In 1948, former SMU cheerleader Laurence Herkimer founded the National Cheerleading Association and revolutionized cheerleading. Over the past 50 years, the NCA has encouraged some major changes along the sidelines of football games.

Squads across the country have shifted their focus from dances, chants and cheers to a more athletic showcase of gymnastics and entertainment. SMU has played a major role in this revolution by hosting NCA summer camps.

Some people on college campuses say cheerleading has lost sight of its original objective: to support school athletics by rallying and exemplifying school spirit. While cheerleaders try to get the crowd involved, some students criticize that daring pyramids, tumbles and other eye-dazzling stunts stray from the original purpose of cheerleading.

“The cheerleader’s goal is to get the fans and team pumped up; not to show off,” first-year Caro Novick said. “The stunts can be very distracting from the game.”

Joe Redwine Patterson, head SMU cheerleader in 1947, voiced his viewpoint in his letter to the editor that appeared in The Daily Campus on Sept. 6.

“The cheerleaders are not doing their job and as a result students are being deprived of the school spirit they are entitled to,” Patterson wrote.

Not everyone agrees that cheerleaders are responsible for the alleged lack of school spirit.

“I’ve seen cheerleaders at the Cotton Bowl actually get in the stands and try to get people to stand up and yell and those spectators just sat there,” JudithBanes, direcor of the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports, said. “Cheerleaders can only do so much.”

Co-head cheerleader Andy Temple insists cheerleading stunts do not go against the original intention of cheerleading.

“People are there for the football team. We’re there to represent the school. We have very strict restrictions on what we can do,” Temple said. “Whenever the ball is in play, no stunts are permitted in the air. All the stuff we do is during the time outs. We are trying not to take away from the football team.”

Despite disagreements, this year Patterson and the cheerleading community are working together to improve student participation at the games. A cheerleader, known as the ‘mic man,’ now stands with the crowd and yells the cheers through a megaphone. Recently implemented cue cards containing words of the cheers also promote student participation.

Senior Mike Boswell has noticed a difference at the games.

“The ‘mic man’ helps get the crowd involved, especially at the Tech game,” Boswell said. “Using a lot more signs has also made a difference.”

Patterson considers these recent changes inadequate in increasing student participation. He suggested replacing the megaphones with bullhorns, distributing fliers at the beginning of games containing the words to the cheers, and cheerleaders attending AARO to emphasize school spirit and teach SMU cheers.

Adding to the controversy is the question of whether cheerleaders and the head cheerleader should be elected or appointed. Today, the SMU cheerleading coach appoints the head cheerleaders based on leadership and athletic abilities. While the method of selection may seem disconnected from the issue of spirit vs. sport, it is at the heart of question.

The election of cheerleaders would favor those individuals who are well-liked and perhaps more likely to encourage school spirit. But on the other hand, that criterion for selecting cheerleaders should include leadership skills and athletic abilities determined by the head coach.

“It shouldn’t be about popularity,” spirit coordinator and cheerleading coach Piper Stickney said. “It is how well they can lead. Sometimes that shines through, but it takes coaching. I think in some cases students probably can’t see through that.”

While Patterson advocates returning to the student-elected head cheerleader process, Stickney disagrees.

Patterson insists the head cheerleader should be elected by the student body

Temple acknowledges cheerleading at SMU has shifted its focus to gymnastics and entertainment.

“Cheerleading now is more of an entertainment business and sport with athletes,” Temple said. “The crowd wants to see the pyramids and tumbling. We are providing them with a break from the game between time outs and are trying to rouse school spirit.”

Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Caswell agrees that the focus of cheerleading has shifted, but said that it should not be the underlying issue.

“We simply are supporting what is happening nationwide,” Caswell said. “It is true that there is more gymnastics connected to cheerleading, but the issue is how you get students to say ‘Go Mustangs’ very loud.”

Banes confirms Caswell’s viewpoint, and said cheerleading at SMU has a financial impact as well.

“We’ve got to get with the times. College athletics has become an entertainment and financial venture rather than a pure athletic endeavor,” Banes said. “The school is worried not only about winning or losing, but about the entertainment value.”

Despite the money received from the athletic ticket boxes and the cheerleading camps the university hosts, SMU cheerleaders do not receive scholarships, funding to go to competitions, with the exception of the NCAA tournament or insurance to cover medical expenses if a cheerleader were to get hurt.

“I do it totally because I love the spirit and I do it for free. There is so much that everyone puts into it and it makes you think why do I want to do this if the only press and recognition your getting back is negative,” Temple said. “People don’t know what goes on behind the scenes.”