Classnotes
#JUPhinsUp
H O W J O E Y S A N C H E Z ’ S L OV E F O R J U
C R E AT E D A L A S T I N G SY M B O L
BY
T H AT I A N A
LOTT
All around campus and even the
world, JU students, almuni, friends
and fans can be seen proudly “flipping
their phins.” With their left hand,
they extend their thumb, index and
pinkie fingers, palm facing out, while
the two middle fingers fold down. To
onlookers, the outline of "J" and "U"
can be seen.
Affectionately known as Phins Up, the
hand gesture is all over social media. A
quick search of #JUPhinsUp will yield
hundreds of posts of Dolphins sharing
their school spirit. So, it’s telling, to say
the least, that the Phins Up creator, Joey
Sanchez ’09 / ’10, was elected “Most
Spirited” his senior year of high school.
“The Gators have The Chomp and
the Seminoles have The Chop,” he
said of the famous hand signals for
the University of Florida and Florida
State University, respectively. “Why
shouldn’t JU have one too? We’re just
as proud of our school.”
The idea came to him in 2007 on
a roadtrip with friends to Tampa’s
Gasparilla Pirate Festival. They were
passing a car and noticed its JU
license plate. Besides shouting out
of the car that they were from JU —
48
C L AS S NOT E S
which even for a car full of spirited
college students seemed a little crazy
- there was no way to let the driver
know. “We needed a non-verbal way
to communicate that we were from
JU,” Sanchez recalled. “And, that’s
when the idea hit me!” began using it. Then he became SGA
President the following year and
ensured the momentum built. “The
SGA kept it going after I left,” he
said. “Then President Cost endorsed
it when he joined in 2013 and it
really took off.”
Later, he started fiddling around with
different hand symbols from his
home state of Texas. And somehow,
he ended up with the “I Love You”
sign language symbol and noticed a
“J” and “U” in there. Sanchez and his family returned to
campus this past year to lead the
opening prayer at the 2019 Spring
Commencement ceremonies.
“It’s perfect that Phins Up is also the
sign for ‘I Love You’ because it was
born out of love for the school that
gave me so much,” he said. “Plus, if
you’re not quite sure which hand to
use, use both and it basically says “I
love you JU.”
Phins Up became official on Feb. 5,
2008, when Sanchez posted it on the
JU Student Government Association
(SGA) Facebook Group page. As press
secretary, he was responsible for
helping to further school pride, so
creating a hand symbol was a game
changer. Pretty soon, fraternities
and sororities, the track team, and
the soccer team he was a part of
When asked what Phins Up means
to him, Sanchez replies that it’s all
about creating a sense of pride and
connection to JU. “Whether you
graduated a few decades ago or
are currently attending, we are all
connected to this place that helped
define us,” he said. “I’m proud to be a
part of that.”
So get out there and flip your phins!
And don’t forget to share it on social
media with #JUPhinsUp.
Sanchez and his wife, Kelly
McKinney Sanchez ’10, live in their
hometown of Houston, with their
2-year-old son Joey Junior and
daughter, Juliana.