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Weber
State University, formerly Weber State College, is a four-year
undergraduate university located in Ogden, Utah. In 1989
it celebrated the centennial of its establishment with
a student body of approximately 13,000 students. The university
has a strong liberal arts and technology orientation and
offers master degree programs in education and accounting.
Because of its enrollment and number of schools and departments,
and its excellent academic performance, the Utah State
Legislature passed Senate Bill 101 which gave Weber State
College university status. Governor Norman Bangerter signed
the bill on 14 February 1990 with the designation of Weber
State University becoming effective on 1 January 1991.
On 20 July 1990, Dr. Paul H. Thompson was appointed as
the tenth president of the institution.
The
university first opened its doors for students on 7 January
1889 when ninth-eight students enrolled for classes. At
that time the school was designated as Weber Stake Academy
(Weber Stake was an ecclesiastical division of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Weber Stake Academy
was one of twenty-two Mormon colleges or academies founded
in that time period to provide basic elementary and secondary
education and Mormon religious training to counteract
the Protestant missionary schools which had been established
in the area during the late nineteenth century. Louis
Frederick Moench was the first principal, and the first
classes were held in the Mormon Second Ward meetinghouse.
Over
the years the institution changed its name and status
from church ownership to state ownership, and moved from
teaching basic and secondary courses to college level
programs. The institution was Weber Stake Academy from
its founding in 1889 to 1897. In 1902 the school was renamed
Weber Academy, and in 1918 it became Weber Normal College
because of the teacher training emphasis. In 1922 the
high-school-level courses were dropped, and the name was
changed to Weber College, with classes now on the junior
college level. The college was a Mormon Church college
until 1 July 1933 when the school was turn over to the
State of Utah by an act of the state legislature.
Weber
College remained a junior college until 1962 when students
began work at Weber as a four-year institution. In 1951
the college moved from its downtown location in Ogden
to a spacious and scenic area in the southeast bench area
of the city. On 14 May 1963 the name of the institution
was again changed to Weber State College. All of this
change had come as result of tremendous growth of student
numbers which by 1962 had reached 3,670 and by the strong
support of faculty and citizens of the northern Utah area.
The community also had acted together to overcome by referendum
vote in 1954 a move by Governor J. Bracken Lee to turn
the school back to the Mormon Church.
Weber
State University has developed into a major state undergraduate
institution serving northern Utah and areas beyond, including
American and international students. The university has
received awards for its teacher education training, for
NUSAT electronic satellite program, teaching alliances,
and providing a good, general all-around education. The
university claims several prominent graduates and faculty
from its ranks. Among this list are business magnate J.
Willard Marriott; author-historian, Fawn Brodie; Mormon
Church president, David O. McKay; communications expert,
Mark Evans Austad; inventor of the industrial diamond,
H. Tracy Hall; U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, David M.
Kennedy; prominent lawyer and university president, Ernest
L. Wilkinson; president of Black and Decker, Nolan Archibald;
professional basketball coaches, Dick Motta and Phil Johnson;
and band and orchestra composer, Clair W. Johnson - just
a few of the illustrious people associated with Weber
State University.
Richard
C. Roberts
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