New Mexico Highlands University, located in Las Vegas, New Mexico, fields its NCAA Division II athletic teams as the Cowboys and Cowgirls, competing in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The university’s athletic identity centers on a bucking horse and cowboy mark that has been part of the program for decades.
Design and History
In July 2019, the NMHU athletic department unveiled an updated logo for the 2019-20 season. The upgrade was described as looking similar to the bucking horse and cowboy used during the previous two decades, but modernized. The logo was created and edited by Fatcat Studios, a design firm based in Baltimore, Maryland. Options were presented to the NMHU Board of Regents, the NMHU “H” Club, the NMHU administration, and the athletic department before the final concept was selected and refined. Along with the upgraded primary logo, the NMHU “H” logo was officially adopted as the department’s secondary logo to create branding cohesion with the main campus. [1]
New Mexico Highlands University traces its origins to 1893, when the New Mexico Normal School at Las Vegas was established by a legislative act. A subsequent 1899 act changed the institution’s name to New Mexico Normal University. [2]
Meaning and Symbolism
The athletic department’s official style guide identifies the mascot as Cowboys for male teams and Cowgirls for female teams. [3] The bucking horse and cowboy imagery reflects the western heritage associated with the university’s Las Vegas location, though the athletic department’s announcement of the 2019 update did not elaborate on specific symbolic meanings beyond preserving tradition while modernizing the mark. [1]
Typography and Design
The NMHU Athletics Style Guide specifies the official color codes for the athletic brand. The primary color is NMHU Purple, defined as PMS 268c, with CMYK values of 85-99-14-3 and RGB values of 80-45-127. The guide also lists a gray, identified as PMS Cool Gray 4, with CMYK values of 12-8-9-23. [3] The style guide further states that the primary logo may not be altered except for proportionate scaling without written approval from University Relations. [3]
NMHU competes in NCAA Division II as a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. [4] The university sponsors varsity programs including baseball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s soccer, softball, women’s track and field, wrestling, and volleyball. [5]
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