LU Wolf’s Identity: Loyola’s worst-kept secret

Amidst the maroon and gold-clad athletes, a set of furry gray ears rises above the referee whistles — LU Wolf. 

He invigorates the crowd, dancing the worm, clapping and posing for photos all the while maintaining his secret identity behind a giant wolf head.

But I know who LU Wolf is — and you just might too.

The iconic canine has been Loyola’s mascot since 1990, inspired by St. Ignatius of Loyola’s coat of arms which depicts two wolves standing over a kettle, according to his biography on Loyola’s student programs website.

But the thinly veiled identity only masks one thing — the effort put in by the student.

The practice of keeping a university mascot’s identity secret doesn’t have clear origins, yet the trend seems to be universal, according to The Leader, as keeping the student and the mascot separate allows for a mascot’s persona to flourish.  

Each mascot typically has multiple students who take on the identity, growing the web of secrecy according to the New York Times. However, mundane excuses for one’s absences from a night out or club events can only go so far, often leading friends, partners and family to inevitably discover a mascot’s identity. And from there it only spreads.

The reality is LU Wolf’s identity is no secret, despite the university’s attempts to keep the persona shroud in mystery. 

When it comes down to it, there are simply too many people who know the true identity of LU Wolf for it to really be considered a secret. Without accounting for the people LU Wolf himself entrusts with his identity, there are a myriad of loose ends in the form of the spirit teams, as LU Wolf shares a locker room with Loyola’s cheerleading team.

For every one person who knows the truth, it seems to spread to five more people. Despite being the worst kept secret at Loyola, we carry on as if we are the few who know LU Wolf’s identity instead of admitting we fall in the majority. 

Why do we keep up the charade of pretending we don’t know who LU Wolf really is?

By concealing the identity of LU Wolf we rob him of the credit the rest of Loyola’s athletes receive. Present at all home games, postseason tournaments, university events and community functions LU Wolf attends more total games than the athletes themselves.

Stripping LU Wolf of the acknowledgment for the time and energy he puts into Loyola Athletics is a disservice to the student.

To successfully perform in what is essentially an insulation suit, the student must be physically fit to run across the court and dance. 

The student underneath the persona is also expected to generate energy at games regardless of attendance — an especially difficult feat at some of the poorly attended games. Whether there are 15 fans or 4,000 fans, LU Wolf shows up with dance moves and high fives at the ready. 

Knowing LU Wolf’s identity shouldn’t change the performance or the persona’s appeal. Just as an actor becomes their character, the student should be able to simply become LU Wolf once they put on the wooly mascot head. They deserve to be celebrated just as much as Loyola’s athletes — it’s time to stop letting LU Wolf waste away in a pseudo-secret spotlight.