The Nebraska-Kearney Lopers are the athletic teams of the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), a Division II member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The university’s primary athletic mark is the “Loper head,” a stylized antelope head that serves as the school’s spirit mark and is federally trademarked along with the words “University of Nebraska at Kearney” and “Lopers.”[1]
Design and History
The Loper identity traces back to the student newspaper, The Antelope, which chose the antelope as the school’s emblem in its first edition on Dec. 2, 1910. The editors wrote that “The Antelope, the swiftest, most beautiful and most graceful animal of the western plains, appealed to us as a fitting emblem of our school, located as it is on Nebraska’s broad prairie where the antelope roamed so freely.” Athletic teams soon adopted the Antelopes name as well.[2]
The nickname “Lopers” was not officially documented until the Kearney Hub used it in its 1958 sports pages, with the student newspaper following suit in the 1960s.[2] The term is a nickname for the North American antelope, also known as the pronghorn.[3]
The current Loper head logo was created by Dan Whelan, a member of UNK’s class of 2000, as part of a senior illustration class.[2] The university’s brand was updated in 2005 under the Nebraska University system’s brand policy, which has been in place since 2001.[4] Federal trademark registration for the Loper head and related marks was obtained in 2015.[1]
In February 2024, UNK launched a new brand campaign called “Power of the Herd,” which incorporated a vintage antelope logo and brighter shades of blue and gold into its design elements. According to Kyle Means, UNK director of marketing, the vintage antelope was chosen because the public preferred it over other antelope logo designs. The campaign did not replace the traditional Loper head or established logos and colors.[5][6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The Loper head is described by UNK as the school spirit mark, “conveying pride, energy, and accomplishment, most often through UNK sport.”[1] The vintage antelope logo used in the 2024 campaign “helps clearly identify what a ‘Loper’ really is” and is described as “unique to our brand and a point of pride.”[7]
UNK’s official colors are Pantone 294 (blue) and Pantone 131 (gold).[1] The Loper head is always rendered in white, black, or blue (plus gold metallic), never in yellow or gold, and always faces right.[1]
Typography and Design
The UNK academic logo features “stately pillars outlined within the ‘N'” of the UNK wordmark, while the Loper head is described as having a “sleek, modern shape.”[8] UNK’s graphics standards manual specifies that logos must not be altered in color, shading, proportion, or orientation, and that reverse versions of signatures have been specifically redrawn to appear identical to their positive versions.[9]
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