Duke Dog
Duke Dog
The Duke Dog is the official mascot for the James Madison University Dukes. 'Dukes' was made the official nickname in 1947, and was named after the University's president from 1919-1949, Samuel Page Duke. However, the bulldog was not chosen to represent the Dukes until the 1972-1973 school year.
After a decade of the original costume, Dr. Ray V. Sonner revamped the appearance of the Duke Dog in 1982-83 school year. On November 28, 1982, Duke Dog appeared in JMU's first home game of the men's basketball season, against The Virginia Military Institute.
In 2004, Duke Dog was named a finalist for the Capital One Mascot Bowl. After eleven weeks of voting, Duke Dog won its matchup each week to finish a perfect 11-0. The next closest mascot finish with a record of 6-5. Although Duke Dog overwhelmingly won in polling, the contest was based also on scores from a panel of judges, and Monte from the University of Montana ended up winning the contest overall (ironically, JMU had just defeated Montana in the I-AA football championship less than a month prior). Since this incident, Capital One has changed the contest so that the popular vote is the sole determinant of the winner of the Mascot Bowl.
James Madison University
James Madison University (also known as JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes until settling with James Madison University. The university is situated in the Shenandoah Valley, with the campus quadrangle located on South Main Street in Harrisonburg.
The university is also home to the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, the only active publicly-oriented arboretum on a Virginia state-supported university campus, and the student run radio station WXJM, as well as National Public Radio station WMRA. JMU made national sports headlines in 2004 with its first NCAA Division I-AA national football championship.
James Madison University Athletics
James Madison University's athletic teams use the name "Dukes" in competition, with the Duke Dog, a gray bulldog dressed in a purple cape and crown, as the school's mascot. "Dukes" is in honor of Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. Madison competes in the NCAA's Division I (Football Championship Subdivision for football), the Colonial Athletic Association, and the Eastern College Athletic Conference. The Dukes played football in the Atlantic 10 Football Conference until it disbanded after the 2006 season and currently play in the Colonial Athletic Association, which picked up the Atlantic 10's football operations beginning fall 2007 Students compete in football, basketball, soccer, women's swimming, diving, women's volleyball, baseball, women's lacrosse, field hockey, golf, cross country, track and field, and softball. James Madison's two national championships ranks them tied for third most national titles in Virginia. James Madison's baseball team advanced to the 1983 College World Series, the only Division I institution in Virginia to do so besides the University of Virginia in 2009. The JMU women's field hockey gave the university their first national title in 1994. JMU football also won the NCAA Division I-AA national title in 2004, with a 13-2 record, and are the only team in history to win the title after playing four straight road playoff games. Since then they have appeared in the playoffs in 2006, 2007 and 2008, losing in the semi-finals after being ranked #1 in Division I-AA most of the season. In 2006, considerable controversy arose after the decision to cut 10 varsity teams (including both mens' and women's teams) was deemed necessary by the Board of Visitors to comply with Title IX restrictions.