Loras College History
Atop one of the Mississippi River’s highest bluffs in historic Dubuque stands Iowa’s oldest college. Founded in 1839 by Dubuque’s first bishop, the Most Reverend Mathias Loras, a native of Lyons, France, Loras College proudly blends its future with its past. Established as St. Raphael Seminary to educate young men for the priesthood, the College also had the expressed intention of providing an opportunity for higher education to the citizens of the area. The College has functioned under several names (St. Raphael Seminary, Mt. St. Bernard, St. Joseph College, Dubuque College, and Columbia College), finally adopting its present name during its centennial in 1939. From the time of its founding, the College has devoted its faculty and facilities to an undergraduate program, but today confers both bachelors and masters degrees.
Distinctions
- U.S. News & World Report national ranking as a top tier “best college” among institutions in the Midwest.
- The oldest college in Iowa and the second-oldest Catholic college west of the Mississippi River. Only seven other Catholic colleges existed when Loras was founded; that number has grown to 232.
- A mainstream, coeducational, Roman Catholic college, one of only 12 archdiocesan colleges in the country.
- One of only 100 colleges across the country to provide all students and faculty laptop computers.
- Dubuque, Iowa, served as the center for Iowa Catholicism as Catholics established their first diocese in that city. The leading Catholic figure was Bishop Mathias Loras, a Frenchman, who came to Dubuque in the late 1930s. Bishop Loras helped establish Catholic churches in the area and worked hard to attract priests and nuns from foreign countries. Dubuque has historically been a community of Catholic Democrats who are also pro-life.
- Hosted Vice President Dick Cheney during the 2000 campaign, and numerous other political figures throughout the years, including then Senator John F. Kennedy who delivered the 1956 commencement address.
- Recent visitors to campus include: Bill Bennett, the late John Cardinal O’Connor, Francis Cardinal Arinze, Helen Thomas, George Will, Avery Cardinal Dulles, Jonathon Kozol, Jane Bryant Quinn, Tom Monaghan, Deal Hudson, Brian Lamb and Bowie Kuhn (former major baseball league commissioner and pro-life activist).
- Thirty-one bishops of the Catholic Church have attended Loras.
- Alumni base of 22,600; most living in Iowa and Illinois (Chicago). Among them are: former Ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth Quinn; TV sports commentator Greg Gumbel; former U.S. Congressman Thomas Tauke; Harlem Globetrotter Curly “Boo” Johnson; Iowa State Representative Pat Murphy; Iowa State Senator Michael Connolly; Terry Duggan, former city of Dubuque mayor; Illinois State Senator Tom Walsh and Representative William Lipinski; the Rev. Msgr. Kevin McCoy, rector of North American College, Vatican City; retired
- Rear Admiral Jay B. Yakeley, former deputy director of the military office, The White House; Archbishop John Myers, Newark, N.J.; Virginia Grebasch, assistant counsel to the Inspector General, Reserve Judge Advocate; Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller; Tony Award winning playwright David Rabe; Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist Richard Locher; 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Michael Melloy and Chief U.S. District Judge, Central District of Illinois, Michael Mihm.
- Diatoms from the Loras College Freshwater Diatom Collection, the largest freshwater collection in the country at over 1,400, were sent into Qspace aboard two space shuttle missions and were featured on the Discovery Channel.
- Chaplain Aloysius Schmitt, a 1932 Loras alum, was the first Catholic chaplain killed in action in World War II. Loras’ Christ the King Chapel was dedicated in his honor, and his memorabilia, which was recovered from the USS Arizona, are archived in the Chapel.
- Contributes $51,000,000 to the economic picture of the tri-state community each year.
- Ranks 37th out of more than 200 U.S. Catholic colleges and universities in the number of students in the 1960s, 70s and 80s who later earn doctorates; first among the Iowa Catholic colleges.
