Herky the Hawk

Herky the Hawk
Herky the Hawk with a tiger hawk flag
University	University of Iowa
Conference	Big Ten
Description	Anthropomorphic hawk
First seen	1948

Herky the Hawk is the athletics mascot of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Herky is a student dressed in black and gold, including wings made out of fabric, with a headpiece shaped like a hawk's head. Herky was first drawn as a cartoon in 1948, and was first portrayed at a football game in 1959. Periodically, Herky's wardrobe and overall design have been updated. There are currently two different styles of Herky costumes. The version used at football games and related events features Herky wearing a Hawkeye football helmet. The version used at basketball games and other events features Herky with different facial features and no helmet.

Other important figures to the University of Iowa are the tiger hawk symbol, a logo designed during Hayden Fry's tenure as coach of the Iowa football team, and the Golden Girl and Drum Major, which perform with the University of Iowa marching band and during football games.

History

Hawkeyes

The state of Iowa acquired the nickname chiefly through the efforts of newspaper editor James G. Edwards of Fort Madison and Judge David Rorer of Burlington. The city of Burlington had been established in 1833 after the Black Hawk War of 1832. Edwards proposed the nickname "Hawk-eyes" in 1838 to "...rescue from oblivion a memento, at least of the name of the old chief" Black Hawk. In 1843 Edwards moved his newspaper, the Fort Madison Patriot, to Burlington and renamed it the Burlington Hawkeye in tribute to his friend Chief Black Hawk.

The name "Hawkeye" was already in the public conscious through James Fenimore Cooper's bestselling The Last of the Mohicans of the 1820s and 1830s where Hawkeye was the Indian name of the series' protagonist, Natty Bumppo. It is thought by some that this popularity helped Rorer and Edwards' campaign to make Hawkeyes a nickname for Iowans. The University borrowed its athletic nickname from the state of Iowa, also known as the Hawkeye State many years ago.

Birth of Herky

Herky the Hawk, c. 1955

In 1948, journalism instructor Richard Spencer III, , better known as Dick Spencer, drew a caricature of a hawk for Frank Havlicek, business director for the university's athletic department, who was looking for a symbol to represent the athletic teams. The university liked the drawing and adapted it, but left the naming of the bird to the fans through a statewide contest. John Franklin, a Belle Plaine, Iowa alumnus, suggested the name Herky as a reference to Hercules. Spencer continued to draw Herky playing a variety of sports and doing other activities inside and outside of the university. During the Korean War, Herky donned a military uniform and became the mascot of the 124th Fighter Squadron.

Herky takes the field

Herky first appeared as a costumed mascot during a football game in 1959. Herky's appearances at games were tumultuous, including pranks pulled on other mascots and hazardous stunts, leading to university officials to decide to put an end to the costumed version of Herky. However, Larry Herb, a transfer student, had a desire to portray Herky, and convinced administrators to give him a chance. It was Herb's enthusiasm that also led to a fiberglass headpiece being manufactured and other changes being made to the costume. When Herb, a member of Delta Tau Delta, left the university, he handed the duties of being Herky off to one of his fraternity brothers. This led to a longstanding tradition of only Delts being inside Herky's costume. However, in 1999 the Delts lost their charter, and since that time the university has held open tryouts for prospective Herkys.

Herky today

Herky in Kinnick Stadium.

The most common depiction of Herky today is a result of the athletic department's decision in the early 1980s to use Herky as a marketing tool. A universal version of Herky that could be used for all sports was needed. Native Iowa City artist Charles Reed based his drawing of Herky on two sources: former Hawkeye wrestler Barry Davis and cartoon character Mighty Mouse. Herky is also involved in occasional gimmicks, such as the Alumni Herky with a white beard who appears alongside the normal Herky at the annual homecoming game, and in 2010, a special Captain America-themed Herky was introduced during Iowa's football game with Michigan State.

As part of the 75th anniversary of historic Kinnick Stadium, the University of Iowa athletic department and Iowa City/Coralville Convention & Visitors Bureau partnered with the cities of Iowa City, Coralville and University Heights to organize "Herky on Parade." 90 different statues of Herky, each decorated with a different theme, were placed on campus and in the surrounding communities.

