Harlan, the Great Pyrenees, and his owner, Cris Wood, are often seen walking around MU’s campus and interacting with students passing by. When Harlan’s sidewalk cling went missing recently, distress broke out on social media. Wood posted an Instagram picture on Feb. 11 of Harlan next to his damaged sidewalk cling with the caption, “What happened here ( Landscaping)?” Multiple followers’ demanded MU to fix the sticker immediately, tagging Mizzou in the comments.
“I went up there and I saw that a bunch of [the cling] was scraped off, maybe three-eighths of it, so I posed Harlan for some pictures,” Wood said. “Like, who did this?”
It turns out, the cling had been partially damaged from snow removal efforts by MU, Christian Basi, MU Media Relations director, said.
“We took the damaged sidewalk cling off immediately for safety reasons,” Basi wrote in an email to The Maneater.
Then, on Feb. 13, Wood posted another picture of Harlan next to an empty outline of where the cling used to be.
“Oh, [the responses] crack me up,” Wood said. “When somebody says something about Harlan, there’s always these weird replies, like, ‘Oh my god, you better do it, I want my tuition back,’ things like that.”
Due to cold temperatures, Basi said that a new cling will not hold correctly to the sidewalk, so one will not be put down in the near future.
On Saturday, MU announced on social media that a new alternative is ready: a Harlan sign, which will be moved around campus for students to take pictures with.
MU freshman Andrea Lin walks across Speakers Circle a couple times a week, and Harlan’s sidewalk cling was her favorite one across campus. Lin said she hopes for a new one, but appreciates MU’s replacement sign.
“Since we don’t see Harlan as much around campus, it’s nice to have a dedicated sticker for him,” Lin said. “[But] it’s kind of a step-up, right, having a sign? I think it’s really cute and wholesome. He’s like our unofficial mascot.”
Edited by_ Sophie Chappell | schappell@themaneater.com _