- The Loras College library is the oldest and third largest private academic library in Iowa. It contains original parchment manuscripts dating to the twelfth century as well as 500 books belonging to Bishop Mathias Loras.
- The Lorian student newspaper was first published on October 11, l924; The College Spokesman literary magazine was published from 1903 to 1970, and in 1974 it was succeeded by The Outlet magazine.
A Proud Heritage
- In 1876 the first theatrical performance by students was a scene from “The Merchant of Venice”, but it was not until 19 32 that women portrayed female roles in campus theater productions.
- The student rulebook for 1882 stated that students must wear soft-soled shoes when walking in all corridors so as not to disturb others in the building.
- In 1947-48 the yearly room rental fees in Keane Hall ranged from $120 to $250 with only room #344 commanding a $250 room rate.
- The Loras Players, founded in 1910, are the oldest amateur theater troupe west of the Mississippi River.
- Blue jeans, fatigue clothes, gym clothes and shirts without collars were not permitted except for recreational activities so stated the 1965 student handbook.
- The first organized orchestra and choir began in 1877, and the first band in 1912.
- Loras awarded its first honorary degree to a woman, Miss Roslyn Schrup, in 1959.
- According to the 1914 rulebook, students were not allowed to have any kind of food in their rooms either from the cafeteria or received through the mail.
- According to the 1935 rulebook, students residing in Loras Hall (now Keane) could not retain an automobile or motorcycle in Dubuque during the school year.
- In 1920, the College was renamed Columbia College to avoid confusion with the local Presbyterian Dubuque German College, which then became the University of Dubuque.
- Loras became co-ed in 1971, introduced women’s intercollegiate athletics in 1975 and currently has over 50% female students enrolled.
- The first Student Senate was created in 1940 with the election of 16 men. Its purpose was to serve as a voice of the student body; provide cooperation between students, faculty and administration; develop good citizenship and carry on relationships with other colleges.
- The 1874 student handbook stated that students were forbidden to stand at the study hall windows, to spill ink, write on desks or walls or throw any paper on the floor. Students were to carry in as little dirt as possible, using the scraper before entering all rooms.
- Faculty member Rev. Alphonsus Dress composed the first College song entitled “Purple and Gold” in 1912 with words by Timothy Mulligan (Class of 1913).
- The first sorority on campus was Sigma Delta Omega in 1972.
- The first Duhawk football game to be played in the Rock Bowl was in 1940 when Loras beat Upper Iowa 27-6.
- The first computer usage on the campus began in 1968.
- Permission to visit relatives was granted only twice a month and was accompanied by a written request from the parents to the President of the College according to the 1938 rulebook.
- The 1965 student handbook stated that the owner of any car found in East Dubuque after 9 p.m. or prior to 6 a.m. would lose all driving privileges.
- In 1873 Archbishop John Hennessy acquired the site of an old hospital previously occupied by the Sisters of Charity of the BVM on Loras Boulevard and opened St. Joseph’s College.
- In 1874, tuition, room/board and laundry cost $225/year for the 35 students enrolled at St. Joseph’s College. In the 2000-01 many of the 1,725 students enrolled paid $20,951 at Loras College.
- The football team was undefeated in 1916, 1922 and 1947. Intercollegiate football was discontinued in 1959 and did not return until 1970.
- The student handbook for 1914 required students to salute all professors and visitors and noted that the regulation service uniform consisted of a cap, coat and breeches, leather shoes, leggings, white collar, white or wool gloves and an olive drab shirt.
- In 1972 the lower level of the Collan Center old dining facility became a student lounge called the “Last Draw” following a decision of the State of Iowa to reduce the minimum drinking age to nineteen.
- The 1930 student handbook prohibited the reading of newspapers or magazines in the study hall at all times and also required permission of the Dean before students were allowed to make a phone call.
- The student enrollment reached an all-time high in 1948-49 with 1,489 men taking advantage of the G.I. Bill.
