Becoming Green

In 1925-26, Beulah Harriss founded the Green Jackets as a spirit and service organization that has long played a role in assisting with university events, from lectures to commencement ceremonies. Cathy Krendl ('67) and Sherri Key ('71) joined the group in the 1960s.

Krendl: "The Green Jackets were a big force on campus. If there was an important football game, we wore our green jacket with a white top and a white skirt."

Students had to go through a process to join.

Krendl: "You had to be nominated by a current member of the group and then you were elected. The Green Jackets-to-be were called Warts, horrible name. And once you were invited to come in, we had a period of time where we were required to do certain tasks before we could become a Green Jacket. The initiation process was interesting because we had to go talk to every member of Green Jackets, which I always thought was a good idea. That way you got to learn about the people in the group."

Key: "We had to have a candy box. If we greeted a member, we'd have to say, 'Good morning, would you like some candy?' Everybody had a cigar box full of candy, about six different kinds."

Krendl: "My main activity at North Texas was debate, and my debate colleague joined at the same time I did. One of the things you had to do, which she was incredibly good at and I was incredibly bad at, was give a presentation with songs. And then at the end of that period of time, they had a ceremony where we were given our green jackets and inducted into the group."

Helping Out

The Green Jackets helped out wherever possible.

Krendl: "North Texas had the speaker series, which is wonderful, and part of our tasks was to distribute the pamphlets. We also went to football games. We helped during orientation. Whenever there was a task that would be of service to the university, we would be available."

Key: "If they needed help, they knew they could ask the Green Jackets to do it. They made you more responsible, because you had to make your grades, and you had to attend class, and they held you higher than just a student. The Green Jackets were really the spirit and knowledge of the college at the time."

Creating Good Times

The Green Jackets became inactive in the late 1970s and were re-formed in 2006. The revived group reflects its modern times and what began as an all-female group expanded its membership. The initiation process changed so members go through an interview process, but not a pledge week. They volunteer at service events by request from UNT departments. Instead of a full uniform, they wear polo shirts or jackets with the organization's name, and slacks or jeans, depending on the tone of the event.

Members of the Nicks family -- sisters Jude Nicks ('17), Esther Ferre ('12) and Bekah Grace ('12) -- learned about Green Jackets on a study abroad trip and brought Bekah's now-husband, Graham Grace ('13), to the organization.

Ferre: "We grew up in 4-H, and so we had been doing service projects our whole lives. You're just helping out where needed."

Bekah Grace: "We got to help with everything from serving meals on campus for different events to helping with a Veterans Day project, or graduation, so it was a cool way of getting to see all these different slices of university life."

Graham Grace: "We all had to show up for graduation. Being able to help people on their happiest day of college was fun. You're always drained at the end of it."

Nicks: "Drained in a very good way. I would say Green Jackets are usually the type of people who want to help keep the party going, and so they're the ones behind the scenes, making refills and setting things out, because they want everybody else to have a good time."

Fellow Green Jacket Luke Westervelt ('19) shares that same sentiment with the Nicks family.

Westervelt: "I have always considered myself very introverted. Now I'm able to put myself out there and approach people and ask if they need something and ensure they're having a good time. Green Jackets really allowed me to hone in on and develop those skills."

When you attend a Mean Green football game or other athletic event, the Talons are there in full force. The first Talons formed as a fraternity and spirit group in 1926. They hosted annual social events and became a chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order by 1953, when local fraternities on campus began affiliating with national Greek organizations.

The Talons spirit group as we know it today began in 1960 and created many of the traditions that have become the fabric of UNT.

A 'Transformative' Time

The Talons were an all-male group until the 1970s. Tom Hockaday ('78) one of its leaders, remembers the dean of students' push in the late '70s, after the passage of Title IX, for women to be accepted into the organization.

Hockaday: "Most of the members were supportive of it, but it was a real change in culture. The university was starting to grow more. There were a lot of changes that were going on in that time period. Changes in America, changes at the campus and changes in student lives. Promoting athletic programs and school spirit were our main focus, especially urging attendance at games and our efforts to 'Fill Fouts Field.' And it was easy for us the years I was there, because we had a great football coach, Hayden Fry. We were at the time where we had to change the organization. We did more active things. Denton was so much smaller then. We would get in the Model A and drive through downtown Denton, go into the stores and ask people to come to the games."

Light the Tower

The students in the 1970s also established one of the most iconic traditions. Steve Brodbeck ('80) had an idea when he was president of the 1975 pledge class.

Brodbeck: "We had to come up with a legacy at that time. It's a project you do for the good of the university. Because I was living in Johnson City, near Austin, I saw the tower at the University of Texas lit orange every time they won. It's pretty impressive. With McConnell Tower, we had a great opportunity to light that tower green when we won. Folks paid us $10 to paint their house number and a university logo on their curb. The University Advancement department matched our funds, and we pulled together $1,200 to put the necessary lights and electricity on the tower. When I see a lighting, I still get the same feeling. It's a lump in my throat, a tear in my eye. I'm quite proud of it, and I'm proud of the university. They've really taken it and used it as a good tradition."

