The Hermes statue itself, finished in 1931, is carved from
wood and finished to resemble bronze. Peter Mansbendel,
whose work also adorns the Main Building, was the artist.
Today, the statue of Hermes resides on the second floor
of the McCombs School as the centerpiece of a display honoring
some of our most generous alumni and friends.
Learn more here
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The Peregrinus, the law school mascot, was born in 1901 in
William S. Simkins's Equity class. Student Russell Savage
drew an animal on the blackboard so amusing to Simkins that
the professor explained the significance of each of the creature's
features. Shortly thereafter, law students adopted the
Peregrinus as their mascot. The law students' arch rivals,
the engineering students, destroyed an image of Peregrinus.
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Professor T.U. Taylor with patron saint Alexander Frederick
Claire (Alec) of UT engineering students in 1910.
In 1908, the engineering students, seeking
their own mascot, took a wooden statue of a Dutchman holding
a stein from a local beer garden and dubbed the statue Alexander
Frederick Clare, or “Alec, ” patron saint of
engineering students.
The remains of 1908 Alec statue.
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In
the Main Building at UT Austin, Mansbendel created the elaborate
over door carving for the Wrenn Library on the fourth floor and
the two depictions of Old Main located in the reading rooms of the
Life Science Library. 
