As of 1975 about 33% of Lamar's students were black. Many black parents sent their children to Lamar because of the school's strong academic reputation. By 1975 black students became members of clubs and the cheerleader corps of Lamar, and the student council president and "Lady of Lamar" was black. Curtis wrote that black students who did not wish to associate with whites often did not participate in the social environment while whites who did not wish to associate with blacks were still able to participate in that environment. Some black students emphasized with friends attending other schools who criticized them for going to Lamar that they only attended the school. Curtis wrote that some Lamar white students felt that "going to school with blacks a duty they must perform, a quirk of history they must indulge."