university community because of the rising costs of tuition and the university's concurrent appeals to the state legislature for a tuition freeze. The goal of the statue, located in the front of Coffman Memorial Union, was to promote school spirit and start new traditions. The University of Minnesota Administration hopes the iconic symbol will help students interact with the spirit and new traditions involving Goldy the Gopher. The statue is tall and made of bronze granite. Next to the statue is a solid granite "M" that is 63 inches in width, 24 Inches in depth, and 48 inches in height (160 x 61 x 122 cm). It was sculpted by Nicholas Legeros, who is a Minnesota graduate from the fine arts academy. He has sculpted many pieces for the Twin Cities Metro area. The total cost of the statue was $95,000 dollars. On Monday, September 23, 2013, the Goldy statue was unveiled during the homecoming kickoff at noon - which happened to be Goldy Gopher's birthday. Governor Mark Dayton declared this day Goldy Gopher Day to create a new tradition for the students. Supposedly if someone was to rub Goldy's front teeth, it will bring them good luck. References External links Big Ten Conference mascots Minnesota Golden Gophers Fictional gophers Fictional characters from Minnesota Anthropomorphic rodents Rodent mascots