After a live black bear and multiple Great Danes failed to serve as an enduring symbols of the Hawkeyes, the University of Iowa found a school mascot who has withstood the test of time: Herky the Hawk.

The beloved mascot turns 75 this year. While some birthday wishes took place at FRYfest on Sept. 1 in Coralville with thousands of Hawkeye Fans and over ten of his mascot friends, Herky still looks forward to a full year of celebration ahead of him.

Herky takes flight

Herky originally hatched in 1948, shown in illustrations created by then-UI professor Dick Spencer III. However, the boisterous bird was not officially named until 1949. Many are surprised to learn his full name is Hercules, after the Greek mythological figure.

The hawk was seen only in Spencer’s illustrations until 1959 but Herky eventually found himself attending games at Iowa Stadium where he watched from the sideline. At the time he wore football pants, a black and gold jersey, and paper-mache head. He occasionally found himself in trouble for dangerous antics, according to a timeline in his exhibit at the UI Athletics Hall of Fame.

During these early years, other mascots who wore paper mache heads were popping up around the Big Ten like Bucky the Badger in 1949 and Purdue Pete in 1956.

In the 1960s, the fraternity Delta Tau Delta took Herky under their wing and cared for him until they lost their charter, and were removed from the UI campus in 1999. According to the front page of a 1999 edition of The Daily Iowan, the chapter had its charter revoked for “flagrant drug and alcohol use” and Herky wanted nothing to do with that.

The original building, 322 S. Clinton St., still stands and now houses the Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory.

Carrie Norwood, a former member of the Herky program and UI alum from 1999 until 2002, said she remembers the day the removal was announced.

“I [ran] down to the end of Burge Hall and I, sure enough, look out the window and I see a now former Delta Tau Delta fraternity member hanging out, leaning out the window and hammering off the big wooden Greek letters that identify the house,” Norwood said.

It was common knowledge that Herky was associated with Delta Tau Delta. Norwood said she immediately began to wonder what was going to happen to Herky.

“All of a sudden I think like, ‘Oh my gosh, who is going to be Herky’s best friend?’ If the fraternity members had been Herky’s best friend for 40 or 50 years, who’s going to get to do that?” she said.

Herky quickly found himself under the supervision of the UI Spirit Squads later that same year. The UI Spirit Squads posted an advertisement in the May 3, 1999 edition of DI for students to try for a chance to become a part of Herky’s new squad. The advertisement is what drew Norwood to the program, she said.

“My [rowing] teammate was sitting next to me, she was reading The Daily Iowan and I’m looking off in, you know, la la land or listening to some music,” Norwood said. “All of a sudden she says, ‘Oh, they’re gonna have tryouts to be Herky’s best friend.’ And my jaw hit the floor. I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to be Herky’s best friend. I’m going to do that.’”

Angie Anderson, another first female friend of Herky and a UI alum from 1997 until 2001, had a similar discovery of the advertisement and decided to try it out as well. She said they were expected to have a tryout and an interview for the audition. For the tryout, she used music from the 1984 version of “Footloose” but it didn’t go as planned.

“I remember running out and sliding on my knees but my knee pad slipped right when I landed and so I just bashed my knee into the floor,” Anderson said. “I was in so much pain but I was like, ‘Don’t give up.’”

Herky stayed with the UI Spirit Squads ever since 1999. They gave him a few makeovers over the years, the most recent being in 2014. From his original paper mache in 1959, Herky started using fiberglass material for his head and a more full body design in the 1980s and then in 2014 Herky was given a more masculine, stronger stature.

Norwood, when recounting events during her time with Herky, said one of the most memorable moments was the game after 9/11 where Herky ran with the U.S. flag into Kinnick Stadium. This all happened after Herky was carried in on a platform lifted by the other spirit squad members.

“I remember we were all telling Herky like, ‘This is probably one of the most important moments right now for the university,’” Norwood said. “I feel like to see Herky being carried out with the American flag just brought everybody together in a time when the world needed it.”

Anthony Caligiuri, a former member of the Herky Security Squad from 2014 until 2018 and UI alum, said an iconic moment in Herky’s more recent career was the addition of the “Hawkeye Wave” in 2017.

“I was pretty close to Herky, helping him out,” Caligiuri said. “ I remember kind of telling him like, ‘Hey, I heard we were doing this wave thing right after the first quarter, we’re not really sure how it’s gonna look, you know, just make sure you just, I guess, turn and wave,’ and the rest is history.”

Herky and his rivals

Within the Big Ten conference, there are 12 schools out of the 14 that currently have an active mascot, according to the Mascot Hall of Fame.

