A Diamond in the Ruff: The Legend of Tiberius

While researching dogs in northeast Ohio, I did some extensive digging and found something exciting but so obscure that only the website of this college or a few college-focused blogs talk about it. Lake Erie College is a small private college in Painesville, OH. I wanted to tell this story about a particular underdog. 

Formerly an all-girls school, the college opened to women students, empowering them through education. Many women's rights advocates who attended there participated in the women's suffrage movement from 1850 onwards. In 1898, women were awarded college diplomas instead of seminary diplomas. Years later, in 1985, the campus became coed. After the football team was formed, they developed an official mascot named Stormy in 1994. Stormy is not the only mascot but also a dog named Tiberius.

In the early 1900s, a dog wandered around the campus and befriended students named Tiberius. He was a chocolate lab believed to be owned by the college's dean, Harriot Young. Tiberius was so well beloved by students and facilities that a statue was erected in his honor after he passed away in 1910.

From 1910 to today, Tiberius has had four statues of him. Some students from Case Western University kidnapped the first statue in the 1950s as a practical joke. Tiberius II would then replace the first statue after being purchased from an antique shop and donated. Unfortunately, in 1984, some devious individuals pulled a Bart Simpson and beheaded that statue and took it further by destroying the remains. Tiberius III would take the previous statue's place after being donated by graduating students in 2004. The current statue, Tiberius IV, would be donated in 2008 and placed on the base where Tiberius II once was.  

There is also a ghost story about Tiberius. One evening in the spring of 1957, two women heard loud panic barking in the middle of the night. While investigating the noise source, they were led outside, where they saw the building was on fire. Even more mysterious was that no dog was around that evening. This caused many to believe that Tiberius's spirit was protecting the students. 

Tiberius is well-loved throughout the campus. The football team has an ongoing tradition where they would pet Tiberius' head for good luck before every first game of the season. No matter how many statues are replaced because of some hijinks, Tiberius remains so beloved by the campus he could never be replaced. 

Website

https://www.lec.edu/history/