Growing Up Green: 1941-2015: Becoming UNT (1980-1989)
The North Texas Hockey Club
Inspired by the US Olympic hockey team’s gold medal victory over Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics, a group of hockey players formed a club-team at NTSU in the 1981-82 school year. The North Texas team was accepted into the Southwestern Collegiate Hockey Conference in June 1981 and won the conference championship in their first and only year. Dr. William Powers, a professor in the Speech and Drama Department, led the club as their faculty sponsor and coach. The North Texas Club never made it past their freshman season due to a lack of a nearby ice rink and the cost of renting ice time.
Brave Combo
Carl Finch started the band Brave Combo in 1979, the same year he completed his M.F.A. at North Texas. A mainstay of the Texas music scene today, Brave Combo’s sound is often described as “polka” or “world music” and combines influences ranging from Polish American polka to Zydeco.
Finch (left) and Barnes (right) entertain students outside of the third union building, 1985.
