Back in the 1970s, before the drinking laws were set at age 21, the newest members of the Mean Green football team were responsible for bringing the goods to parties.

That's when Rick Shaw ('74) first met Bob Stout ('74), an offensive guard. When Shaw asked Stout if he had beer, Stout opened up the trunk of his Plymouth Road Runner that was packed with ice and beer. "I thought, 'Man, I want to know this guy better,'" Shaw says.

And that was the beginning of their five-decade friendship that was forged on Fouts Field.

"You become a band of brothers," says Shaw, a San Antonio native who played defensive back and quarterback. "Although we didn't win very many football games, it's still something I would never give up because of the friendships made on and off the field."

Shaw and Stout also were both marketing majors and frequently saw each other in class and became roommates at Kerr Hall. They often worked summer jobs together and shared many friends. In the summers, Stout spent time with Shaw in San Antonio and took him to France, where his parents lived.

They kept in touch after college and Stout was a groomsman in Shaw's wedding. While Shaw raised a family in San Antonio, Stout was a bachelor who ran wholesale businesses for over 30 years.

"A lot of people don't have a friend they can count on," Stout says. "If something happened to his family, I'd be there for him."

They still attend Mean Green football games together.

"You know, when we see each other, it's like everything is still the same," Shaw says. "And then, when you see these pictures, you're just like, 'Who are these old guys?'"

– Jessica DeLeón

After a challenging first year at another university, Malin Scott LaPlace ('89) pursued a degree in fashion merchandising at North Texas -- and found her people.

She befriended coworkers at the local Mervyn's department store, and the group roomed together at the College Inn, the only residence hall with its own swimming pool.

"Everyone was so accepting. That community we had was just so fun," LaPlace says.

Shelby Benton ('89), one of LaPlace's sisters in the now-defunct Delta Zeta, adds, "Those friendships were something I wouldn't have found any other way."

Through the years, the group of friends experienced all kinds of adventures: late-night trips to Whataburger, seeing live music at venues around Denton and going on excursions. Even during a slightly disastrous camping trip on the Guadalupe River -- where no one remembered to bring a tent, firewood or can opener -- the group still had a blast.

"We got to graduation day and no one wanted to leave," LaPlace says. "In a weird way, it was kind of a sad day."

But she and her friends stayed connected. She still meets up with Benton to see live music. She's also in touch with Kevin Wright ('89), one of the organizers of the infamous river trip whose son Aiden is a freshman at UNT. And Stacy Fisher Britton ('90), a coworker from the Mervyn's days, is now godmother to her daughter, Kalin LaPlace ('19, '22 M.A.).

Two of Benton's children, Kathryn "Katie" Workman ('22) and Liam Workman ('24), are part of the Mean Green family as well.

"I feel a sense of pride that they were there," Benton says.

– Bess Whitby

While scrolling social media in 2020, Bethany Pipes Baumgart ('05) noticed former swim teammate Brooke Louisell Rodriguez ('06, '08 M.A.) was hitting the pool close to her home.

Baumgart joined her practices. One day, Baumgart revealed she was going to be a surrogate mother.

Rodriguez then delivered her own news. "I had just completed an application with a surrogacy agency the week before," she says.

A friendship that had flourished at UNT took another path as Baumgart and Rodriguez carried pregnancies for other families.

In college, they frequently spent time together -- walking from Mozart Square to swim practice at 5:30 a.m., attending classes and going to football games. Since graduation, they've kept in touch with each other while Baumgart, who was a speech pathology major, works as an audiologist in Frisco, and Rodriguez, who was a psychology and counseling major, serves as a counselor in McKinney.

Their surrogacies became another bond, especially since their timing was only two months apart. "I could text her at any time and get a response," says Baumgart, who has two children of her own. "And then we could always say, 'Oh, remember that one time at North Texas when this happened, and look where we are now.'"

Rodriguez, who has three children of her own, says, "Just to be able to know someone who saw all of the pieces of your adult life, and marriage and birth of children, and having that person who understands like, 'Oh, this is where you were as a freshman,' to, 'Oh, this is where you are as a mom,' is a really cool connection to have."

– Jessica DeLeón

When Erika Symonette Ferguson ('14 Ph.D.) spoke to Kittiwan Junrith Brasuell ('11 Ph.D.), an international student from Thailand, in her health care delivery systems class, she didn't know she'd be making a lifelong friend.

"I sat next to her and said, 'Hi,'" Ferguson says. "Later, she told me I was the only person in the gerontology program who spoke to her that day."

During their studies in UNT's then-Department of Applied Gerontology, the duo actively participated in campus events like Homecoming and International Day and traveled to Mexico and Turkey to present their research.

Their friendship would turn into a sisterly bond.

"She lost her parents when she was 35 so she called my parents Mom and Dad," Ferguson says.

Ferguson got married in UNT's Goolsby Chapel while she was still a student and says Brasuell supported her through the whole process. When Ferguson was pregnant, Brasuell would go to prenatal appointments with her.

Ferguson delivered her son in her home state of Maryland, which kept her from going to Brasuell's graduation -- so Ferguson's mother went.

"I felt proud and honored to introduce her as my mother," Brasuell says. "I still consider her my mom."

In 2013, Brasuell, now a gerontology professor at Uttaradit Rajabhat University in Thailand, moved back to her home country, but the friends have kept in touch with video calls. Ferguson, a senior research associate at Howard University, traveled to Thailand to visit Brasuell last year with her son and her mom.

"We had a great time exploring," Brasuell says, "but mostly we spent our time talking about the time we studied at UNT."

– Amanda Lyons