Northwest High School - Vanguard Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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It s the class of '7l. Organized year Puds also had 20 of 23 and Black Soul l had ld members' were clubs that existed in the as a result of insufficient there was no evidence that the any useful purpose, some of the plete some constructive projects. For Christmas, DD's collected articles, such as rollers, hairpins, and hairnets, and presented them to girls at Girls' School, Jadettes sent gifts to servicemen overseas. DD s also sponsored an Easter egghunt and party for underprivileged chil- dren at the Christamore House while Jadettes made Eas- ter baskets for a nearby nursing home. Social clubs primarily existed, however, for the social activities involved. Profits from money-raising projects, such as car washes or candy sales, were almost always used' to finance dances, hayrides, or rush activities. Rush consisted of a series of slumber parties, teas, and initiations in which the new members orxrushees X it 'i faii't'ifE i ij33i :?t'5i before' being officially voted in. With the exception of Puds who had no in- r itiation, all the clubs planned and carried out rush activ- ities once a semester. Girls being initiated into clubs were usually required to braid their hair in tiny braids all over their heads or to wear pony tails, unmatched clothes, and anklet socks for a week. Some were also expected to collect 500 a certain upon performed clothes, tasks, the halls, knock and carry their classmates' lunch trays for When a rushee completed initiation to the satisfaction of the other clubmembers, it was then decided whether or not he should become an' 'active member. If he was accepted, he was permitted to participate in all that club's activities. Members. of some social clubs possesed symbols of distincition such as T-shirts imprinted withc their club names or emblems or having all their members wear a -certain outfit. j lt has been established that there were both positive and negative sides to social clubs. Whether students' reasons for joining the clubs were prestige, security, the close association between friends, climbing the social ladder, or simply that there was nothing else to do. there were definitely conflicting viewpoints concerning their valuefor the individuals involved and the effects they had on those not included. Q ' ,Yet I2 percent of the student body ignored parents administration, as well as state statutes, which banned social clubs because the clubs' activities excluded the remaining 88 per cent of Northwest students.

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n It shall be unlawful for the pupils in any of the ele- mentary or high schools in this state to form secret so- cieties, fraternities, or other similar organizations in such schools. Vice-Principal George Gale explained the reason for this state law which was first enacted in l907. Organ- izations which consist of students under college age can- not be recognized legally by the school because they do not permit everyone to loin, he said. The law further provided that students would be subject to suspension or, if necessary, expulsion if they failed to comply with these rules. The fact remained, however, that social clubs did exist in many Indianapolis schools. DD's Delts, Jadettes, and Black Soul Sisters, all girl's clubs, and two boys' clubs, Barons and Puds existed at Northwest. Members of these clubs consisted of only approximately 12 per cent of the student body. All of the clubs met on Tuesday nights except the Black Soul Sisters, who had their meetings on Wednesday nights. Meeting places of the individual clubs rotated each week to different members' homes. Elections of new of- ficers including president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, sergeant-at-arms, and historian occured every semester. Each club had a written constitution estab- lishing rules all members were required to follow. Mem- bers of these clubs were also expected to pay weekly dues of 25 cents which was generally used for parties or dances. Two of the longer-established clubs' DD's and Delts, had 50 members. Barons had a membership of only 20 due to the fact that many of their members graduated in Social club activities ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. lol While going through the process of initiation, rushees take time out from selling to- liet paper at a football game to flash a toothless smile. lbl Participating in ceremonies typical to college sorority in- itiations, new members take the group's pledge at a sol- emn candlelight service.

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Confused, disgusted, or harrassed by the surrounding pressures of school and work, Northwest students often escaped into another world of a book, a movie, or a television show and lost themselves completely in fan- tasy or philosophy. Money often limited what students read-newly pub- lished books, usually unavailable at libraries because of long waiting lists, were read several months to a year after publication when they were printed in paperbacks. Nevertheless, Northwest students enioyed a wide vari- ety of literature, that individuality reigned was evident in that no one book could be labeled most popular book of 1971-l972. There was a general trend to- wards non-fiction, which might indicate youth's stability or search for reality. Some of the more prominent books, Future Shock by Alvin Toffier, a look into the ef- fects of society's rapid change, The Greening of Amer- ica by Charles Reick, about, as it is subtitled, how the youth revolution is trying to make America livable, The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer, which relates the development to a woman's role to today's society, Eve- Storytellers like rything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex by Dr. David Reuben, a handbook on sex in question and an- swer format, Hard Times by Studs Terkle, which chroni- caled with personal interviews the Depression, and Kent State: What Happened and Why by James Michener, a novelist-reporter's account of the May, 1970, Kent State University demonstrations that ended in the death of four students, reflected interest in society and youth's role in it. The scope of fiction popularity ranged from J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasies The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy to the existentialist Crime and Punishment by Fiodor Dostoyevsky, read by the modern literature class. Students enioyed more contemporary works like The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Love Story by Erich Se- gal, Going All the Way by Dan Wakefield as well as re- quired reading for certain English courses, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Regular publications, following the recent trends of specializing and catering to individual tastes, enioyed patronage by students. Mad and National Lampoon competed as satire reviews, with advertising and articles directed towards college and young businessmen, Es- quire and Playboy caught the attention of students, male and female, sports fans generally turned to Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News, fashion magazines like Seventeen, Vogue, and Glamour and liberated Cos- mopolitan were read by Northwest girls, for the socially conscious, journals reminiscent of the muckraking 1 60