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History Is Freaking Awesome!!!
Great Danes! The Origin Of America’s Greatest College Mascot Revealed
Posted in History Is Freaking Awesome!!! by brandonjmendelson on August 22nd, 2008
Great Danes! The Origin Of America’s Greatest College Mascot Revealed
By: Brandon “The J Stands For History” Mendelson
ALBANY, N.Y.- UAlbany may not have bears roaming campus like Baylor, but no other college in America has the Great Dane for a mascot. Do you know what a Great Dane is? A lumbering, slobbering, aggressive dog of war that towers over most short people. That’s right, I said dog of war. Wake Forest’s Demon Deacon was regarded as the most frightening college mascot because he reminds students of the looming ravages of time; UAlbany can clobber that argument in the face with this: The Great Dane was bred to help Germans, the formerly genocide happy people of Europe, kill things!
According to UAlbany’s athletics brochures, the school selected Scooby as the official mascot in 1965. Before ‘65 during the manliest era in American history, UAlbany had an equally manly mascot known as Pierre the Pedguin. A Pedguin was an imaginary creature meant to represent UAlbany’s status as a teacher college. Penguin and the word Pedagogy were merged in an epic fail that gave birth to the name the Pedguin. It’s nice to think the Pedguin is an extinct, handicapped fourth cousin of the Penguin, vindicating Darwin for totally calling natural selection; Sadly, the Pedguin met a more boring demise.
In 1965, according to a back issue of the stunningly handsome Albany Student Press, UAlbany changed mascots from Pierre the Pedguin to the nameless Great Dane. In a shocking turn of events, the state of Pennsylvania also named the Great Dane its official state dog that year. Whether or not Pennsylvania was trying to be cool like their German ancestors, whom if you remember bred these dogs for war, we’ll never know. According to StateSymbolUSA.org, “When the Speaker of the House called for a voice vote to designate the Great Dane, yips, growls and barks assaulted his ears from every part of the chamber! With a rap of his gavel, the Speaker confirmed that the ‘arfs have it’ and the ‘Barking Dog Vote’ entered the annals of legislative history.” Can’t you feel the legislative rush of excitement that must fill the halls of Pennsylvania’s government?
Why change from Pedguin and Pedagogues to Great Danes? University Archivist Geoff Williams says, “The switch in 1962 to a University Center in the SUNY system that trained its graduates for all aspects of life, not just to be high school teachers, made the old mascot, the ‘Pedguin’ which was associated with teaching or pedagogy seem out of date.” A contest was held in the Spring of 1964 and Kathy Earle ‘67 won a $25 savings bond for her winning contest entry of the Great Dane. Whether UAlbany shares the Great Danes licensing profits with Mrs. Earle today is unclear, but it’s safe to assume they do…right?
According to the May 14, 1965 Albany Student Press article on page 6, Mrs. Earle picked Great Danes because of their, “Size, weight, strength, character, courage, speed, and stamina” Here are some alleged facts from Wikipedia that shaped her entry…assuming Mrs. Earle had access to a DeLorean, the Internet, and Doc Brown, if only to say “Great Scott” when appropriate:
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When the Great Dane becomes bored, it becomes destructive.
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The Great Dane has a complex and mysterious origin much like popular X-Man, Wolverine
* The tallest dog ever, a Great Dane, was recorded at 41 inches and weighed 238 pounds.
* Great Danes have six different coats, none of which are purple and gold.
* Notable Great Danes include: Scooby Doo, Astro, Marmaduke, Fang (from Harry Potter), and Ace the Bat-Hound.
Dog of war? Check. Connection to Batman? Confirmed. The only mascot of its kind? That’s more than enough to qualify as America’s greatest college mascot. Until next time, you’ll find me taking a dirt nap in the archives after angry Pedguin-loving alumni incinerate my apartment. Those alumni may be old, but if GWU’s Colonial taught us anything, it’s that old feisty people can mess you up.
Future article suggestions and comments can be emailed to brandon[dot]mendelson[at]ymail[dot]com . Special thanks to University Archivist Geoff Williams for his assistance in filling in the gaps.
