Spring Break
LASTING LEGACIES: Homecoming brings alumni to old stomping ground
BRITTANY COFER
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News
Editor's Note: This is the final installment of "Lasting Legacies," a series examining historical aspects of the University.
They wore long skirts and wool sweaters.
They held pep rallies on Friday nights, where students, cheerleaders and football players would gather in anticipation of the coming game.
And, of course, they rang the Chapel bell when the Bulldogs won.
In the 1950s, when Nancy Butts Thompson, daughter of former UGA football coach Wally Butts, attended the University, things were different.
Thompson, who spent three years cheering on the Bulldogs from the sidelines in '57, '58 and '59, will be between the hedges once again for Saturday's Homecoming game against Tennessee Tech.
"It's amazing how many [cheerleaders] are coming back," said the 72-year-old alumna. "There are quite a few from my original squad."
As the daughter of the Bulldogs' legendary football coach, Thompson said cheering on the team held a special meaning for her.
"For me personally, it was a wonderful thing because at that time my father was the football coach at Georgia. So I was essentially cheering not only for the Georgia Bulldogs, but for my bread and butter, I suppose," she laughed.
Thompson, who now lives in Athens, said she enjoys coming back to campus, especially when it's to cheer on the Dogs. In the 50 years since she earned her journalism degree, students and faculty have molded the University into an institution much different from the one she remembers.
"The student body wasn't nearly as large," Thompson said. "It was such an honor [to be a cheerleader] because there were so few of us."
While her alma mater evolved throughout the years, her sport has taken on a new face as well.
"We actually led cheers, you know. We had to have a big mouth," Thompson said. "[Cheerleaders now] don't actually do the types of cheers that we did, but I really love the dancing … and the realgymnastics involved with it now that we didn't do [then]."
They wore long skirts and wool sweaters.
They held pep rallies on Friday nights, where students, cheerleaders and football players would gather in anticipation of the coming game.
And, of course, they rang the Chapel bell when the Bulldogs won.
In the 1950s, when Nancy Butts Thompson, daughter of former UGA football coach Wally Butts, attended the University, things were different.
Thompson, who spent three years cheering on the Bulldogs from the sidelines in '57, '58 and '59, will be between the hedges once again for Saturday's Homecoming game against Tennessee Tech.
"It's amazing how many [cheerleaders] are coming back," said the 72-year-old alumna. "There are quite a few from my original squad."
As the daughter of the Bulldogs' legendary football coach, Thompson said cheering on the team held a special meaning for her.
"For me personally, it was a wonderful thing because at that time my father was the football coach at Georgia. So I was essentially cheering not only for the Georgia Bulldogs, but for my bread and butter, I suppose," she laughed.
Thompson, who now lives in Athens, said she enjoys coming back to campus, especially when it's to cheer on the Dogs. In the 50 years since she earned her journalism degree, students and faculty have molded the University into an institution much different from the one she remembers.
"The student body wasn't nearly as large," Thompson said. "It was such an honor [to be a cheerleader] because there were so few of us."
While her alma mater evolved throughout the years, her sport has taken on a new face as well.
"We actually led cheers, you know. We had to have a big mouth," Thompson said. "[Cheerleaders now] don't actually do the types of cheers that we did, but I really love the dancing … and the realgymnastics involved with it now that we didn't do [then]."
