You've got your Hawkeyes, Fighting Irish, Spartans and so on. However, there's one class mascot that surpasses all the rest. Now, unless you're from the Midwest or you're already part of the Loras legacy, you may have never heard of this mascot. Well, ladies and gentlemen, let me get you acquainted with fierce and fearsome Dewey the Duhawk.
What's a Duhawk? We're all Duhawks (at Loras, that is).The Duhawk family is one that's incomparable in innumerable ways, so this is me attempting to limit that to six.
1. Duhawks are EVERYWHERE.
At a school of 1,700, you wouldn't expect to be running into a lot of fellow Duhawks and or Duhawk alum. However, on my first day of work in Chicago, I pulled up to the train wearing my purple Loras quarter zip, and the man next to me informed me that he graduated in 1990. "I like the Duhawk gear," the man said as he hopped on the train. Then when I got to my office, my coworker, whom I had never met before, and I was now sharing a cubicle with, graduated from Loras in 2012 and knew many of the same people that I did. If that doesn't convince you that Duhawks are the best, because you can't go anywhere without bumpin' wings with another, I've got one more for you.
The summer before my freshman year, my uncle was at the gym when he saw a purple Loras shirt from across the room. He approached the kid and told him to "keep an eye out for [my] nephew," assuming we'd never see each other. That year we were placed in neighboring residence halls, we were next door neighbors last year and we're finishing our four-year run as roommates.
2. Duhawks du miracles.
Whether it was coming together in a heroic, collective effort to raise funds and gather items for the victims of the Visitation fire, raising over $1 million in 11 years for the Children's Miracle Network or receiving the inaugural Presidential Award for interfaith service; year after year, Duhawks prove that "small school" doesn't really mean anything. Label us all you want, we're making miracles happen every day and we're a quarter than of other schools. I've never been a part of another community quite like the Duhawk community, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
3. Duhawks du a lot of shenanigans.
We may be small, but we're mighty; and man, can we have a good time. There's the Miracle Mile, the Green Mile, Duhawk Day, Launch into Loras, Haunted Houses, Lazer Tag, Headphone Discos... my gosh, the list really never ends. Between sports teams, College Activities Board and students dedicated to working hard in order to play hard, Duhawks can hold their own in the field of having fun. I don't just mean the "woo, let's party," kind of fun that shenanigans implies. We do dance dares, intramural sports that get way too intense (sorry, Wahlert basketball alum, for probably sticking my knee out too far) and many other college-sponsored activities. There's really never a dull moment at Loras, and Duhawks really go all out to have a good time.
4. Duhawks support their fellow Duhawks.
Home or away, rain or snow, win or lose: Duhawks always support Duhawks. Whether it be eDUcation club coming to co-host a Dance Marathon preview party, SigEp and OVER sponsoring a guest speaker together or (let's be honest) a men's home soccer game, we're all out there together, supporting one another and helping each other achieve success. I've never felt on my own at Loras, through thick and thin, I can count on the friends, and even the fringe friends, that I've met in my three years at Loras, and I know that my friends can count on me. The warm environment, the constant network of support, I challenge you to find a tighter bond anywhere else.
5. We've created our own verb.
"Du what? Duhawks." I can't tell you how many emails from Ellie Horst (you're welcome for the call out) alone in which "do" has been replaced with "du." It's a subtle difference, but we've created our own du-culture in which anything becomes a du-insert noun or verb here. We've got Duhawks supporting Duhawks, DuTalks, DuNews, DuServe, eDUcation Club... there's nothing that we can't Du. No, I will not apologize for that pun.
However, the Du-Craze has gotten a little out of control. One day in class, as much as I hate to admit it, I was kind of zoning out on whatever it was Google News had to offer when someone had said, "To what?" Without hesitation, and I mean immediately, I turned and said "To hawks," as if it were the obvious and only response. I'm not even mad.
6. Duhawks always fly back home.
When that inevitable time comes, and you're no longer a student at Loras college, there's a sense of sorrow that must set in. All the glorious moments that have piled up over the past four years are now behind you. There's no more $1.50 rum and Cokes at Gin's on Thursday, no more chicken nugget Mondays and no more five-story climb to the sauna that is Hennessy. However, one thing that I can't help but notice over the course of my life, after seeing my godmother interact with Loras as an alum, Duhawks always fly back home. Maybe it's homecoming, maybe they're in town for business or maybe they're bringing their future Duhawk for a visit, it doesn't matter. Because at it's core, that's what Loras is for us Duhawks: it's home.
Long story short: Duhawks du it right.
