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Show 6 Signpost Tuesday, June 3, 1986 Reflections . . . Celebrating our 50th year by JaNae Barlow Ass't News Editor In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Signpost this year, the Signpost staff has published an article each week throughout the year on some piece of history of Weber state College. In the process of such an endeavor, a short history has been, made of the perils of a Signpost editor attempting each week to uncover another interesting bit of history encountered at WSC. I learned that those who write history are not always sensitive to those who in later years will attempt to decipher what really happened. Newspapers, yearbooks and other historical documents often leave out important facts which, at the time of their being written, were . common knowledge to the readers. Having lived a short life of 20 years, I do not share much of that common knowledge. As a school, Weber has had i some exciting and interesting times, but it has not been without its trials and struggles to survive. Perhaps it is this complexity that makes the school such an. interesting personality to study. As I , reflect back on the timeline of activities, I see the school being formed in 1889 as an academy by the LDS Weber Stake. It was an attempt to properly educate the young men and women of the community. In the .early beginning, the school met in the Ogden 2nd Ward church building. .. The school was 'primarily a high school at the time; however , in 1893 and. a few other years, the school offered a primary school which included children as young as five. The primary was used to give the students who were studying to become teachers practical ex-perience in teaching elementary-aged children. Times were not. always easy as the school continued to grow from academy to normal school to junior .college and then to a full-fledged four-year state institution. - In the. process, the LDS ! i c - s ' church gave the school to the state of Utah. At one time, the state attempted to give it and a few Other schools back to the church but voters overturned the law. The school met in a church house, a stake center, and then built the Moench Building on Jefferson between 24th and 25th Streets. The building grew into a campus that became too small, then moved to its present location and slowly built up to what it is today. In the process, the students participated in some exciting traditions, such as hiking up Mt. Ogden and lighting a flaming "W": for the Homecoming celebration. Freshmen were called frosh and were initiated in an activity called Hell Week . where thay had to wear funny green beanie hats, enter buildings through certain doors, carry the books of any sophomore who asked, and recite the "Purple and White" song upon request. First year students obeyed these commands because they were afraid of getting rubbed in " The outlined area pictured above illustrates the area first cost about $115, purchased by Weber College for the new campus. The area propriated by the When a few select students had The Ogden Second Ward church was the first location the Weber Stake Academy held classes at. This picture was taken after remodeling. the grass, being set in the water fountains or many other embarrassing things. When the old City Hall closed, its prized 1000-pound curfew bell was given to the studentbody who took a year to figure out how to get it down out of the tower in which it was placed. - Once removed, the bell was used as a victory bell which was rung after the team scored points and paraded up and down the streets after each game the team won. Weber did win some games, too. Weber Academy won the state high school basketball championship for three years including 1910, 1913 and 1919. Weber Junior College won the National Junior College Basketball. Championship in 1959. Records also indicate that Weber Junior College won the Intermountain Junior College Conference title six years in a row, from 1924-30. Daring the depression, Aaron W. Tracy, president of the college, paid a portion of the faculty salaries in food. financial difficulties, Dr. John J. Lind is known to have loaned them money. The curriculum has continually changed throughout the history of the college. In the early years, all faculty taught a theology class. During World War II, the school partly became a Naval school when it hosted a Navy Air Pilot Program. One dorm was given over to Navy use. They referred to it as their ship. Throughout the evolution of Weber, student publications have also evolved. The first such publication was the Acorn Literary Magazine. At first, it was solely devoted to the publication of student literary works but became a student yearbook. The Signpost began in 1935. Because of a lack of funds it was not circulated but posted on a centrally located board where all could see. It became a full-fledged newspaper in 1937. It was a large, broadsheet-sized paper as oppossed to the current tabloid size. 000 and was paid for by money ap-legislature and raised by local citizens. In addition to changes in its size, the paper has undergone a complete revamping of its typography. It has moved from the old-fashioned hairline rules between columns to white, open spaces. The all-capital-letter (up-style) headlines have changed to the down headline style, which emphasizes the use of lower case letters. The staff also had a few run-ins with student government and other institutions on campus. In the fall of 1970, student government tried to censor what the paper published. This year has been one of growth and change for the Signpost, especially for one particular assistant news editor . responsible for highlighting some of the history of Weber State College. I would like to thank all of those WSC historians who helped me throughout the year. Special thanks goes to John : Sillito, WSC archivist, James Cartwright, assistant archivist, Karen Neff, part-time archivist and Dean Hurst, vice president for college relations. |