It’s cold in New York right now, which got us thinking about the campuses that are truly snowed in. Dartmouth came to mind. A university packed with tradition, rituals, and stories passed down for generations - and yet, somehow, still without an official mascot.
Dartmouth First-Year Trips is the only orientation program that starts with an email saying “pack light” and ends with everyone realizing that was a coordinated lie. For four days before classes begin, first-years are split into small groups, assigned two Trip Leaders, and sent off to do something “bonding.” This usually involves a backpack, a map no one knows how to read, and exactly one person who packed far too much granola.
Trips has existed since 1935, which explains why the structure feels almost sacred. There’s always a moment on day one where everyone is polite, slightly nervous, and pretending they love nature. By day two, the social masks fall. Someone admits they hate hiking. Someone else becomes emotionally attached to a rock. A third quietly reveals they didn’t bring a rain jacket.
The genius of Trips is that it compresses the Dartmouth experience into 96 hours: discomfort, unexpected friendship, mild chaos, and a strange sense of pride for surviving something objectively unnecessary. You come back muddy, exhausted, and already nostalgic - wearing the same sweatshirt you’ll keep reaching for all term.
Which brings us to the mascot.
We were genuinely surprised to learn that the closest Dartmouth has ever come to an official mascot is Keggy the Keg. After talking to students, it became obvious why nothing ever stuck. Even on a cold winter day, the thing you actually see around Dartmouth isn’t a costume - it’s a moose. Not necessarily on the quad, but driving to the boathouse, on back roads, at the edge of campus. You’re far more likely to encounter one of the Upper Valley’s true residents than a keg in foam.
The moose isn’t a joke or a gimmick. It's quiet, humongous, slightly intimidating, and completely indifferent to whether you’re ready for it. It feels earned. It feels honest. It feels... exactly Dartmouth.
Crew Dog was built around the idea that the best symbols are the ones people already live with - not the ones invented in a boardroom. We make clothes you don’t overthink. The sweatshirt you throw on after a long day and somehow keep wearing for years. The pieces that become part of the memory, not the moment.
Trips is where you meet your people.
Crew Dog is what you wear once you’ve found them.
And maybe it’s time Dartmouth had a mascot that reflects what it’s always been - rugged, northern, tradition-heavy, and quietly powerful.
The moose has been there all along.
