Name-a-Day Calendar, February 21: Hartford Hawks
Page 107 of 365
Chosen in: The late 1940s
Chosen by: Fans
The University of Hartford is the result of a 1957 merger of three separate institutions: Hillyer College, the Hartford Art School, and the Hartt School. Hillyer was the largest school in this merger and the one that had been playing intercollegiate sports beforehand. It had existed as an educational branch of the Hartford YMCA since 1879, but then the G.I. Bill happened and a bunch of World War II veterans were looking for an education. At this time, the school exploded in size and enrollment, and it broke off from the YMCA to become Hillyer College in 1947.
Hillyer began playing intercollegiate basketball that same year. They didn’t have their own facilities yet, so they played their games at the Chauncey Harris School just south of downtown, which has since been demolished. When it existed, the building was four stories tall, and spectators of Hillyer basketball games had to climb all the way to the top floor to watch their team. This perch became known as the Hawk’s Nest, and fans began calling the team the Hawks. It stuck.
Sketches of Hillyer’s hawk mascot wouldn’t appear until 1953, but the school’s newspaper, The Hillyer Callboard, shows that bursar C. Richard Ericson may have come up with a name for a possible mascot (“Harry”) as early as 1947. In any case, the costumed mascot would debut in 1962, first named Manny, then (and now) Howie. Look at him. Doesn’t he look so sad that his president is demoting him to Division III?
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