Traditions create a link from the past to the present and on to the future.  This year, several of UGA’s campus traditions have been renewed and even strengthened.

For over 50 years, whenever the Georgia Bulldogs football team has taken the field, so has its spirited mascot, “Uga”.  From generation to generation, each Uga has been part an unbroken family line.  The white English bulldogs are owned by Sonny Seiler (BBA ’56, JD ’57), whose family breeds, raises and trains them – and considers them part of the family.  When Uga VI unexpectedly died, Uga VII was called to duty, making his public debut on Aug. 30 before the Bulldogs home opener against Georgia Southern University.

Though Uga VII has been plunged into a world very foreign to the one he’s known since birth—frequent travel, roaring crowds, constant demands for his attention—Seiler says he’ll handle it with dignity, just like his predecessors.

“English bulldogs by nature are gentle,” he says, “although they look ferocious.”

Another tradition often associated with the football season is the ringing of the University of Georgia Chapel Bell. The bell and its tower were taken down last spring when university officials decided the tower, which dated back to about 1913, could no longer safely hold the 700-pound bronze bell.

Over the summer, physical plant workers spent many hours building a new tower, which closely resembles the original in height and shape. Workers in several physical plant shops including carpentry, sheet-metal, welding and roofing helped build the new tower.  While the tower was being built, the bell – cast in 1835 in Medway, Mass. – was in Cincinnati, Ohio, for a thorough refurbishing. Workers at the Verdin Co., a firm that specializes in bell restorations, removed years of accumulated rust and grime, including remnants of paint reputedly used by Georgia Tech students to paint slogans on the bell in the 1920s. Polished and covered with a preservative, the formerly greyish-black bell now has a radiant golden luster.

Ralph Johnson, associate vice president for physical plant, commended the construction crew and all the other workers who participated in the task.

“All the employees who worked on this project took great personal, painstaking interest to ensure the quality of the work,” Johnson said. “They put a lot of pride into this, and Georgia fans owe them a big thank you for their dedication and hard work.”

The refurbished bell was placed in its new tower in time to be rung in celebration of UGA’s victory over Georgia Southern University.

A decidedly quieter, but no less venerable, link to the past is the sundial honoring the Class of 1908 that was installed 100 years ago on the site of the famed Toombs Oak.  For 63 years the sundial sat atop its pedestal until it was stolen in 1971.  Now the historic sundial’s face has been replaced thanks to the descendents of J. Howard Neisler, president of UGA’s Class of 1908.  

With only a faded black-and-white photograph of the original sundial as a guide, artisan Tony Moss of Bedlington, England, created a face similar in size and appearance to the original but much richer in detail.  Made of solid brass and weighing about 15 pounds, the circular face is engraved with directional orientations, large Roman numerals, the months of the year and intricately etched designs. The gnomon—the triangular device in the center of the face that projects a shadow that indicates the time—is a close replica of the original.  The new face also incorporates modern scientific knowledge that makes it almost as accurate as a clock for telling time.

Laura Whatley Cole, Neisler’s granddaughter, remembers seeing the original sundial when she came to UGA football games with her grandfather, who died in 1969, three years before the sundial went missing. She learned of its disappearance years later when her son took a campus tour.

“My grandfather would nonchalantly point it out, but he was humble about it,” Cole said. “He was dear friends with his classmates all his life and I know the sundial was important to him. I think he would be proud that his grandchildren and other family members are making this gift a hundred years later in his honor.”


Multi-media Presentations:
Remembering Uga VI »
Chapel Bell Restoration »