Still cheering for the Green Wave

When Jeron J. LaFargue tried out for the Tulane University cheerleading squad back in 1953, he ran onto the stage in McAlister Auditorium and executed a forward flip. He can"t remember what cheer he led — it could have been the “Hullaballoo” or “Two bits, four bits, a dollar,” but the crowd went wild. Out of the dozens who auditioned, the sprightly 5-foot, 7-inch freshman, who weighed 135 pounds, was elected to the cheerleading squad.

LaFargue became head cheerleader of the 1954 squad that included two other men and four women. Now, 60 years later, LaFargue and three cheerleaders from the squad that year will return to the uptown campus for Homecoming Reunion Family Weekend from Nov. 14 through 16.

Along with LaFargue, Lavinia Brock Bircher, Connie Stewart Green and Julia Cherry Sipple will be recognized on the field during the Memphis vs. Green Wave football game on Saturday (Nov. 15) in Yulman Stadium.

The 1954 Green Wave cheerleaders went to every out-of-town game except one. Despite some hard losses — the Wave won one game in "54, against Vanderbilt, he recalled — the cheerleaders smiled and did their best to keep Greenie spirit alive. In the "50s, LaFargue said, it was all about the cheering. There were no dance routines.

“We did a few flips,” he recalled. “The girls would run, and we"d catch their foot and flip them.”

LaFargue was on the law school “fast track” and he earned his J.D. from Tulane in 1958. He was later in the U.S. Army JAG Corps around the time of the Korean War and then spent 20 years as a private practice lawyer in his hometown of Sulphur, Louisiana. LaFargue also served as chief of litigation for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, for 10 years and was Louisiana assistant attorney general for 6 years.

His heart still bleeds green.