Arkansas Tech University Student Government Association will host Jerry Day 2026 activities on Friday, Oct. 23.
Jerry Day 2026 will be observed from noon-1 p.m. in Ferguson Student Union. There will be refreshments and opportunities to take a photo with Jerry the Bulldog, ATU campus ambassador. Admission will be free and open to the public.
Jerry Day is a celebration of the anniversary of SGA’s unanimous vote to restore the tradition of Jerry the Bulldog at Arkansas Tech and install him as campus ambassador.
That vote took place on Oct. 23, 2013, and the first modern Jerry — Jerry Charles Young I — was introduced to the university community during a Homecoming Saturday ceremony on Oct. 26, 2013. He served until his retirement on Oct. 1, 2022, and was succeeded by Jerry Charles Young II, who took office on Oct. 1, 2022, and retired on April 21, 2023. Jerry Charles Young III served as ATU campus ambassador from April 24, 2023, until his retirement on May 4, 2026.
The current ATU campus ambassador, Jerry Charles Young IV, was born on Feb. 20, 2026, and took office on May 4, 2026. He was born in Dardanelle, making him the first native Arkansan to serve as ATU campus ambassador.
The tradition of Jerry the Bulldog at Arkansas Tech dates back to the mid-1930s. Owned by the W.O. Young family, the original Jerry spent much of his time on campus at the armory (later known as the Stroupe Building) with National Guard Battery F. The students and guardsmen there adopted Jerry as if he was their own.
Reports from an Arka Tech student newspaper article of the era state that Jerry was “always present at anything of importance at the armory,” which was a social center of campus at that time. When Jerry passed away in late 1937, the headline in the Arka Tech proclaimed “Campus Loses Mascot in Passing of Jerry.”
The story of Jerry was lost for three quarters of a century before it was rediscovered and restored as a permanent part of Arkansas Tech lore. Since SGA’s vote to bring Jerry back, he has represented the university by appearing at a variety of campus and community events.
Learn more about Jerry the Bulldog at www.atu.edu/jerry.
