Blue light now on for all true aggie nights
All True Aggie Nights will now have a blue light to proclaim the celebration due to an update on the Aggie Blue Light legislation.
Megan Darrington, athletics vice president, said the legislation hadn’t been updated since 2003 and she felt it was time ASUSU did so. There were times on the list when it wasn’t being turned on and times when ASUSU felt it should be, Darrington said.
“Basically we didn’t change anything, we just updated it a little bit,” Darrington said.
The light will continue to be turned on for Robins Awards, A-Day, graduation, Homecoming Eve, all varsity athletic victories, Founders Day and the first day of classes every fall semester, according to the Aggie Blue Light policy paper.
The blue light will no longer be turned on for student election, recipients of significant national and international cross-disciplinary award, recipients of significant athletic achievements of state and national renown, top-attended club sport victories, professional/classified employee of the year or Aggie pride light honorees, according to the policy. Also, the president of the university will be able to control the light for Utah State’s Carnegie Professor of the Year, moving up a tier in ranking and Rhodes Scholars.
True Aggie Night is the only thing that has been added to the list of when the light will be on, Darrington said. Stacy Mecham, ASUSU traditions vice president, said she thought lighting the ‘A’ on True Aggie night is important not only for recruiting, but also because True Aggie Night is a USU tradition.
“It is important because it is one of the traditions we are known for throughout the state, and we are known nationally for it,” Mecham said.
The Aggie Blue Light tradition began in 1997, Darrington said. Then-president Kermit Hall initiated the tradition when the lights in the “A” on top of Old Main were changed from white to blue, Darrington said. When it is lit for athletic events, the athletic media relations office can flip a switch to turn on the light, but for everything else, the USU public relations office contact USU police to turn it on, Darrington said.
The reason for the blue light will be posted in the USU Public Relations Office, the Utah State Today site, KSU, The Herald Journal, the Aggie Blue Light Web page, and possibly in The Statesman in the future, Mecham said.
-alison.baugh@aggiemail.usu.edu