Georgia Magazine - September 2022 - 24

Curious GEORGIA
By Sarah Russell
Students at Georgia Tech in
Atlanta continue to pay tribute to
Sideways the dog at a memorial to
her on campus.
Sideways, Georgia Tech's sweetheart
S
he was dubbed the " official girlfriend " of the then-Georgia
School of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta by a 1946
Atlanta Journal profile of her. As the only female on the
then-all-male campus, she was a standout for sure. Rumor had it
she spent every night in a different guy's dorm room.
To the dogcatcher, that was reason enough to apprehend
her and charge her with vagrancy and loitering. The wire-haired
terrier's case file noted that she " hates bulldogs and loves people
who carry books. "
Those book-carriers, of course, sprung her from the clutches
of animal control right away. It was her second notable rescue.
In 1945, she had been tossed out of the window of a car speeding
away from the Varsity Drive-In near campus. Two carhops ran
to her aid, and off to Annie B. Schofield's boardinghouse she
was taken.
Schofield had a heart for strays, but this one was in no
condition to settle in just yet. The local vet agreed. This pup,
about 6 weeks old, would need surgery. Her operation left her
body slanted, hence her name: Sideways.
" This being Georgia Tech, some students calculated the
angle of her walk [15 degrees], " says Jennifer Rogers, alumni
historian.
Schofield's boardinghouse was near the Georgia Tech
campus, so the playful pup took to trailing after the students.
When a campus expansion resulted in the demolition of the
boardinghouse, Sideways relocated with Schofield.
" But the dog got homesick, " Rogers says. " So Mrs. Schofield
actually returned her to Tech and put her in the care of a Tech
student. "
Should anyone ever doubt where and to whom she truly belonged,
her new dog tag now said it all: " Sideways. Georgia Tech. "
Her days began with an early morning stop at the bookstore,
then a visit at the nearby College Inn, where students often
grabbed coffee. Classes were next. Some professors had her
24 Georgia Magazine September 2022
sitting up, listening attentively; others warranted a midmorning
snooze.
" That takes up most of the morning, " the Atlanta Journal
reporter noted, " until she saunters over to the dining hall for
lunch with 'her boys.' "
No matter how full her day was, Sideways always made it to
military drills and football practice.
Sideways then began to lead " her " football team onto the
field on game days. Although her beloved Yellow Jackets had a
2-5 run in her " freshman year, " she was credited with their No. 6
Associated Press poll ranking in the subsequent year.
Sideways died in 1947 under mysterious circumstances,
and her untimely death was assumed to be caused by her eating
rat poison in a dormitory. Seventy-five years later, her reputation
as a good-luck charm for Tech students is intact. Her appropriately
slanted tombstone west of Tech Tower often is topped
with pennies by students hoping to buy some luck on exams.
" Every time I walk by, there's coins or flowers, " Rogers says.
Sideways wasn't the school's only unlikely newcomer. In
the aftermath of World War II, war-weary veterans were among
the then-1,500 students. Starting college can be daunting, but
the little white dog with a black patch over her eye knew how to
make everyone feel right at home.
" Sideways represents what we all strive for at Georgia Tech:
belonging as an outsider and broken soul, being celebrated and
being remembered by the people around you, in your own
special little-profoundly meaningful-way, " Jake Grant wrote
for From the Rumble Seat, a Tech blog and online community
affiliated with SBNation, on May 18, 2020. " Sideways, through
her short but winding life, shows us that that is eminently
possible. "
Then and now, the little pup is still Georgia Tech's one and
only official girlfriend. R.I.P., Sideways.
Sarah Russell is a freelance writer in Hot Springs, Ark.
TOM COLLINS
Georgia Magazine - September 2022

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