After nearly seven years of service, Victor E. Bulldog III is ready to pass his legacy — or at least his leash — to the next bulldog.
During the Jan. 26 ASI meeting, Fresno State’s Live Mascot Program Coordinator, Gina Zante, broke the news that Victor E. would be announcing his retirement this spring.
The transitional process from Victor E. III to Victor E. IV will encompass three semesters, and will be called the “Victor E. Lap” campaign.
Zante outlined the retirement process during the meeting, beginning with this semester’s retirement announcement and Victor’s birthday in March. During fall 2022, Victor E. Bulldog IV will be introduced to the school.
“Victor III will, of course, train our new mascot, and he’ll teach our new mascot everything there is to know, and then in the spring of 2023, we will have an official ‘Passing of the Collar’ ceremony, where Victor III is really celebrated and thanked for all of his service to the campus, and then Victor IV becomes the official acting mascot,” Zante said.
This news comes a month before Victor E.’s seventh birthday on March 14, 2022.
Victor E. Bulldog III came to Fresno State as a puppy in 2015. He was the first mascot owned by the Alumni Association on campus, and is taken care of by another employee. Unlike past unofficial mascots, Fresno State has been able to build a program around Victor called the Live Mascot Program.
Zante explained that while many students may suspect that the funding for Victor E. comes out of their tuition fees, it is actually funded entirely through donations. Victor E. was originally purchased via donation and many of his more extravagant gifts are given as marketing from companies.
One of these gifts is a Lexus gifted by one of Victor’s sponsors, Fresno Lexus. The car, decked out with Fresno State colors and images of Victor E., is used by Zante and others to transfer Victor safely to and from his engagements.
Other necessary costs are funded through marketing deals and sponsors’ donations.
“[Victor E.] is sponsored by Fresno Pet ER and they’re his official vets, so he gets all of his veterinarian care from them. And then we also work with Diamonds in the Ruff, and they are our official groomers, so that helps keep Victor clean and healthy too,” Zante said.
Beyond scheduling Victor E.’s events and managing his social media accounts, Zante said she considers herself Victor E.’s “publicist.”
“It’s definitely more than just like hanging out with Victor E. There’s definitely a lot that goes into it and running the live mascot program, but I’m so lucky to do it,” Zante said.
Zante, who graduated from Fresno State in 2019 with a major in communications and a minor in public relations, had previously met Victor E. during photo ops on campus. Heavily involved on campus, Zante had plenty of opportunities to see Victor E. during her time on the Vintage Days Planning Committee, as an ASI member and more.
When the headline for Zante’s position caught her interest, she decided to take her shot at what many news outlets were calling Fresno’s dream job.
“What a headline, right? It was something like, ‘[Make money] hanging out with the school mascot.’ I remember seeing some media coverage of it and thinking it was the coolest job, and having had like five years of experience working on campus, I was like, ‘Hey, let’s go for it.’ So three interviews later I was offered the position,” Zante said.
Now, nearing three years in her employment, Zante has bonded considerably with Victor E. and is looking forward to staying involved in the succession process as Victor E. IV is introduced to the campus.
“We definitely have a super cool bond. I think we did a lot of training to get to that point,” Zante said. This included work with professional dog trainer Melody Daggs to ensure Victor E. III would fully cooperate with Zante.
When Victor E. III was selected, it was a lengthy process to find an English bulldog with a good temperament from an ethical breeder. This time Zante said that the Alumni Association will likely be turning to the same breeder as before, but the information is being withheld at this time for a future celebration.
Still, Zante doesn’t want this to be a time of saying goodbye to Victor E.
“There’s quite a long time until we’re saying goodbye to [Victor E. Bulldog III]. Victor will continue to be cared for by the Alumni Association for the rest of his life, so he’s got so many more years of fun in him, and we’re going to have a lot of guest appearances by him even after he’s retired. So Victor E. III, and eventually Victor E. IV, will be continual great representations of our school,” Zante promised at the ASI meeting.
In the meantime, Zante urged students to reach out to her if they want to spend some quality time with Victor E. III before his retirement.
Members of student clubs can visit Victor E. III by contacting Zante via email at [email protected]. Even students who just want to meet Victor E. III can message his personal Instagram, Facebook or Twitter to arrange something.
“I think ultimately I just want folks to know that Victor is so proud to be their mascot. He loves his job and he’s just really happy to be out and about in the community as much as he can,” Zante said.