UMD Reveals New Champ the Bulldog Statue

DULUTH, Minn. — UMD is showing off its Bulldog pride with a new statue of its beloved mascot Champ.

Tuesday the bronze statue was installed on the campus ahead of the upcoming fall semester.

The statue displays school colors of maroon and gold and dawns a UMD shirt.

The sculpture stands near a main walkway that new students pass on campus tours.

UMD staff met the artist behind champ and got to see the statue itself Tuesday.

“We’re really excited about this new sculpture on campus,” said Lynee Williams, UMD Chief Marketing and Public Relations. “We have a lot of other sculptures and art pieces, but we really wanted something that just screamed UMD and was an easy place for people to take pictures, drive up, be able to walk right up to it and this Champ statue is a way to be able to celebrate UMD and show that pride,”

The artist behind champ used over 2,000lbs of clay before transforming it into bronze. Tuesday, he finally installed champ at its new home.

“It’s way more than I expected, my job today was to drive up from Minneapolis with a trailer towed behind my car carrying a very large bronze sculpture that I’ve been working on for over a year now,” said Nick Legeros, Sculptor.

The Champ statue’s home is in front of the Darland Administration building.

Additional landscaping and upgrades surrounding the area will be finished in the spring.