- The St. Joseph’s College catalogue for 1911-12 required that all students take physical training classes, stating a sound mind in a sound body produces a wholesome character.
The Loras College Mascot
What exactly is a Duhawk anyway? The shortest answer would be to say that it is a hawk from Dubuque. Like many monikers, the Duhawk’s humble beginning is a story in and of itself.
In 1924, an unknown writer for the Detroit Free Press was compiling a football preview story about the upcoming game between Loras (then known as Columbia College) and the University of Detroit. Columbia, however did not have an official nickname at that time, which made for a dull story.
As it turns out, Columbia had just defeated a highly regarded Coe College, whose nickname was the Kohawks. It seems that the Free Press writer assumed that, since a team from Coe was called the “Kohawks,” a team from Dubuque should, naturally, be called the “Duhawks.” The name caught on and the team became known as the Columbia Duhawks, making that writer the inadvertent author of the nickname, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last fall.
While the school didn’t officially recognize the term “Duhawks,” in an effort to surface its own “original” nickname, a 1925 contest by The Lorian, the school newspaper, failed to win support for any number of other nickname options (despite a whopping $5 prize!). In September of 1926, the school newspaper ran a photograph of the football squad with the caption: “1926 Columbia Duhawks.” The Duhawk was here to stay and the door was opened for a long line of interpretations as to the look for the Loras College athletics’ symbol, leading to the new “Dewey 2000”-a look for the Duhawks’ future!
The new athletic logo features a full-body caricature of a Duhawk standing in a strong pose with its “hands” on hips and giving a confident gaze.
The Loras College Fight Song
Hail Loras Varsity
Cheer them along the way,
Onward to victory,
We will win this game today.
Let’s hear a cheer for the Varsity, Long may they reign supreme,
Shout till the echoes ring, for the glory of our team!
Coat of Arms
In 1920, Pierre de Chaignon la Rose, Massachusetts, was authorized to design a coat of arms which would be appropriate to an archdiocesan college, whose founder was Bishop Mathias Loras, whose patron is St. Joseph, and whose motto is Pro Deo et Patria, which translates to “For God and Country.”
The term “coat of arms” came into the language during the age of chivalry when a coat of arms was used by knights for the purpose of identification. A knight’s insignia was emblazoned on the short coat, which he wore over his armor and served as a means of recognition on the field of combat. Today, a coat of arms still performs the function of identifying the possessor, which explains why a college embodies its heraldic insignia in its seal.
The devices, colors and the motto of a college shield possess symbolic values, and they are intended to express the aims and the ideals of the institution.
The designer of the Loras College shield retained the colors of the Loras family arms, but he modified the design. In order to make room for the heraldic symbols of St. Joseph, the carpenter’s square and the lilies, he moved the “fess” to the top of the shield, making of it a “chief.”
The devices on the shield celebrate the founder and the patron of the College. The diamond panes on the chief, which are taken from the arms of Bishop Loras, express in heraldic fashion the name of the College. The carpenter’s square and the lilies on the field indicate that the College is under the patronage of St. Joseph. The colors, gold, red, silver and blue, which are those of the Loras family arm s, reinforce the suggestion of the diamond panes on the chief.
The colors of Loras’ shield also suggest an archdiocesan institution in the city of Dubuque. The two colors on the chief, silver and blue, are those of the arms of Julien Du Buque, who gave his name to the city. No colors other than gold, red, silver and blue are to be used in printing the Loras Coat of Arms.
The logo for Loras College, while having its origin in the College coat of arms, will not replace it. The Coat of Arms will continue to serve as an official identification device, but will only be used in color where appropriate on official documents and on other official occasions.
Publications using the official coat of arms in color need approval of the Loras Office of Institutional Marketing. Loras approved logos, graphics, and photo along with a variety of templates can be found on the Inside Loras portal at https://lorasedu.sharepoint.com/EnrollmentManagement/Marketing.
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