Video: Pioneering Female Cheerleader Remembers Early Days

It seems hard to believe, but in the early 1950s it was rare for a cheerleader to be female. In 1954, Westporter Betty Lou Cummings helped tear down the gender wall as a student at Michigan State University.

As she recalled in an interview posted on the university’s alumni YouTube channel, about 200 women tried out and only six were selected.

“It was wonderful. We were really kind of famous all over Michigan because we were the only women cheerleaders,” she said. “Usually it was just you men.”

In the interview, she also mentioned the Westport Center for Senior Activities, where she volunteers and cheerleads for their annual showing of the Super Bowl. She also shared a story of how she was going to go to the Rose Bowl to cheer on the Spartans, but instead got married.

“You know what my father said? ‘Betty Lou, you can get married anytime but you can go to the Rose Bowl.’ But I was in love.”

In addition to her cheerleading, Cummings is a dedicated volunteer who has worked for various organizations in town.