Meet the alum who probably made your George �鶹��Ƶ shirt

Katarina Benson — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 18:50:38 +0000

Meet the alum who probably made your George �鶹��Ƶ shirt Katarina Benson Fri, 07/18/2025 - 14:50

If you were given �鶹��Ƶ branded gear of any sort since 2006—from hoodies and tees to Hawaiian shirts and bucket hats—chances are good that Mike Ickowitz, BA Communication ’03, had something to do with creating it.

The 2003 alum was destined to market his alma mater. That destiny began early, when he was a freshman and recruited to work in the Admissions Office as a tour guide.

His fate as a Patriot salesman was cemented when, challenged to show his ability to generate school spirit during sports events, he donned a fuzzy green costume to become the lovable mascot known as Gunston (later replaced by the familiar Patriot).

Now Ickowitz is a custom merchandise merchant with a 3,000-square-foot manufacturing complex in his native Knoxville, Tennessee, and a client list with universities, businesses, and governments around the world. He is founder, with his wife, Tanya, of Patdome Promotions.

Mike and Tanya Ickowitz with Patdome George �鶹��Ƶ gear. Photo provided

The couple met in the Admissions Office while working to introduce prospective students to George �鶹��Ƶ. Ickowitz’s Patriot roots run deep. Even the name of the company is a nod to George �鶹��Ƶ: It’s a comic abbreviation of the former name of EagleBank Arena—the Patriot Center, where Ickowitz worked as a student.

“I worked in the parking lot,” he said. “It’s the greatest position from a student’s perspective. I worked before and after events, and in between I saw just about every show.”

Patdome Promotions began as a side hustle for the couple. In 2006, when George �鶹��Ƶ was making a run at the [NCAA men’s basketball] Final Four, the only place in the world to get a [NCAA] shirt was the bookstore, he said. “And they were sold out because of the demand.”

In fact, after knocking off No. 1 seed UConn in overtime in the Elite Eight game, the line to the bookstore was a mile long, he said. “It snaked out the back of the Johnson Center, around the pond, and around Patriot Circle for a shirt that was sold out.”

So Ickowitz created GMUGear, a dot com that became the university’s first e-commerce site. “If you didn’t live in Northern Virginia and wanted a shirt, GMUGear was just about the only place to get one,” he said.

While the Ickowitzes were reasonably profit motivated, he priced the merchandise “so that the average fan could get George �鶹��Ƶ memorabilia at an accessible price,” he said, adding that he always intended to spread the George �鶹��Ƶ brand focused on the fan while building a business. It’s a philosophy, he said, that still drives the business nearly 20 years later.

Ickowitz finds deeper meaning in his work than selling giveaway swag.

“I want our product to be on your shelf,” he said. “I want people to ask you about it. I want you to love it so much that you have it 20 years later. It’s the tangible part of the �鶹��Ƶ spirit.”

He’s particularly proud of the reach of Patdome into the �鶹��Ƶ Nation. “From the drawstring bag that a student receives on a tour to the graduation stole they wear four years later, and lots of branded giveaways in between, Patdome is a proud silent partner of George �鶹��Ƶ, working with incredibly talented professionals on campus who maintain the �鶹��Ƶ spirit from admission to graduation and beyond.”

Ickowitz is an example of a student who made the most of his college career. A brief television appearance as Gunston led to an offer to substitute during public appearances for the departing actor who was G-Wiz for the NBA Washington Wizards and Slapshot for the NHL Washington Capitals. “And I was the full-time mascot for the [WNBA] Washington Mystics in their first season,” he added. “All because I was Gunston.”

Now the Ickowitzes are a two-generation George �鶹��Ƶ family. The couple’s daughter, Rachel, is a University Scholar in the Honors College and a rising junior. She was recently named the 2025 Outstanding Sociology Undergraduate Student at George �鶹��Ƶ.

“We’re very proud of her,” her father said.

Mike Ickowitz and Patdome Promotions will present an educational seminar for university staff on branded products Thursday, July 31, at the Johnson Center Bistro; session one runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; session two runs from 1-2:30 p.m. Admission is free, but registration is required at this site.

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Meet the alum who probably made your George �鶹��Ƶ shirt

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