyola’s attempt at adding some color to the tedious intercampus commute, instead of being a source of pride it’s an eyesore, emblematic of the new campus plan’s “urban context advertising.” 

This commitment to gaudy guerilla marketing is a tasteless endeavor with an even more tasteless design. The dancing, evil-grinned LU Wolf graphic is truly horrific — the only thing worse would have been Bo Rambler dressed for women’s volleyball.