USU ready to celebrate Founders Day
Founded 114 years ago, Utah State University has seen a large amount of this nation’s history. But most current students don’t understand what this entails.
The Utah State Agricultural College was founded March 8, 1888, in response to a national education movement spurred by the Land Grant Act of 1862.
According to A History of Fifty Years, written by Joel Ricks a history professor in 1938, the Land Grant Act established the donation of “public lands to the several states and territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture or [and] the mechanic arts.”
Patty Halaufia, associate director for alumni relations, said the purpose of the college when it first started was to educate people about agriculture and the future possibilities in that field.
“When it first opened, it focused mostly on agriculture, plus a few education courses to train teachers,” she said.
The book reported, “This bill proposes to establish at least one college in each state … accessible to all, but especially to the sons of toil … where neither the higher graces of classical studies nor the military drill … will be entirely ignored.”
Halaufia said, “In a certain time in history, around the time of the world wars, Utah State was the largest military training campus west of West Point.”
One purpose of the land grant was to make higher education available to all the people in the state, she said. To do this they started the Extension program.
“The Extension program gives Utah State a presence in every county in Utah so everyone has an opportunity which is very accessible,” Halaufia said.
Halaufia said the college started as a large research facility for the rest of the state of Utah.
“They started by taking research out to other farmers around the state to inform them of how to yield more food from their crops,” she said.
The Utah State Agricultural College kept the name until the 1950s when it became Utah State University, Halaufia said. At this time post-graduate degrees and a broader selection of courses were offered.
A Centennial Celebration, published in 1998, reports, “The changes from college to university was a process – and the official name change was a mid-point in that process.”
“We have always been Aggies though,” Halaufia said. “Sometimes the Aggie was portrayed as a farmer and sometimes some type of animal, but it has always been the same idea.”
Built in 1890, Old Main is the university’s oldest tradition.
According to A Centennial Celebration Old Main was the only building on campus to hold classes in the beginning. It housed the physics lecture room, which doubled as the American history lecture room, sewing classes, a conservatory and the School of Domestic Science.
The building started with just the south wing, but later expanded to include the west tower and the north wing. The tower on the west side, as seen today, was built in 1902, according to the book.
According to the same book, over time the building survived an earthquake and two fires, one of which gutted the north wing in 1983. The building was rebuilt to duplicate Old Main as it was before.
Halaufia said she is amazed with the stability and foundation USU has in the community and nation.
“I don’t think anybody really realizes the history this university has, and its influence is growing every day,” she said.
When she was attending school here in the 1970s, Halaufia said the student body was around 9,500 students. Now it exceeds 22,000.
“The growth is amazing,” she said.
One of the perks of working in the Haight Alumni Center, she said, is talking with the Golden Aggies from the earliest years.
“They all were really good friends and still keep in touch. They reminisce about softball on the Quad and getting ice cream when it used to be in the bottom floor of the Animal Science Building,” she said. “It is just fun to hear about what the university used to be like.”
Halaufia also pointed out that the students today are lucky it hasn’t changed dramatically.
“As much as it is growing, it still has the small-college feel, which is great,” she said.
USU has also been recognized by the Carnegie Research Institution as a leading research facility in the nation. There are only 59 public universities and 29 private to receive this honor, Halaufia said.
“When I finally began to realize what is going on up here in the research field I was amazed with what is being done,” she said.
A proud alumnus of the university, Halaufia wants everyone to appreciate the importance of the history of the school they attend.
“I wish people could take a few minutes out of the day to reflect on what is around them,” she said.