Agricultural college becomes Utah State
Utah State University has gone from a small agricultural institution with just more than 100 students to a campus filled with more than 20,000 students from all over the nation and the world.
According to Pictures Past: A Centennial Celebration of Utah State University, USU, which was originally called the Agricultural College of Utah (ACU), was first open for classes on Sept. 5, 1890 after the Utah Legislative Assembly took advantage of the Morrill Act signed in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln granting states the use of federal land.
Sites in Providence and Hyrum were looked at as possibilities and little thought was turned to Logan as it was already home to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-owned Brigham Young College. However, then County Judge William Goodwin found a piece of land which had just been foreclosed by a local bank and USU found it’s home.
Jeremiah Wilson Sandborn, the first president of the Agricultural College, reported enrollment for the first school year to be 139 – 106 men and 33 women. Enrollment continued to increase to 380 in 1900 and 733 just four years later with a faculty of 60 – much higher than the nine-person staff in 1890. The ACU gained even more students in 1926 when the Brigham Young College closed. In 1891 the student population accounted for 1 percent of Logan’s population, and in 1986, USU students accounted for one-third of the population of Logan.
Growth continued at the ACU and as enrollment increased more classes were offered as well until 1905 when a bill was passed which restricted offering more courses. It wasn’t until 1927 when the bill was lifted after the student population continued to jump and included students from 23 states and five foreign countries. Three more buildings were added to campus between 1917 and 1919.
Student life at USU has also come a long way. ACU students at the beginning of the century were required to attend daily 8 a.m. chapel exercises, which were changed to weekly Thursday morning assemblies which continued until 1963. Male students from 1892 to 1955 were also required to enroll in military science.
Housing was a problem for many students. A dorm was available from 1890 to 1909 but was then turned into the School of Domestic Science. Students lived downtown which at the time was very separate from campus. The second president of the ACU, Joshua H. Paul, used his buggy to get downtown at least once a week. The Logan Rapid Transit Company extended service to the ACU in 1912.
Utah State’s trademark, Old Main, housed most classes in the early days of the school. Classes in Old Main – the oldest USU building – were heated by stoves and lit with kerosene lites. The Old Main Tower was finished in 1902 and in 1909 the senior class placed an “A” on the west side of the tower as their class gift. In 1914 to 1915, hand-played chimes were installed in the tower and not replaced until 1978.
During World War I, life in Logan continued to change. Much of the campus was closed and facilities were used for military training. Barracks even occupied the main floor of the Smart Gymnasium. Enrollment dropped to less than 1,000 students in 1943 and increased greatly to more than 4,000 in 1946 – pushing the college for changes. In the 1950s, dorms were built and USU became a resident campus.
The 1950s was the decade to see the ACU officially changed to Utah State University. Along with the new buildings, enrollment reached 12,000.
No matter how small it has been at times, certain aspects of USU have always been present. Sororities, fraternities, a student publication, sports and Aggie pride can be found all through its history. Utah State now sits on 400 acres, has off-campus centers and has 45 departments and eight academic colleges.