The "Duhawk" tradition dates back to 1924 when Loras College was called Columbia College. The Columbia football team, under the tutelage of head coach Eddie Anderson, was just coming off a win over the Wisconsin School of Mines (later UW-Platteville), followed by a stirring 7-3 victory over the then-powerful Kohawks of Coe College. Columbia would next travel to Michigan to face the mighty University of Detroit. In a preview story for the upcoming game, the Detroit Free Press focused on Columbia's heralded win over the Kohawks. At the time, Columbia did not have a nickname, so the Free Press sports writer took the liberty of referring to the Columbia gridmen from Dubuque as the Dubuque Hawks, and later in the story the "Duhawks." The name caught on and the Detroit Free Press became the author of this controversial moniker.
The following year, the Columbia Department of Athletics sponsored a contest to all students to come up with a "snappy" nickname for the varsity football team.
"Duhawk" was deemed "unsatisfactory, because it is imitating Coe too closely and, moreover, something absolutely original on the part of a Columbia student is desired." So, with a $5 prize reserved for the winner, the contest was opened to the student body.
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The judges of the contest narrowed the list of submitted nicknames to 15 choices - Mariners, Rebuquers, Colts, Centaurs, Comets, Bobcats, Panthers, Rockets, Terriers, Eagles, Spartans, Sentinels, Bearcats, Dragons and Pilots. But the name "Duhawk" was not on the ballot.
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The winner was...well no one's really sure. Nothing more was ever said on the subject. The following year however, in the second issue of the school newspaper, a picture of the football team was featured with the caption, "1926 Columbia Duhawks." It is interesting to note that the head coach of that 1926 team was Elmer Layden, one of Notre Dame's "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."
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However, no matter who the coach was, the "Duhawk" was here to stay.
