Marquette has undergone several image changes throughout its 125-year history, but the most controversial change has been its nickname.

Marquette was originally located at North 10th and State Streets, giving rise to the unofficial nickname "Hilltoppers" from 1917 until 1954.,”

Marquette has undergone several image changes throughout its 125-year history, but the most controversial change has been its nickname.

Marquette was originally located at North 10th and State streets, giving rise to the unofficial nickname "Hilltoppers" from 1917 until 1954. At the same time, from 1924 to 1937, the football team was nicknamed the "Golden Avalanche."

According to documents from university archives, because the university had moved from 10th and State, students felt the need for an updated nickname in 1954. The Homecoming committee suggested the name "Warriors" and it was adopted that year.

"The 'Warriors' nickname was the first time anyone paid attention to the mascot," Thomas Jablonsky, irector of the Institute for Urban Life and expert on Marquette history, said. "It linked to the new Milwaukee Braves, and the nickname became a more serious enterprise with Al McGuire coaching basketball and the team becoming more serious."

The nickname quickly became associated with American Indians because of the American Indian mascot created that year, "Whoosh."

The name derived from the sound a tomahawk makes when it is swung. Pat Buckett, or Chief White Buck, an American Indian, represented Whoosh at games, the archive documents said.

In 1961, "Willie Wampum" was created. Willie was an American Indian cartoonish character with a large, grinning, papier-m