The Victoria College, 1925-2000: A Tradition of Excellence

students except for long hair. The administration
responded to the changing times and tempered
its opposition. As a result, the controversy
surrounding a dress code subsided to the
point that little if anything was said about it by
the end of the 1970s. 50
College basketball enthusiasts suffered a serious
setback in 1970 when the board terminated
the intercollegiate basketball program. Moore
remarked that the poor attendance at the games
did not justify the cost of carrying the sport. He
stated that a survey of five games indicated that
the average student attendance was less than
eighty. By dropping the program, the president
noted, the college saved $16,000 a year. 51
While the statements by Moore were accurate,
the basketball games at the college were better
attended during the period that Harlon Gerhold
was head coach than the preceding three or four
years before he came to the college. He did an
excellent job leading the team. His style of play
was at a faster tempo than previous years and the
spectators enjoyed the change. An added attraction
at the games during the 1969-1970 season
was the Saberette Shipmates comprised of
Jacquelyn Duke, Sandy Phillips, Sherry
Farquhar, Alice Pozzi, and Shirley McMurray.
The group was formed to assist the cheerleading
corps of Jo Nell Arnold, Shelley Ann Schauer,
Judy Lynn Frederick, and Karen Brucene Smith
and to draw more students to the basketball contests.
Ruben Pena even helped to organize a pop
band to provide pregame and half time entertainment.
But, alas, attractive young ladies,
music, and Eddie and David De La Rosa in their
✯
Above: Coach Harlon Gerhold
explains to David Barnes the proper
way to run a play.
Left: The 1968-69 Pirate cheerleaders
were (left to right) Judy Frederick,
Mary Thweatt, Alannah Spinks, and
Carole Haines. In the foreground are
Eddie De La Rosa (left) and David
De La Rosa who gave spirited
performances at basketball games
dressed as buccaneers.
Turmoil and Consistency ✦ 125