TBT: Cougar cheerleaders during the 1960s

As the Cougar cheerleaders compete in the National Cheerleaders Association’s Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida this weekend, here’s a look at cheerleaders from back in the day.

Fun fact: The “cougar sign” was actually a “V” sign, until Shasta I, the presiding cougar mascot, lost a toe in a cage door on her way to a game in the 1950s. The opposing team, the University of Texas, mocked UH by imitating the cougar’s injury. The Cougars soon adopted that gesture as a symbol of pride, in which Cougar cheerleaders hold high at every game for decades.

UH cheerleaders dancing mid-leap around an unlit bonfire in 1969. |Courtesy of UH

Cheerleaders make a line in front of a lit bonfire. | Courtesy of UH

Cheerleader midway through a cartwheel in 1969. |Courtesy of UH

Judy Morris (top) and Jan McMullen (center left) and four other unidentified cheerleaders made cheerleader triangle. | Courtesy of UH

Three young women holding a megaphone with Cougars painted on the side during Homecoming. | Courtesy of UH

UH cheerleading squad mid-cheer. | Courtesy of UH

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