Alex Kern, the Herky mascot coach, said while the other Big Ten schools are Iowa’s rivals, in the end, all the mascots are friends.

“Obviously we’re rivals with some of the other mascots, so when we go visit them, we like to poke fun but at the end of the day, we’re all friends,” he said.

In the past 75 years, however, there have been a few times when other mascots have gotten rowdy with Herky.

Norwood said she remembered, during her time with Herky, there was an altercation with Penn State’s Nittany Lion.

“Herky and the Nittany Lion were doing a little bit of a play back and forth. It got a little too aggressive,” she said.  “At one point, we kind of had to rush Herky into the visiting team locker room … And we had to help Herky calm down, get all good, get his head back in the game, and then we got him back out onto the field.”

Norwood said Cy from Iowa State liked to push the boundaries by coming over to Herky’s side of the field during games when he was not supposed to. Mascots, during home and away games, are assigned specific areas of the sidelines where they can entertain the crowd.

Caligiuri traveled with Herky to a Rutgers game during his time, and he said Herky was flocked with police officers when they were in Times Square because of the number of mascots who were not known for their kindness. According to a New York Post article, people who wear costumes in Times Square are known for heckling passersby and other mascots.

“[The Iowa personnel] were really nervous that Herky was going to get into some kind of fight with the Times Square mascots and they were concerned the Times Square mascots were going to attack Herky or somebody,” Caligiuri said.

Anderson traveled with Herky to an Ohio State game where she said the game got too aggressive and led to Herky receiving a neck injury from a 3-foot foam banana. Anderson later filed a lawsuit against Ohio State as the university attempted to charge Anderson for the emergency transport to the hospital. Anderson and the university settled.

Herky and the other mascots in the Big Ten conference all attend a mascot camp with their friends during the summer in Wisconsin where Brandan Clemens, a friend of Herky’s from 2006-10, said a lot of bonding takes place.

“It’s a great opportunity to meet other people, you know, workshop different things within the mascot world,” Clemens said. “I think so fondly of all the relationships I built up with other mascots and performing groups across other universities.”

Herky’s impact on friends and fans

Many of Herky’s friends weren’t even aware of the opportunity when they entered college. Javy Perez, a former Herky Security Squad member from 2011-15, said he stumbled upon it during the first few weeks of his first year after an injury prevented him from joining baseball as originally intended.

“Everyone on my floor was an athlete,” Perez said. “We had swimmers, tennis players, football guys who went to the NFL on my floor. And luckily my RA was a cheerleader … and he was like, ‘Okay, well there might be something else for you.’”

Clemens said being Herky’s friend helped him get into professional sports. Clemens is now the Director of Experiential and Youth Marketing for the Minnesota Vikings.

All the former Herky program members interviewed by the DI shared the same sentiment as Clemens: being a part of Herky’s squad in college changed the trajectory of their lives.

Norwood said she went on to become a friend to Tommy Hawk of the Chicago Blackhawks, and then Southpaw of the Chicago White Sox.

Norwood was with the White Sox during their run in the World Series in 2005.

Anderson said she was able to move to Washington D.C. immediately after graduation through connections she met in the Herky program.

Perez, while out of the mascot business for a while, said he is now an assistant to Benny the Bull from the Chicago Bulls along with his day job.

Caligiuri said being a friend of Herky still creates connections for him today.

“I was always a Hawkeye fan, you know, growing up and stuff so I’ll always kind of have that connection,” Caligiuri said. “But I think the Herky aspect of it all definitely, definitely helps. I mean, I still get emails and texts from Greg [Niemiec] and stuff. I’m still really good friends with the current mascot coach, Alex.”

What’s next?

Gregg Niemiec, the spirit squad coordinator and head cheer coach, said Herky does not have much planned for his birthday for the next few months except for the unveiling of Herky on Parade in 2024.

Herky on Parade was originally an event that began in 2004, where local artists painted and clothed six-foot-tall Herky statues. There have been a few more events since but the 2024 event is the first in nearly 10 years according to the Herky on Parade website.

Kern said in the Herky on Parade in 2024 two new Herky statues will be added into the mix.

“One is all diamond-encrusted to symbolize Herky’s Diamond Jubilee,” Kern said. “And then as part of the new series of Herky on parade statues, they announced we have Herky’s birthday statue, which was just a blank white mat and everyone there got to go and sign Herky’s birthday statue.”

Niemiec said Herky has all the qualities a hawk should have like being fast, quick, and focused, and the energy he showcases is why he will probably be the UI’s mascot forever.