On November 22, 1997, during a below freezing^[1] Iowa 31-0 football victory over Minnesota at Kinnick Stadium, a Golden Gopher drummer^[2] had a cup of water thrown on his face by Herky.^[3] As Herky skipped away he was tackled from behind by the drummer. Rather than take a hand offered to help the mascot to his feet, Herky broke the drummer's glasses with a punch to the face. The end result of Herky's assault on the drummer was the breaking of the historic 40-year-old cheer-bird's head.^[4] Members of the Minnesota band took small trophy pieces of the broken helmet back to Minnesota. The helmet was re-made of Kevlar for the 1998 season.^[5]

Herky has become a regular representative of Iowa athletics in national mascot competitions. Herky began participating in the Universal Cheerleading Association's mascot competition in 2004. In 2006 Herky made his first appearance in the national finals in Orlando, FL and placed 8th out of 10,.^[6] Herky qualified for the finals a second time in 2008.

References

↑ "Iowa City, IA (52240) Weather History for November 22nd, 1997". Farmersalmanac.com. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
↑ "University of Minnesota Drumline - About". Tc.umn.edu. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
↑ "top 10 ….interesting traditions in the big ten | Top 10 Big Ten". Top10bigten.wordpress.com. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
↑ "Gopher Band Hits Sour Note in Herky Number - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 2001-11-24. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
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External links

University of Iowa

Academics

Colleges:	College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (School of Music · School of Art) College of Business College of Dentistry College of Education College of Engineering Graduate College College of Law College of Medicine College of Nursing College of Pharmacy College of Public Health

Affiliations:	American Association of Universities Big Ten Conference Committee on Institutional Cooperation CIMBA Universities Research Association

Programs/Research:	Iowa Electronic Markets Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Iowa Review ISCABBS Philological Quarterly University of Iowa Press UMPERLC Writers' Workshop

Athletics

Teams:	Baseball Men's Basketball Women's Basketball Field hockey Football Wrestling

Rivalries:	Iowa State Minnesota Nebraska Wisconsin Big Four Classic

Facilities:	Aquatic Center Beckwith Boathouse Carver-Hawkeye Arena Duane Banks Field Iowa Fieldhouse Kinnick Stadium

Campus

Athletics Hall of Fame Children's Hospital Cambus Hospitals and Clinics Iowa City Iowa Memorial Union Iowa River Museum of Art Museum of Natural History Old Capitol Pappajohn Business Building Pentacrest Thomas C. Carson House

Student Life

Alumni Faculty "Alma Mater Iowa" The Daily Iowan Hawkeye Marching Band "Hawkeye Victory Polka" Herky the Hawk "Iowa Fight Song" Iowa Biennial KRUI-FM "On Iowa" "Roll Along Iowa"

Iowa Hawkeyes football

Venues	Iowa Field (1890–1928) Kinnick Stadium (1929–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa State (Cy-Hawk Trophy) Minnesota (Floyd of Rosedale) Nebraska: The Heroes Game (Heroes Trophy) Wisconsin (Heartland Trophy)

Culture & lore	All-time series results History Herky the Hawk "Iowa Fight Song" Hawkeye Marching Band

People	Head coaches Honorees NFL draftees

Seasons	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

National championship seasons in bold

Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball

Venues	Iowa Field House (1927–1983) Carver–Hawkeye Arena (1983–present)

Rivalries	Iowa "Big Four" (Big Four Classic) Iowa State (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series)

Culture & lore	History Herky the Hawk "Iowa Fight Song" First 5-on-5 college basketball game

People	Head coaches Individual honors

Seasons	1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Mascots of the Big Ten Conference

East Division	No mascot (Indiana) Sparty (Michigan State) Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State) Testudo (Maryland) No mascot (Michigan) Nittany Lion (Penn State) Scarlet Knight (Rutgers)

West Division	No mascot (Illinois) Herky the Hawk (Iowa) Goldy Gopher (Minnesota) Herbie Husker / Lil' Red (Nebraska) Willie the Wildcat (Northwestern) Boilermaker Special / Purdue Pete (Purdue) Bucky Badger (Wisconsin)