On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, students lifted a gleaming bronze frog sculpture from the ground onto a concrete platform between Reed and Scharbauer halls.

Chancellor Victor Boschini and Ann Louden, the chancellor’s associate for external relations, presented the new horned frog sculpture to an audience of about 50 people, who gathered to see the new addition to the campus.

The frog would provide a gathering place, a photo opportunity and an iconic university symbol, Louden said.

Starting Tuesday, students would have an opportunity to add their mark to the frog with a name they create, as iconic as the statue itself.

“I’ll meet you at the ‘frog,’ or whatever students decide his or her name will be, could become a common phrase around campus,” Louden said.

There is some concern about whether the dark stone plate beneath the frog could become too hot in the Texas summer heat, Boschini said. After a couple of months, if the mounting plate is still a safety concern, it would be replaced.

Boschini said he had the horns of the statue dulled. This was not done for the safety of the students, but because of his concern that toddlers playing on top of the statue could injure themselves.

The university wanted the sculpture to be as touch-friendly as possible, said Joe Spear, the artist who designed and built the sculpture. 

Spear said he looked forward to human touch changing the statue’s color over time.

Boschini announced the only two names that had been offered for the frog so far: Godzilla and Spike.

“You can do better,” he said.

Names can be entered here.