Dawgs through the decades: UGA in the 1970s
Take a trip down nostalgia lane with our newest blog series documenting UGA in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. First stop: the psychedelic seventies! We sat down with alumni to learn about college life in a decade defined by war, protests and rock ‘n’ roll.
The 1970s was a spirited decade in America and that was no different on campus. Long-standing traditions, like chanting “How ‘Bout Them Dawgs,” found their humble beginnings during these years. Prominent buildings and organizations also were established, fostering a university-wide commitment to preparing a generation of risk-takers and culture-shapers.
Students in the 1970s were curious and innovative, tenaciously searching for better answers and impactful solutions. Among UGA’s distinguished alumni from this decade, there are scientists, musicians, entrepreneurs, professors and U.S. representatives. Bulldogs from the 1970s continue to inspire those who will lead, discover and serve across our state, country and the world.
Campus Highlights
Here are some important moments from UGA’s history in the 1970s:
1970
- UGA celebrated the first Earth Day with a teach-in at Memorial Hall
- Nearly 3,000 demonstrators gathered on campus to protest the Vietnam War
1971
- Aderhold Hall was completed (and named for UGA’s 17th president)
1972
- Rising Junior Test was adopted as a graduation requirement
- Title IX of the Education Amendments was enacted, changing the landscape of college athletics (Before 1972, sporting opportunities for women on campus were confined to intramurals and club teams)
1973
- The first women scholarship athletes competed on campus
1974
- A standard minimum SAT score became a requirement for admission to UGA
1977
- The Center for International and Comparative Law was dedicated to Dean Rusk
- The UGA Small Business Development Center was established
- The School of Accounting was established in the College of Business Administration (now the J. M. Tull School of Accounting in the Terry College of Business)
1978
- The UGA Research Foundation was established
- “How ‘Bout Them Dawgs” emerged as the battle cry of the Bulldog Nation
UGA’s campus in 1979. Notice any differences from today?
Classic City Entertainment
In 1972, Georgia lowered the legal drinking age to 18, greatly impacting Athens nightlife. Students flocked to live music at Memorial Hall, the Last Resort, the 40 Watt Club and Legion Field. University Union and downtown concert venues hosted national acts like the Allman Brothers Band, Bob Hope, Jimmy Buffet and Randy Newman.
Athens-based bands revolutionized rock and alternative music in the 1970s. Ravenstone, a politically active hard-rock band, formed at UGA early in the decade. The group supported anti-war protests and other social issues. In 1972, Ravenstone played at the first openly held LGBTQ rights dance in the Southeast. The B-52s played its first gig at an Athens house party in 1977, later releasing several best-selling records.
The Lamar Dodd School of Art sustained the Athens music scene. Throughout the 1970s, it attracted highly qualified and talented students who were seeking a receptive environment for visual arts. These students would become nationally recognized artists, musicians and scholars. In 1979, four students formed R.E.M. and made their debut appearance on WUOG, the campus radio station. R.E.M.’s creative ascent would help shape the Classic City into the cultural epicenter that it is today.
Music Essentials
The 1970s gave rise to disco, rock, R&B and soul. Toward the end of the decade, hip-hop was born. Reminisce on the 1970s with this UGA Alumni playlist, a brief sampling of the bands and performers who ruled the golden era of music!
Fashion Trends
While many students opted for jeans and T-shirts, Bulldogs in the 1970s boasted an eccentric style. Snelling Dining Hall held fashion shows, featuring trends like buckskin bags, wide leather belts, suede vests and bell bottoms. The Red & Black advertised inventive styles from stores like Clothesline, Millers at Alps and Sears at Beechwood.
Seventies fashion saw bold colors and patterns take center stage. Students expressed themselves through experimental, cutting-edge and unconventional clothing. Flared pants, pantsuits, platform shoes and ascots were worn by both men and women, paving the way for gender-neutral fashion.
Slang
In addition to trailblazing fashion and music, students established their own slang, too. Learn to speak like a Bulldog from the 1970s–or if you were a student during this decade, does anything sound familiar?
