Keggy the Keg
Encyclopedia
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, an Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
university in Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....
, United States. Keggy is an anthropomorphic beer keg
Keg
A keg is a small barrel.Traditionally, a wooden keg is made by a cooper used to transport items such as nails, gunpowder., and a variety of liquids....
, invented in 2003 by members of the college humor magazine the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern
Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern
The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern is a college humor magazine, founded at Dartmouth College in 1908.The Jacko publishes print issues approximately four times a year, as well as regularly updated online content and occasional video productions...
, to fill the mascot void that followed the abolition of the Indian mascot in 1971. Due to its nature, the mascot was controversial on Dartmouth's campus, and it was reported on in a variety of national media. With time, however, it has become an "ingrained part of Dartmouth culture".
Context and creation
After dropping the mascot of the IndianIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
Dartmouth had no official mascot. Dartmouth continued to be known by its nickname of "The Big Green," but, citing the ambiguity, lack of dynamism, and intangibility of having no mascot, the Dartmouth Student Assembly proposed a student poll in spring 2003 to decide upon a new mascot. While the Moose came in first in this poll, many students remained dissatisfied with the choice, and the moose lost a final poll to "no mascot." Chris Plehal and Nic Duquette, students at the Jack-O-Lantern
Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern
The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern is a college humor magazine, founded at Dartmouth College in 1908.The Jacko publishes print issues approximately four times a year, as well as regularly updated online content and occasional video productions...
humor magazine, expressed interest in creating a mascot that "wasn't racist, biased or sexist, yet [was] entirely unacceptable." In an effort to force the administration to adopt a more interesting mascot, they created Keggy, an anthropomorphic keg that represents "the most obvious Dartmouth stereotype: the beer-swilling Animal House
National Lampoon's Animal House
National Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis. The film was a direct spin-off of National Lampoon magazine...
fraternity culture."
Reactions
Reaction to Keggy's introduction was mixed: the student body president personally endorsed Keggy in the mascot search, while the College newspaper The DartmouthThe Dartmouth
The Dartmouth is the daily student newspaper at Dartmouth College. Founded in 1799, it is America's oldest college newspaper. It is published by The Dartmouth, Inc., an independent, nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire.-History:...
reported a mixed student reaction and published opposing opinions. The paper also reported on "flak" over the mascot from College administrators, though the Dean of the College lauded the students' capacity to "come up with imaginative and creative ideas."
Michael Wilbon
Michael Ray Wilbon is a former sportswriter and columnist for the Washington Post and current ESPN commentator. He serves as an analyst for ESPN and co-hosts Pardon the Interruption on ESPN with former Post writer Tony Kornheiser, and has been doing so since 2001.-Career:Wilbon began working for...
of ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's Pardon the Interruption
Pardon the Interruption
Pardon the Interruption is a sports television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels, TSN, ESPN America, XM, and Sirius satellite radio services, and as a downloadable podcast. It is hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss, and frequently argue over, the top stories...
called Keggy "some stupid beer thing," and Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine published a feature on Keggy as part of a "Mascots Talk Back" series. A posting of a photo of Keggy on CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor is a comedy website owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's...
was popular enough to receive status as a National Pick.
History
Shortly after Keggy's introduction in 2003, a group of students stole the Keggy costume from its home in the Sigma NuSigma Nu
Sigma Nu is an undergraduate, college fraternity with chapters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia...
fraternity library and sent threatening notes to Keggy's creators, including photographs of the mascot bound and gagged with one black eye. Some thought this to be a publicity stunt by the creators, but the mascot had truly been stolen. Keggy was eventually returned with minor damage to the costume.
Keggy continued to make occasional appearances at Dartmouth sporting events, and became an "ingrained part of Dartmouth culture": at Dartmouth's 2005 Winter Carnival celebration, students named the snow sculpture of a large ship "Captain Keggy's Carnival Cruiser." In early 2006, College officials denied Keggy entrance to a sold-out hockey game (officials cited fire code concerns with the capacity crowd), prompting a Jack-O-Lantern-penned editorial in The Dartmouth
The Dartmouth
The Dartmouth is the daily student newspaper at Dartmouth College. Founded in 1799, it is America's oldest college newspaper. It is published by The Dartmouth, Inc., an independent, nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire.-History:...
condemning the incident; the Jack-O-Lantern website alleged "anti-keg racism." A similar incident occurred in October 2006 when Keggy was not permitted on the field at halftime of the Homecoming football game, again resulting in further complaints in The Dartmouth and on the Jack-O-Lantern website.
The costume disappeared before the fall term of 2008 and has not been seen or returned since. The Jack-O-Lantern built a replacement costume and unveiled it at the 2009 Winter Carnival.
External links
- Keggy the Keg, at the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern Humor Society