Keeping the Flame

One tradition that's been popular through the years is the bonfire.

Brodbeck: "You're young and you've got all the energy that you need, and you don't want to sit still. You love doing things that are fun with your friends, that make a difference, that involve the university. We'd load trailers with wood from farmers. We built a way different bonfire than they have now. Sometimes people, just out of fun, would come and burn our bonfire a week before we got it built, so we had to sit out there with cars 24 hours a day and guard the place to keep people away from it. And that's the kind of stuff you just love the heck out of doing when you're a kid. It was a lot of work. And it's a lot of work now, but it's a little different. They've got a better bonfire than we had, but ours was a lot of fun."

Laura Goodwin ('92) says the bonfire was like an extra job.

Goodwin: "If you were building the bonfire, you lived at the bonfire, if you could. And then you would leave for class, and then come back. In between classes and work, I would have to call companies and find pallets. And most of the time, the answer was, 'Absolutely, you can have them. They're out back, you're going to have to bring a truck.' And that's what we did. We brought whatever vehicles we had available and just piled everything in, splinters and all. When we built the bonfire back in our day, it was in a different place than it is now. When we drove in off of the access road, the mesquite trees were there. So, we would drive over thorns in our cars, and then get flat tires. We'd have to fix the flat before we could get out to go home or go to class. I mean, you really had to want to build that bonfire. It was totally worth it."

Today, Talons acquire the pallets by picking them up from various businesses and from emailing sponsors, says sponsor Tracy Frier ('02, '08 M.Ed., '18 M.S.). They rent trucks to pick up the pallets, but two companies -- Fastenal and Kamps -- deliver the pallets with their semi-trucks. The students also use a sophisticated system, says Lashiara Wilson, a junior criminal justice major.

Wilson: "The assembly line is where you're all stacked in a line, and you're moving the pallets toward one another. Since I was more artistic as a kid, I went toward the painting for the boards. There's also something called Pallet Hospital. We break down the pallets that are unusable or dangerous to walk on, and we use them for filling for the actual bonfire itself."

Mean Green Machine

The Mean Green Machine, a refurbished 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan that is driven around games and other activities, is another favorite. But it had its hiccups.

Goodwin: "It reeked of gasoline. When you got out of the Model A, there just really wasn't a lot between you and the engine. As a girl in college, you're going to the game, and you're all fixed up, and then you get out, and you're like, 'Well, that's awesome. I smell like a gas station.'"

Wilson: "I absolutely love the Mean Green Machine. It is so beautiful, and it does hold a very special place in my heart during the games. She is a little old. She's fighting. We're updating her as we go."

Boomer the Cannon

Boomer began appearing at football games in 1970, and Rick McKinney ('90) redesigned the cannon's carriage in 1987, renovated it in 2004 and added an accompanying cart in 2006.

McKinney: "Keith Swartz ('90), me and an engineering student named Alex Balic ('89 M.S.) combined our efforts and re-built the cannon. Everybody loved it. The original carriage was on a trailer made from an old pickup truck. Now it's the museum-quality field artillery piece the university deserves."

Wilson: "What I love about the cannon is just how much maintenance goes into it, and how you see just how much the cannon crew cares about Boomer."

Spirit Bell

During games, the Talons ring the Spirit Bell to energize the crowd. The original bell was brought to campus in 1891 to signal curfew and class changes.

Brodbeck: "My brother and I donated the small bell that they use in the end zone. We secured that bell because they retired the curfew bell to the Student Union. The small bell came from an old farm down in Johnson City. It was on the field in the football stadium, and when something good happened, they'd ring the bell."

Memories

Thanks to their time in the Talons, the Swartz siblings -- Sherman ('82), Rebecca ('84, '91 M.S., '02 Ph.D.) and Keith ('90) -- are embedded in UNT spirit. Both Sherman and Keith served as president.

Sherman Swartz: "It's just what you do. You've put a lot of your own time and effort and blood into it, and so you stay with it. You may disagree and argue, but it's a family."

Keith Swartz: "I like figuring out the puzzle of how to get all these people motivated and where they're supposed to do the things that they said they were going to do or had committed to. That's why I stayed with it. Plus, I got to burn a lot of stuff and blow up the cannon."

Rebecca Swartz: "I got to sew on the outfit that we had for the Eagle mascot, and everybody got to see it. It was an unsung hero thing, which is my gig, so I was great with that. But I always thought, 'Isn't this cool that I got to be a part of it?' In my little way, I got to help with school spirit, all the time."