- Crib: Apartment or home
“Come to my crib to watch the Dawgs beat Auburn.” - Ace: Awesome
“The Dawgs were ace this season.” - Skinny: The truth
“Want the skinny? The Gators are going to lose.” - Far out: Cool
“The B-52s’ new album is far out.” - Get down: Dance
“Let’s get down at the 40 Watt!” - Right on: Agreement with something or someone
“Go Dawgs? Right on!” - Chump: Foolish person
“Did you see that Georgia Tech fan? What a chump!”
Whether you graduated in the 1970s or just started wearing red and black, UGA remains more than a memory and more than a degree. It’s a deep-rooted community, centuries old and over 340,000 strong.
Stay tuned as we travel to the 1980s!
*Shannon Moran, writing/communications intern for UGA’s Division of Development and Alumni Relations, is researching and writing this special blog series.
Why not start the season with one of the most anticipated match-ups of the season? Kirby Smart and the Dawgs renew the UGA-Clemson rivalry in Charlotte against a Clemson team expected to compete for a national title. The all-time record in this dormant rivalry favors the Bulldogs significantly, but UGA has only played Clemson twice in the Dabo Swinney era (going 1-1 in those games), and Kirby and Dabo have never squared off as head coaches. For both teams, this result won’t make or break the season, but a win over a top-five team will certainly generate a lot of momentum. This one figures to be a barnburner between two excellent squads, a contest befitting the return of full-fledged college football.
Even the grass on Vince Dooley Field will be vibrating with the energy of the first full-capacity game in Sanford Stadium since 2019. The game itself will likely be decided early, but don’t expect the Blazers, who were Conference USA champions last year, to lie down for this one. If you’ve snagged tickets for this one, it may have been a while since you’ve gone Between The Hedges, so let us remind you the most important elements of September game attendance: water and sunscreen.
Remember the last time we played the Gamecocks at home? Yeah, us too. Well, things are different now: the South Carolina coach responsible for that debacle is now on Kirby Smart’s staff, and the new USC coach is Shane Beamer, a former Kirby Smart staffer. This year’s Gamecocks are almost certainly better than last year’s 2-8 squad, but a rebuilding USC team will have quite a difficult time with a UGA team that’s loaded with talent and experience.
The Bulldogs travel to Nashville for the 81st matchup between UGA and Vanderbilt. Ever since Coach Smart’s first game against the Commodores—his only loss to them—he has left no doubt who the better side is: three consecutive Dawg victories were decided by an average of just under 4 touchdowns. First-year Vandy coach Clark Lea—who played fullback for the ‘Dores between 2002 and 2004—has a strong defensive pedigree, and he will likely get more out of a squad that allowed over 37 points per game last year under Derek Mason, but a win over the Bulldogs is unlikely, to say the least.
Sanford Stadium welcomes back Sam Pittman, who coached the Bulldog offensive line from 2016-2019. Pittman enters his second year with the Razorbacks on a positive note, despite the Hawgs’ 3-7 record in 2020: three of their losses were decided by 3 or fewer points, including a game against no. 13 Auburn in the Tigers’ home stadium, and they claimed a few encouraging victories, among them a win over no. 16 Mississippi State that snapped the Razorbacks’ 20-game SEC losing streak. Pittman’s Arkansas rebuild will likely continue to progress well under Pittman, so don’t be surprised if they play the Dawgs close, but even if Arky’s defense can control the Bulldog offense at the outset, our defense should be able to contain the Hawgs long enough for the difference in the two teams’ depth charts to become apparent.
In this 126th edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, Kirby Smart attempts to become only the third UGA coach to win 5 in a row over the Tigers. Meanwhile, first-year Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin—along with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo (weird, right?) and defensive coordinator Derek Mason—will attempt to reverse the bad fortune Auburn had under Gus Malzahn (2-7 against UGA). Much rests on the performance of Auburn’s junior quarterback Bo Nix, though talented running back Tank Bigsby will provide a consistent offensive threat, and Auburn’s defense looks to be just as strong as last year. Don’t expect a romp like last year’s game, but the schedule could help Georgia: Auburn plays LSU in Baton Rouge the week before the Dawgs.
