NEW HAVEN — Yale University has introduced its new mascot, just in time for Saturday’s rivalry football game with Harvard.
Handsome Dan XVIII, an Olde English bulldog, succeeds Handsome Dan XVII, who died in August after serving as mascot for nine seasons.
The newest Handsome Dan was born on Sept. 23 in Maine.
The dog will not assume his mascot duties right away. Yale is sending him to training school first.
The school also announced Thursday that Kevin Discepolo, Yale’s assistant athletic director of facilities, operations and events, will become the school’s keeper of the mascot, taking him on daily walks around campus and to all his public appearances.
Yale has had a Bulldog mascot since 1890. The first Handsome Dan was named in 1889.
The latest version has his own Instagram account, @ HandsomeDanXVIII and Twitter handle, @ HandsomeDan18.
