Jonathan the Husky is the mascot of the University of Connecticut. All of UConn's huskies are named Jonathan in honor of Jonathan Trumbull, the last colonial and first state Governor of Connecticut.[1] (There have been two other governors of Connecticut with similar names: Jonathan Trumbull Jr. (1797 - 1809) and John H. Trumbull (1925-1931). The student body president at the time of the mascot naming later cited the name of the mascot as coming from the most recent Governor Trumbull, a near contemporary.)[2] Traditionally, there are two Jonathan mascots: one is a student in a costume which resembles the university's Athletics logo, and the other is a live husky canine.
All but the first real husky mascot, a brown and white dog, had been solid white with one brown eye and one blue eye, until 2013 when UConn officially changed their logo to a black and white Husky. The newest Jonathan is Jonathan XV, a black and white male introduced June 28, 2023. Jonathan is one of the few university mascots in the nation to have been selected by students via a popular poll (in 1933).
The co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega has helped to care for the canine Jonathan since 1970 when the Student Government wanted to get rid of the mascot.[3][4]
- ^ "The UConn Story – History of the University of Connecticut". Uconn.edu. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ^ Yost, Earl (March 6, 1997). "Wonder How the Husky Came to Be? The Story Goes Back to 1930s". Hartford Courant.
- ^ "The Good Boy of UConn". UConn Today. July 12, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
- ^ "Jonathan the Husky | Alpha Phi Omega". November 20, 2014.