Mark Stoops is entering his ninth year as head coach at Kentucky, making him the second longest tenured coach in the SEC, behind only Nick Saban. If that seems hard to believe—particularly in light of Kentucky’s 24-42 SEC record during Stoops’ time—remember that Kentucky is on a three-game bowl win streak and Stoops is only three years removed from being named SEC Coach of the Year. So, Kentucky is no pushover, and even though Stoops has never beaten Georgia, years of solid recruiting, some key new arrivals (UK has new offensive and defensive coordinators and some solid new players in by way of transfers), and a respectable defense will keep the Wildcats competitive.
No Trask, no Pitts, no Toney, no Grimes: music to Bulldogs’ ears. In fact, the hated Gators return just 9 starters across offense, defense AND special teams. But perhaps the most important returning member of the Florida team isn’t a player at all: unbelievably, Todd Grantham returns to coach the defense after allowing 30.8 points per game in 2020, the most Florida’s allowed since World War II. Still, Florida is Florida, and they definitely still recruit like Florida, so no matter how much they lose, they’re still a contender. Dual-threat quarterback Emory Jones will pose a problem for Dan Lanning and the UGA defense, and All-SEC cornerback Kaiir Elam can control his side of the field (even if Grantham does more Grantham-type things). Unless Kentucky or Missouri overperform, this looks to be the deciding contest for the SEC East. Just the way we like it.
After the Florida game, this one could be sneakily difficult. Missouri has recruited well and the year 2 effect—new coaches often see a significant uptick in their team’s performance in year 2—could be in play for Eliah Drinkwitz. Sophomore Connor Bazelak returns under center following a freshman year that saw him throw for over 2,300 yards on a 67% completion rate, but he is one of just a few underclassmen starters on this team—Mizzou returns lots of experience this year. The Tigers will likely improve this year, but there’s a lot of distance between losing to a woeful Tennessee team in 2020 and competing with the 2021 UGA squad. It’s unlikely Missouri will clear that gap.
Oh, what a year it’s been for the Vols. Last year’s squad went 3-7 (including a 6-game losing streak), former coach Jeremy Pruitt got caught up in a recruiting scandal that saw him ousted along with Tennessee legend and now-former athletic director Phillip Fulmer, a swath of players hit the transfer portal and got out of Knoxville as fast as they could, and the new athletic director, Danny White, underwhelmed Vol Nation by bringing in the head football coach from his last stop, Josh Heupel. You could almost feel bad for them if they weren’t the Vols. The preview for this one is simple: some decent pieces still remain in Knoxville, but this Tennessee team is about to undergo not just a rebuild but a total culture shift. In other words, Dawgs win.
Apparently, these are the Buccaneers. And frankly, unless they’re the Tom Brady ones from Tampa, we probably don’t need to give it a second thought. If you wanted to take a deeper look, though, you’d see an FCS team—a member of the Big South Conference—that went 2-2 in their abbreviated, postponed 2020 season that was played between March and April of this year, and a team that has gone 0-22 against FBS teams over the history of the program. This game will be most significant as our senior class’s final home game.
There are Bulldog fans out there who will tell you this is no longer a rivalry, citing perhaps the 23-6 record in the Bulldogs’ favor since 1991 or maybe the 16-3 UGA edge since 2001. But recall with us, dear reader, the image of a victorious Yellow Jacket, branches of The Hedges clamped between his teeth with a strength and desperation matched only by your Georgia Tech alum neighbor for the 364 days following that victory, and we think you’ll remember why we need to remind the Jackets who they are. Quarterback Jeff Sims and running back Jahmyr Gibbs are legitimate threats on Geoff Collins’ third GT team, and a slew of transfer players may strengthen the team, but this is still a team in the midst of a reclamation project (thank you, Paul Johnson, for your ironclad commitment to the triple option).
UGA Mentor Program Ambassador Kyla Edwards (Class of ’22) speaks with UGA alumni Yenu Wodajo (BS ’02) and Jeffrey Brown (AB ’05) about their experiences as Black students at UGA.
