ByteVibes

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are reintroducing a mascot that dates back nearly 50 years but recently underwent a modification in reaction to the evolving meaning of a common hand gesture.

Herbie Husker is back in something close to his original form, albeit with one notable difference: Whereas the burly blond corn farmer had long been portrayed making the “okay” sign with his left hand, these days he is pointing his index finger upward in the “We’re No. 1” gesture.

Nebraska officials began moving to change that version of Herbie Husker in 2020 as protests following the murder of George Floyd sparked nationwide reckonings on racism and police brutality. The “okay” sign, with the thumb and index finger touching each other to form a circle while the other three fingers are raised, is still frequently used to denote approval, but it also has come to have associations with white supremacists.

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In a list of hate symbols compiled by the Anti-Defamation League, the organization notes that the “okay” gesture can be intended to evoke a W and a P, as in “white power.”

“That hand gesture could, in some circles, represent something that does not represent what Nebraska athletics is about,” Lonna Henrichs, the university’s director of licensing and branding, told the Flatwater Free Press in 2022. “We just didn’t even want to be associated with portraying anything that somebody might think, you know, that it means white power.”

At the time, the Cornhuskers’ official mascot was a brown-haired, more buff version of Herbie Husker who was introduced in 2003 and was not depicted as making the “okay” sign. However, the older version that originated in 1974 remained popular among fans and was used as a throwback image on some merchandise.

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On Monday, Nebraska announced that “a modernized version” of the 1970s-era Herbie Husker would return as an official mascot and logo.

“Herbie Husker has been one of the iconic symbols of Nebraska Athletics for nearly 50 years,” Athletic Director Trev Alberts said in a statement. “Our fans are passionate about all things related to the Huskers, and they have a particular fondness for Herbie. We are excited to present modernized Herbie Husker marks and logos and thrilled to unveil our new Herbie mascot at Saturday’s spring game.”

As with the original Herbie Husker, the new version depicts a blond-haired, blue-eyed man in blue overalls with a partially husked ear of corn in one pocket. Apart from the changed hand gesture, some revisions include a more sharply defined hat with an “N” on it and a smaller “N” across a less rotund torso. There are also iterations specific to a larger array of sports.

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When the 2003 version of Herbie Husker was unveiled, he had traded in his overalls for blue jeans, into which a red shirt was tightly tucked, all the better to show off his leaner, more toned physique. “Herbie was overweight,” a Nebraska official at the time said.

“I think they’ll be impressed with how muscular and tall he is,” then-assistant athletic director Boyd Epley added of Nebraska fans’ reaction to the mascot’s updated look.

The mascot looks similar to the original overall-wearing, corn-carrying Herbie Husker that was introduced 50 years ago and less like the character that’s been in use since 2003. https://t.co/7dcYIM2IgJ #Huskers

Before that, the original Herbie had survived a 1995 effort by school administrators to move to a different image.

“We’ve worked and worked with Herbie. No matter what we do, he doesn’t seem to be very appealing to our fans,” then-AD Bill Byrne said at the time.

Some fans thought otherwise. A petition drive that collected more than 1,200 signatures helped save the overall-clad mascot, with a Nebraska-based merchandise vendor saying then, “You’d be surprised how agitated people are about this.”

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On Monday, a design firm hired to rework the mascot said partnering with Nebraska officials on “modernizing Herbie” was “a dream come true.”

“We have the ultimate respect for their passion for Cornhusker Athletics and worked to match this enthusiasm in creating a more contemporary look for Herbie [that] harkens back to the original 1974 version,” the firm, Torch Creative, said in a statement. “Much like that iteration, we hope the modern Herbie continues to represent the heritage of the university and its passionate fanbase.”

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