With the dawn of a new semester and a new year, there was one important furry friend that didn’t make it out of 2016. Lucky the Albino Squirrel, an icon on the UNT campus, met his untimely end just after finals, the victim of a car on Highland Street. On January 21, also known as Squirrel Appreciation Day, please take a moment to remember Lucky and appreciate the good luck and school spirit he brought to the campus.

The albino squirrel has been a presence at UNT for decades, and legend has it that if you spot an albino squirrel on exam day, you are sure to get an A. Lucky’s life and impact on the North Texas community has been covered by CBS, NBC DFW, Dallas Morning News and UNT’s own student-run newspaper The North Texas Daily. Old issues of the Daily, including articles about Lucky, can be found on The Portal to Texas History.

Although Lucky is no longer around to bring his luck, many of his relatives and descendants still populate the trees of North Texas. Keep an eye out for them!