A True Tail on (Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Do you know this true tail of Gritty the Chessie mascot?

Did you know that a dog is the mascot of UMBC, the University of Maryland, Batimore County? Yes, a Chessie! A Chesapeake Bay Retriever, sort of a brown curly Lab. Makes sense for Maryland which is on the Chesapeake Bay, doesn’t it?

Like John Wayne

The Chessie became UMBC’s mascot in 1966 but the inspiration for his statue came from a John Wayne movie, True Grit. True Grit the Chessie, was an actual dog with an attitude - who never backed down from a challenge, much like John Wayne.

Gritty was just a pup

According to an article in the UMBC alumni magazine, the most recent mascot, Gritty, wasn’t always the Big Dawg on Campus. He actually started out quite small.

A growing star

He arrived on campus in October of 2008 and it wasn’t long before his keen intellect (after all, he is at a university) and natural athletic abilities made him a star on campus. He practiced hard (running the halls) every day and literally tore up the competition (of woobies).

Friends and fans

He became such a regular at the Retriever Activities Center that people started to fall in love with the rising star. Like many students, Gritty likes to hang out on the Quad, rolling in the grass. And like lots of college students, he’s pretty much always hungry – he is a growing pup, after all! He loves just chilling on campus, visiting with old friends and making new ones – literally everyone he meets, in other words, and getting petted by his many fans in the Commons.

It’s nice being loved.

All in all, it’s a pretty good gig.

How to find Gritty

We have a lot to learn at UMBC and even more from Gritty. Stop by and say hello at one of the games. Or see Gritty on the cover of the UMBC Winter class schedule, wearing a scarf and holding a snowball in his mouth – or maybe that is his statue?

Read more about it: http://www.umbc.edu/traditions/truegrit.html