Quakers, Normal Nockers and Roonies?

I always got a kick out of some of the nicknames athletic programs choose to go by. College programs, at any level, have no shortage of creative/odd names......some bad, some good. For instance, I don't think anyone can confidently explain to me what a "Hoosier" is. The name itself begs for public ridicule and mockery. For instance, during basketball games when Indiana travels to rival Purdue, the Boilermaker's student section never passes up the opportunity to chant repetitively: Hoosier daddy!?!?! Personally, I think that's brilliant!

Looking at a few athletic programs, some other "creative" nicknames that stand out to me are the Fighting Camels of Campbell University (NC). The story goes that their nickname and mascot stems from its founder's last name, Dr. James Archibald Campbell. Or how about at Centenary College of Louisiana, where there's nothing like striking fear into your opponent's eyes when the "Gentleman" coming running out of the locker room (in-case you're wondering, yes -- the woman's teams are called the "Lady"). Centenary's nickname used to be the "Old Ironsides," which the college said portrayed a reputation as a fearsome and powerful team with a penchant for playing rough. To clean up its image, they selected the "Gentleman" nickname. I can honestly say I'm not making this up. In fact, they took their "clean image" a step further when they discontinued their football program after adopting their new nickname.

That got me curious about the WIAC, and how their nicknames came to be. So, after a little (and I mean VERY little) research and digging around I was able to track down some interesting (and some not-so interesting) stories about each school's past. I'm glad I did this because I ended up learning a lot about each university. I received plenty of helpful information from some of the schools' archives directors and through Wikipedia -- so these stories must be true.

• Eau Claire Blugolds - Unfortunately there isn't much of story hidden behind this nickname. The name Blugolds derived from their athletic team's colors: Navy blue and old gold. I did find this gem though, the athletic programs used to be called the Eau Claire Normalities. This was because UWEC was originally the Eau Claire State Normal School when it was founded 1916. Back then a "Normal" school meant that institution was a teachers college. In fact all WIAC schools (with the exception of Stout) started out as a Normal school.
• La Crosse Eagles - After previous nicknames such as the Indians, Red Raiders, Hurricanes, Racqueteers, Peds and Maroons (from the school colors maroon and gray), and Roonies (woman's teams) La Crosse eventually settled on the Eagles. The nickname was decided upon because the university mascot was......you guest it, an eagle.
• Oshkosh Titans - It turns out that the student newspaper held a campus-wide contest in 1937 on who can pick a proper nickname for the Oshkosh State Teachers College. The winner was Tom Lynch of Fond du Lac, who came up with "Titans." The school embraced it because it was unique and it fit conveniently into songs and cheers (being that it's two syllables). It also was "indicative of the teams' fighting qualities." What did Tom receive for winning the contest? $5.00!
• Platteville Pioneers - Like Oshkosh, "Pioneers" was also founded via a contest. This time the contest was to name the school's yearbook in 1910. Duncan McGregor, former school president, won with his "Pioneer" suggestion. The college thought it was most fitting because its teaching program was constantly the "pioneer in education movements." Soon after, numerous school-related programs started embracing the new nickname. Everything from the student singing group, to the theatrical group, then eventually the student body referred its athletic teams as the Pioneers.
• River Falls Falcons - Being no exception to giving the people what they want, UWRF also held a contest to determine its nickname. After first being named the "Normal Nockers" (so many jokes are coming to mind about this one....but I'll leave it alone), a contest was held in 1931 to determine its athletic team's name. Receiving 79% of the votes, "Falcons" beat out Red and Whites, Red Birds, Red Aces, Harvesters and Ag Men(?). The winner of the contest won themselves $3.00.
• Stevens Point Pointers - It's a bit of a mystery on how or why Pointers was chosen as the school's nickname. The earliest use of the name "Pointer" first appeared on their school newspaper, The Normal Pointer, in 1895. Other than that there isn't much info on its origin. One would have to assume it's an extension of the city's name. With that being said, the city itself was founded by George Stevens in 1858, who operated a grocery and supply business along the river. Loggers found this a convenient stopping point because as the river bends one could tell from far upstream whether Stevens' point was open for business.
• Stout Blue Devils - According to Layne Pitt (Stout's Sports Information Direct) there is no official story on how "Blue Devils" became associated with Stout. However, it's been said that an intramural team (in the 1920s and 30s) was created at Stout and they called themselves the Blue Devils. Legend states that the name stuck with the local media for all intercollegiate athletic teams, and apparently withstood the test of time as well.
• Whitewater Warhawks - First named the Quakers in 1910 because, as the story goes, a broke baseball team passed through town but couldn't pay their hotel bill. So as the team's only method of payment, they left their jerseys behind to cover the bill. The college ended up buying the jerseys from the hotel, and since the name "Quakers" was already on them, Whitewater conveniently became the Quakers. Later it was decided Quakers was too pacifistic so the newspaper held a contest in the 1950s, and the entry "Warhawk" won. With the area being affected by the Black Hawk War, it seemed fitting.

If Whitewater thought "Quakers" was too placid of a name it could have been a lot worse. Just think if that poor baseball team that came through town was called the "Gentleman."
 
Cheers!