Texas A&M International University Athletics

Meet Dusty the Dustdevil, the official face of Texas A&M International University's Department of Athletics. The friendly whirlwind has represented TAMIU from the get-go. 

Dusty, in his current form, was officially introduced in 2008 -- the first year the Dustdevils competed as a NCAA Division II athletics program. His big reveal took place at the Dustdevils annual Maroon Madness basketball kickoff.

He's led the Maroon Mob and every Dustdevil supporter ever since, and the party is no where near its end!


About the Dustdevils
The Dustdevils are the official mascot of the NCAA Division II athletic programs at Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas. TAMIU is a member of the Heartland Conference and competes in 11 sports: volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, softball, baseball, men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's golf. 

Texas A&M International University is an international university, poised at the Gateway to Mexico and serves as the cultural and intellectual hub of a vibrant bilingual and bicultural community.

A Member of The Texas A&M University System, TAMIU is committed to the preparation of students for leadership roles in their chosen profession in an increasingly complex, culturally-diverse state, national and global society.

The Science
According to the American Meterology Society, a Dustdevil is a well-developed dust whirl; a small but vigorous whirlwind, usually of short duration, rendered visible by dust, sand, and debris picked up from the ground.
Dustdevils occasionally are strong enough to cause minor damage (up to F1 on the Fujita scale). Diameters range from about 3 meters to greater than 30 meters; their average height is about 200 meters, but a few have been observed as high as 1 kilometers or more. They have been observed to rotate anticyclonically as well as cyclonically. Although the vertical velocity is predominantly upward, the flow along the axis of large Dustdevils may be downward. Large Dustdevils may also contain secondary vortices. Dustdevils are best developed on a hot, calm afternoon with clear skies, in a dry region when intense surface heating causes a very steep lapse rate of temperature in the lowest 100 meters of the atmosphere.
The Makeover
In 2014, Dusty's images received some updating. Like anything else, as the years passed by, Dusty's look matured. With the help of one of Laredo's most mercurial up-and-coming graphic designers, Carlos Rene Ramirez -- a former TAMIU student -- Dusty got his makeover.

The reformed Dusty offers unmistakable tributes to the past while progressively projecting into the future of TAMIU’s championship tradition. The Maroon and Silver colors maintain consistency and recognition within the already established family at TAMIU, while Gold has been introduced to invoke premonitions of a Dustdevil’s truest form, starting with the golden hue shining from the swirling dust as the sunlight illuminates it.