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
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'', and ''
The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
''.
The Hawk has been seen stopping its eternal flapping. In a game in 1998 against the
University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...
URI's mascot,
Rhody the Ram
The Rhode Island Rams are the athletic programs of the University of Rhode Island, based in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The Rams compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football team, however, ...
, prevented the St. Joe's Hawk from his eternal flapping by putting an inner tube over its head. This temporarily immobilized his arms. While trying to remove the tube, the Hawk's head (costume) fell off. The incident was televised on ESPN.
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.
Awards
*Sports Illustrated Mascot of the 20th Century
*Sporting News Mascot of the Year 2001
The Sporting News - College Hoops : College Basketball The Best of
*"Best of Philly" award from Philadelphia Magazine in 2003-04
See also
*List of U.S. college mascots
__NOTOC__
This is an incomplete list of U.S. college mascots' names, consisting of named incarnations of live, costumed, or inflatable mascots. For team names, see List of college sports team nicknames.
Mascot index
0–9
* #1 Fan – child ...
References
External links
Saint Joseph's University SiteSaint Joseph's University Official Athletics Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:The Hawk (Saint Joseph's University Mascot)
Saint Joseph's Hawks
Saint Joseph's University
Atlantic 10 Conference mascots