The Hawk (Saint Joseph's University mascot)

The Hawk
A flap of The Hawk while visiting stands during a halftime in 2018
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.

The Hawk has been seen stopping its eternal flapping. In a game in 1998 against the University of Rhode Island URI's mascot, Rhody the Ram, 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[]

The Hawk is unusual in traveling to away games; here it can be seen in Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium, in mid-flap to the left of the large 'P' sign in the background

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]

Awards[]

• Sports Illustrated Mascot of the 20th Century^[2]
• Sporting News Mascot of the Year 2001^[3]
• "Best of Philly" award from Philadelphia Magazine in 2003-04

See also[]

• List of U.S. college mascots

References[]

External links[]

• Saint Joseph's University Site
• Saint Joseph's University Official Athletics Site