![]() ![]() By the end of the game, the stadium was full of "Hook 'em Horns" hand signs.įifty years later, on a Friday before a home Texas football game, the 1955 cheerleaders reunited on campus with a special rally in Gregory Gym, where they reenacted the start of a tradition. When the campus community gathered on Friday for a pep rally at Gregory Gym to generate excitement for the looming contest with the Horned Frogs, Clark demonstrated the hand sign and declared, "This is the official hand sign of The University of Texas, to be used whenever and wherever Longhorns gather."ĭuring the football game on Saturday, the students practiced what they had learned the night before, and alumni were quick to follow. Rivals such as Texas A&M and TCU had hand signs, so why not the Longhorns? Imagined by head yell leader Harley Clark in 1955, the hand sign was adopted as The University’s official hand sign and remains as one of the most recognizable marks of school pride around the world.Īs the Texas Football team was preparing to play Southwest Conference rival TCU in November 1955, Clark and a campus friend declared that the hand sign, featuring extended index and pinky fingers, looked a bit like a longhorn. Photo courtesy McCombs School of Business.Even the iPhone recognizes The University of Texas and its regaled “Hook ‘em Horns” hand sign. The dean was mad, but the deed was done, as Texas Exes historian Jim Nicar says in his full account of the sign’s creation. The next day the stadium was full of Hook ’em Horns signs.Īlthough UT lost that game 47-20, the University came away with a symbol it would cherish for decades to come. “And do you know what that sign means in Sicily?!” Nowotny thundered. Had it been approved by the University administration? No, it indeed had not! He confronted Clark right after the rally, demanding to know how he could declare a sign official. So Clark went ahead and introduced it to the crowd, pronouncing it “the official hand sign of The University of Texas, to be used whenever and wherever Longhorns gather.”ĭean of Students Arno Nowotny was livid. He and his classmate Henry Pitts had been talking about how the hand sign with the index and little fingers sticking out looked a little bit like a Longhorn. A Campus Chest student “preacher” urged students to “Git the Spirit,” and the Texas Cowboys passed around empty chicken buckets as collection plates for the fundraising drive.Īfter all that, Clark decided to try something new. The planners decided to make it similar to an old-time revival, with the Longhorn spirit what was being revived. UT head cheerleader Harley Clark was game. Since it was also the week of Campus Chest, an annual charity fundraising drive, the program chair suggested that its traditional variety show be combined with the Friday night pep rally. Loyal Longhorns rallied nightly on campus, lit red candles all over the city, and plotted other ways to keep the faith in the week before the game. And with A&M out for recruiting violations, the University could still make the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day if it could just beat nationally ranked TCU. The team had a disappointing 4-4 record.īut UT was 3-3 against its Southwestern Conference rivals. This now-legendary hand gesture debuted in 1955, when the Longhorns were having a football season not so unlike this one. The Hook ’em Horns sign turns 55 years old today, and there’s a funny story behind its creation. ![]()
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