By: Brennan LaBrie
After 31 years of living on campus, the Rieke Slug, star of the large dioramas featured in the main hallway of the Rieke Science Center, officially has a name. The official naming ceremony took place at an event hosted by the PLU Chemistry Department called “Name the Rieke Slug!” in the Rieke Lobby on Friday, October 5.
The dioramas, one of which is a magnified forest floor scene centered around the slug, and the other a Washington coast tide pool, are two of six created by former PLU Biology Professor Jens Knudsen for display at the Point Defiance Zoo. They were removed during a remodel in 1982, and installed during Rieke’s construction in 1986.
In a speech to kick off the ceremony, the Dean of the Natural Sciences Department Ann Auman said the slug has become a “regular part of our lives” for people within the department, as well as the most photographed object in the building. The decision to finally name the slug came about in an attempt to “foster a sense of community in our division and campus.”
Over 350 names were submitted by students, faculty and alumni. A “Slug-Naming Committee,” made up of three Biology professors, narrowed down the list to seven finalists, which were then voted on by 250 students.
The winning name was “Enrieké” (pronounced Enrique) submitted by student and Biology major Brianna Celix, beating out the runner-ups “Martin Sluther” and “Slug Harstad.”
In a speech to the assembled crowd, Celix explained how the name Enrieké is more than just a clever play on words. She chose to look at her own identity and experience at PLU, and chose a name that represented her identity as a “mixed-race, Mexican woman in STEM.”
Celix hopes the name will be a “divergence from the mono-chromatic naming of campus monuments and instead be representative of the diversity we hope to exhibit at PLU, and an encouragement for future, more profound representation of marginalized and minoritized identities within PLU, STEM, and society.”
After Celix’s speech, two cakes were cut, and booths set up by the Biology, Chemistry, and Grass Roots Environmental Action Now (GREAN) clubs offered slug-related information and fun facts.
According to GREAN Club President Julia Grosvenor, based on its features, Enrieké is most likely from the “black slug” species, an invasive species harmful to our local ecosystem. Despite his feelings potential origins, Enrieké is now officially a member of the PLU community and isn’t harmful at all but family.
