ironically enough, the current mascot for saint joseph's got its name from the football team. in 1928, a yearbook editor named charlie dunn started a contest in order to find a nickname for the colleges athletic teams. suggestions from the student body were narrowed down to two nicknames; "the hawks" and "the grenadiers." ultimately, the hawk mascot won in a narrow margin over the grenadiers. john gallagher ('31) was the name of the student who submitted the hawk suggestion. the name was appropriate, or so the student body felt, because of the fact that they were used to seeing real hawks frequently flying over and around the campus. it was felt by dunn that the mascot "typified the fighting spirit of our crimson and gray athletes..." and was "...suggestive of the aerial attack which has made our football team famous."