The RedHawk became the fourth mascot
in the history of Martin Methodist College athletics during an elaborate
multi-media presentation as part of Homecoming 2002.
Between the women’s and men’s
basketball games on that Homecoming Saturday (Nov. 16, 2002), the previous
athletic mascot, the Indian, gave way to the new, student-chosen RedHawk. The
Indian, selected in 1950, had served as the mascot for more than a half-century.
Prior to that, photos in Martin yearbooks early in the 20th century
– when the school was exclusively for women – had identified athletic teams by
the nickname of the Spinsters, and, during Martin’s brief foray into college
football in 1939 and 1940 as men were first allowed to enroll, the nickname was
the Cardinals.
As cultural concerns began to arise across
the nation surrounding sports teams that had Native American characters as
mascots (Indians, Braves, Chiefs, Warriors, Redskins, Seminoles, Fighting Sioux
and Fighting Illini), officials at Martin Methodist College chose to make the
mascot change a positive one. They solicited suggestions from students as part
of a spirited competition and then unveiled the new RedHawk logo and the new
costumed mascot, Rowdy the RedHawk, as part of 2002 Homecoming festivities.
The new mascot was an immediate hit, with the men’s
basketball team winning the inaugural game as RedHawks, 69-64, over Athens
State University. (For the record, the women’s team also won the last sporting
event to be played as Indians, 92-63, over Reinhardt College earlier in the
afternoon.)
“The RedHawk mascot made for a fitting successor to
the Indian,” President Ted Brown said at the time. “The red-tailed hawk not
only is indigenous to this region, but it is a creature that has a strong
connection to the Native American culture and folklore. In fact, during our
continued involvement with the Trail of Tears project that is unfolding here in
Giles County, we learned that one of the Cherokee families that traveled
through Pulaski on the Benge’s Route was led by a man named Red Hawk.”