Dr. Robert E. Gibbons understood the value of a strong athletic program, and during his tenure as president of Viterbo College from 1980 to 1991, he provided the nurturing environment which allowed the V-Hawk tradition to truly take flight.

He first suggested the inscription, Of the soul the body form doth take, which appears above the entrance to the Student Activity Center. That quote by English poet Edmund Spenser very much embodies the holistic approach to athletics espoused by Robert Gibbons.

Under President Gibbons' leadership, the Student Activity Center (SAC) was built in 1986, allowing for the integration of athletics with the rest of the campus community. Participants in sports, intramural and recreation programs finally had a facility of their own to call home. The SAC was completed debt-free with money raised from the successful "Building the Future" capital campaign. To go with their new surroundings, the "76ers" as they were known then, took on a different name, the Viterbo "V-Hawks."

The Gibbons years were remarkable in other ways. Men's soccer and baseball were put into competitive play, and Viterbo gained the reputation for the fielding athletes who were as talented in the classroom as they were in the sports arena. When Bob Gibbons finally bid goodbye to Viterbo College, he closed an important chapter in the development of a premier small college athletic program, known from that point on, as one of the best in the Midwest.