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What exactly is a
Kohawk?
In 1922, Coe's athletic
counsel set out to find a name for the Coe College's sports teams. A
contest was held, and the prize was to be a Coe blanket. More
than 600 entries were submitted. Nominated animals included the Zebras,
Chipmunks, Kangaroos, and Collies. In the non-animal category were the
Nut Crackers, Cereal Eaters, Fighting Pacemakers, Pork Choppers, and
Bacon Getters. From all these marvelous suggestions, three
nominations were submitted for a vote from the student body: the
Trojans, the Rangers, and the Ramblers. Unfortunately for those
seeking to win the Coe blanket, the students rejected all three
candidates. It looked like the Coe teams would continue without a
mascot name.
It was a member of the
faculty, Professor C.W. Perkins, who came up with the idea of the
Kohawk. He wrote a letter to the Coe Cosmos with his suggestion,
explaining that the "Hawk" stood for Iowa, the Hawkeye state, and that
"Ko," spelled K-O, meant "like the" in an Indian language. So the
nickname Kohawk would mean "like the hawk." Of course it also
helped that "Ko" also sounded a lot like Coe.
Students and faculty
immediately adopted the name, and since the fall of 1922, it has been
the fighting Kohawks of Coe College. It is not known if Professor
Perkins was awarded the Coe blanket for his suggestion.
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