There’s a new resident on campus—and the TLU community is already nuts about him!

Say hello to our very own four-foot-tall squirrel, who in a few months will be all dressed up and ready to take his place on Seguin’s Squirrel Trail. The trail, a project of the city’s Commission on the Arts, already boasts several squirrels with many more on the way, according to Chair Kelly Follis. Various institutions and businesses around town sponsor the squirrels, and the money raised goes toward enhancing the cultural and aesthetic quality of life in Seguin by promoting and supporting public access to the visual, performing, and cultural arts.

The fiberglass squirrel statues are scattered all around town, and each is uniquely decorated by a different artist—or in the case of TLU’s squirrel, artists.

Mia Ramirez and Emi Aubin, both of whom graduated from TLU with visual arts degrees, put their heads together to come up with the design, and will be teaming up to do the painting. “We’re planning to begin shortly after winter break,” says Aubin, and the hope is that the finished squirrel will be unveiled come spring.

Executive Assistant to the President Susan Rinn says, “We at TLU are thrilled to be sponsoring a squirrel as part of the Seguin Squirrel Trail. I’ve been excited about this project since its inception and am delighted that we can participate. What a fun way to be part of the Seguin story! We are so pleased that two of our TLU visual arts graduates, Mia Ramirez and Emi Aubin, have agreed to be our artists, and both call Seguin home. The little guy should be painted and ready for unveiling by early Spring. Once completed, he will reside on the historic Fritz House lawn, on campus.”

More information to come as the story unfolds, but needless to say, the new squirrel will be a perfect addition to a campus that already boasts a giant bulldog.