The Hawk (Saint Joseph's University mascot)

The Hawk
University	Saint Joseph’s University
Conference	A-10
Description	Full-Body Costume
First seen	January 4, 1956

The Hawk is the mascot of Saint Joseph’s University. The Hawk represents the University’s motto, “The Hawk Will Never Die” by flapping its wings non-stop (even during halftime) throughout every basketball game. The Hawk, who has been flapping his wings since 1956, is one of the most decorated mascots in college sports, having been called the best college mascot by ESPN College Basketball Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and The Sporting News.

History of The Hawk

One of the most famous mascots in college sports, the Saint Joseph's Hawk has been flapping its wings since 1956. The Hawk, which celebrated its golden anniversary in 2005-06, is best known for staying in constant motion by flapping its wings throughout every basketball game and representing the Saint Joseph's motto, "The Hawk Will Never Die."^[1]

In 2014, the Hawk Mascot was named as the "Best College Basketball Tradition" by NCAA.com.^[1]

Jim Brennan originated the idea for a hawk as mascot during the 1954-55 season. Brennan, an ex-Marine and SJU cheerleader, at first wanted to secure an actual hawk, but later switched to the costume idea. The student government raised the 120 dollars needed to buy the initial costume, which Brennan donned for three years. He made his debut as the Hawk on January 4, 1956, a 69-56 win over La Salle at the Palestra. Since then, and including this season, a total of 34 SJU students, have donned the costume. The Hawk has not missed a men's basketball game since that first season.^[1]

Two women have served as the mascot - Sara Brennan in 2000-01 and Brienne Ryan in 2009-10.^[1]

In addition to the constant flapping, the Hawk is also recognized by its "flying" in figure eights around the court during timeouts. The constant motion, coupled with the scrappy play of the University's athletic teams, helped to spawn the school's familiar slogan "The Hawk Will Never Die!" A few years ago, ESPN used a "flap-o-meter" on the national telecast of a Saint Joseph's game to estimate that the Hawk flaps its wings 3,500 times during a regulation game.^[1]

The Hawk is unique because it is one of the few mascots in the nation that travels to every game, and the student who holds the position gains a full scholarship. The student, who is selected through an interview process during the previous spring semester, also serves as a team manager for the men's basketball team and travels with the squad.^[1]

The most decorated mascot in the country, The Hawk has garnered numerous accolades in its 50-year history. The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Street & Smith's Basketball Yearbook and ESPN College Basketball magazine have selected it as the nation's top mascot. Eastern Basketball tabbed The Hawk as the Atlantic 10 Conference's best mascot, while The Hawk won a "Best of Philly" award from Philadelphia Magazine in 2003-04. More recently, The Hawk was named as a nominee for induction into the 2008 Mascot Hall of Fame.^[1]

Saint Joseph's athletic teams have been recognized with the nickname "Hawks" since 1929. At that time, the school's yearbook editor, Charlie Dunn, initiated a contest among the student body for a symbol. More than 100 submissions were narrowed to two, with "Hawks" winning out over "Grenadiers" (World War I soldiers who specialized in tossing grenades) by a slim margin in the final vote. John Gallagher '31, a catcher on the Saint Joseph's baseball team, submitted the winning suggestion. He won a sweater with a special Saint Joseph's monogram for selecting the winning name. According to the student annual, the name was appropriate because it typified "the fighting spirit of our crimson and gray athletes and it is suggestive of the aerial attack which has made our football team famous." Ironically, football was discontinued at Saint Joseph's following the 1939 season.^[1]

But it has been the connection with the storied tradition of the Saint Joseph's men's and women's basketball programs that has given The Hawk mascot its prominence on the national level, making it one of the most recognized mascots in college athletics.^[1]

The role of mascot is annually awarded to a student, who is given a full scholarship for serving as the Hawk. He or she travels with the basketball team to all of its away games.^[1]

Hawk Selection

Hawk selection has become an annual application and interview process in which a current student is selected to represent the school. Since 1992, the student awarded the role of mascot has been recipient of an endowed scholarship and is considered a full member of the basketball team.^[1]

List of Students who have served as the Hawk
Season	Student
1955 to 1958	Jim Brennan
1958 to 1961	Pierce Markley
1961 to 1964	Al Pastino
1964 to 1966	Charlie Wieners
1966 to 1968	Chuck Elsesser
1968 to 1970	Bill Berner
1970 to 1972	John Donnelly
1972 to 1974	Joe Cassidy
1974 to 1977	Joe Boyle
1977 to 1978	Joe Boyle & Ron Manion
1978 to 1980	Kevin Quirk
1980 to 1981	Kevin Quirk & Randy Kiernan
1981 to 1982	Randy Kiernan
1982 to 1985	Dennis Sheehan
1985 to 1986	Jim Boyle, Jr.
1986 to 1988	Frank Simone
1988 to 1990	Jim Scarano
1990 to 1991	Tony Duldulao
1991 to 1993	Chuck Sack
1993 to 1994	Dan Gallagher
1994 to 1996	Brian Kearns
1996 to 1997	Glenn "Trip" Whitaker
1997 to 1998	Bobby Gallagher
1998 to 1999	Pat McGrory
1999 to 2000	Joey "G" Gawarzewski
2000 to 2001	Sarah Brennan
2001 to 2003	Steve Klarich
2003 to 2004	Chris Bertolino
2004 to 2005	Mike Tecce
2005 to 2006	Andrew Moral
2006 to 2007	Jim Miller
2007 to 2008	Jim Miller
2008 to 2009	Tim Klarich
2009 to 2010	Brienne Ryan
2010 to 2011	Tim Higgins
2011 to 2012	Joey Mreczko
2012 to 2014	Ian Klinger
2014 to Present	Brian Lafferty

Awards

Sports Illustrated Mascot of the 20th Century ^[2]
Sporting News Mascot of the Year 2001 ^[3]
Street & Smith's Best Mascot
ESPN College Basketball Magazine Best Mascot
"Best of Philly" award from Philadelphia Magazine in 2003-04
Eastern Basketball Atlantic 10 Conference's best mascot
The Hawk was nominated for induction into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2008.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 SJU. "The Hawk". sju.edu. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
↑ Hawk Traditions
↑ The Sporting News - College Hoops : College Basketball The Best of

External links

Saint Joseph's University

Academics	Schools College of Arts and Sciences Haub School of Business College of Professional and Liberal Studies

Athletics	A10 Hawks Finnesey Field The Hawk Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Holy War Saint Joseph's-Temple rivalry Men's basketball Campbell's Field Gillin Boat Club

Campus	Barbelin Hall List of buildings Lower Merion Philadelphia

Student Life	ΑΓΔ ΑΟΠ AΦ ΣΣΣ ΦΣΣ ΛΧΑ ΣΠ ΣΦΕ Anime Club Accounting Society College Democrats College Republicans SJU 'til 2 Circle K The Hawk Newspaper DSP Hawks Up 'til Dawn Student Booster Club FIJI Students For Peace and Justice Hawks Abroad University Singers PBS RSA SGA SPL (local) Habitat For Humanity

Miscellaneous	People Saint Joseph's University Press

Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball

Venues	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse (1949–2008) The Palestra (2008–2009) Hagan Arena (2009–present)

Rivalries	Temple Villanova

Culture & lore	History The Hawk City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) Undefeated regular season

People	Head coaches Retired numbers

Seasons	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 appearance in italics

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