Uconn’s former mascot remembered as ‘good boy’
Jonathan XIII, a Siberian Husky who supported the team from 2008 through 2014, dies at age 14
Jonathan XIII, the white Siberian Husky who was Uconn’s official mascot for nearly six years, died Wednesday at age 14.
“For thousands of our alumni and Uconn supporters, Jonathan XIII was ‘their’ mascot over the years, and he remained a beloved presence on our campuses and in the community in recent years with his successor, Jonathan XIV,” interim Uconn President Dr. Andrew Agwunobi said, in a news release. “He was the epitome of ‘a good boy,’ and he’ll be greatly missed.”
Jonathan XIII was born in 2006 and became Uconn’s mascot in 2008 after being introduced at a men’s basketball game against Cincinnati. He remained the university’s mascot until 2014 when he began growing sensitive to loud noise and crowds.
He would have been 15 in
December.
Following his retirement, he shared a home with his successor, the black-and-white Jonathan XIV.
“Each Uconn canine mascot has been named Jonathan since the beginning in honor of Jonathan Trumbull, the last colonial governor and first state governor of Connecticut,” a university news release said. The tradition has remained ongoing since 1935, when the university was still known as Connecticut State College.
“He remained beloved among Uconn students, alumni and fans, though, including residents of a Shelton nursing and skilled care facility who dressed in their Uconn gear and feted him cake and gifts at a with a retirement party there in summer 2014,” the release said.
The coed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega has helped care for the mascots since the 1970s.
“I only had the privilege of crossing paths with Jonathan XIII in his senior years. He was a sassy, loving, and rambunctious boy,” Taylor Harton, a recent graduate and former handler through Alpha Phi Omega, said.
Harton said she’ll “forever miss his little tap dance he did when he walked and the way he loved his little brother.”