 | Handsome Dan XV (a.k.a. Louis) poses beside a banner from the Class of 1889. That was the year that a bulldog named Handsome Dan, owned by Andrew Graves (Yale College Class of 1892), became the first of a long line of Yale's mascots. |
If your bulldog adores the spotlight and is partial to the color blue, he or she might have the makings of the next Handsome Dan.
The Athletic Department has launched a search for the next bulldog to assume the role of Yale's mascot as Handsome Dan XVI. The last canine incumbent -- Dan XV, a.k.a. Louis -- died this winter, and Yale has decided to comb New England in search of his successor.
The job description for Handsome Dan reads as follows: "The applicant must be a canine in the bulldog family and have papers to prove it. This pointed-tooth animal must be gregarious and very people-friendly. He or she cannot be intimidated by crowds and a loud band. The applicant should expect to be a child magnet and is required for five home football games each fall and selected other contests during the year. Candidates should be athletic enough to climb stairs, walk the sidelines of a game for four quarters and dodge out-of-bounds football players. Speaking on command is preferred but not required. Applicants should not be nervous when handled by strangers and should hate the color red."
Owners of qualified canines should submit an essay about their bulldog, explaining why he or she would make a "dapper Dan." That essay, along with an image, should be submitted by e-mail to both steven.conn@yale.edu and cgsoundview@snet.net. The essay and image are part of the overall application form that can be found on www.yalebulldogs.com.
The Athletic Department will contact the selected owners by the middle of April and ask them to compete in the show of bulldogs at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26, on Old Campus during the school's Spring Fling festivities.
The contestants will strut around the lawn and be judged on their behavior as they interact with children, the Yale Band and other game-day situations. The dogs must be kept on a leash for the entire proceedings, and the owners must be prepared to clean up after them.
Chris Getman '64, a former Eli baseball player who has dedicated 21 years to serving as caretaker for the last three Handsome Dans, will chair the committee to select the new mascot but will not assume his customary role.
The tradition of Handsome Dan was established in 1889, and Yale is known as the first university in the United States to adopt a mascot. Handsome Dan, who has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, is one of the most recognizable mascots in the country.
T H I S
Sought: Bulldog with the right
stuff to be Handsome Dan XVI
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