• On Jan. 7, 1889, Weber Stake Academy opened. On that first day, approximately 100 students crowded into the red-brick church meetinghouse on the southwest corner of Grant Avenue and 26th Street.
  • Louis F. Moench (right) served as the first principal of Weber Stake Academy. He agreed to guide the fledgling school for $125 a month.
  • Tuition at Weber Stake Academy in 1889, for a term of 10 weeks, was $3 for the preparatory department, $4.50 for the intermediate department and $6 for the academic department.
  • The academy moved to the Ogden Tabernacle in 1890 to accommodate a growing number of students, but its tabernacle home was short-lived, derailed by provisions of federal anti-polygamy legislation and fear that the government would confiscate the building if it were used for nonreligious purposes. The school closed suddenly, “keeping 10 students from graduating,” Moench wrote. The academy remained closed for 18 months while a new building in downtown Ogden was constructed.
  • Weber State chose purple and white as its school colors in 1901.
  • The first campus bookstore opened in 1911.
  • The first college class graduated in 1917.
  • In the mid-1920s, a local sportswriter referred to Weber athletes as a “scrappy bunch of wildcats,” leading to the current reference. Prior to being called wildcats, Weber athletes were called “Weberites.”
  • The Mount Ogden Hike started in 1922. This included erecting a flagpole and painting a “W” on the mountain. While the “W” is no longer painted on the mountain, the hike is a Homecoming Week tradition to this day.
  • In the 1931-1932 school year, President Aaron Tracy allowed tuition to be paid with produce and meat instead of money.
  • In 1933, at the depth of the Great Depression, Weber College was transferred from the church to the state.
  • The Signpost, Weber’s student-run newspaper, began publication in fall quarter 1937.
  • With the GI Bill having passed in 1944, many World War II veterans were returning home in search of a college education. Weber College’s enrollment jumped from 465 students in the 1944-45 school year to 967 in 1945-46.
  • After World War II, Weber State moved its campus to Harrison Boulevard. The Utah Legislature withdrew its support from Weber State in 1953, but an Ogden referendum deciding whether to return Weber College to the LDS church resulted in 80,000 "yes" votes and 120,000 "no" votes. The outpouring of public support reversed the legislative decision and ultimately cemented the relationship between college and town.
  • WSU’s celebrated nursing program began in 1953, when Weber was one of seven schools nationwide selected to pilot a revolutionary associate’s degree model for nursing education in an effort to combat a devastating nursing shortage.
  • Classes began at the new “upper campus” on Harrison Boulevard on Sept. 22, 1954, with the “lower campus” still in operation downtown. The Ogden Bus Company transported students between the two campuses for 7 cents each way.
  • In 1962, in its new home on Harrison, the college was granted the authority to transition from a junior college to a senior college.
  • In 1965, the FCC approved the school radio station, KWCR “The Beat.”
  • Weber State’s first student parking decals sold in March of 1967 for $1.
  • The Dee Events Center, dedicated Nov. 1, 1977, holds 11,592 seats.
  • Weber State’s first graduate program, the Master of Education, enrolled its first students in 1978. WSU now has 11 master’s programs. In 2010, it became the first university in Utah to offer a stand-alone Master of Taxation degree.
  • In 1979, Weber State changed its mascot from Waldo Wildcat to Primo Peacock. The change, thankfully, only lasted a year.
  • In 1982, WSU students, faculty, administration and staff created the annual Crystal Crest celebration to honor outstanding members of the Weber State family who have distinguished themselves in the areas of scholarship, talent, leadership, achievement and instruction.
  • The NUSAT 1, the world’s first university student-developed microsatellite that was carried aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1985, began as a WSU senior class project; a replica is now part of the Smithsonian collection.
  • Weber State College officially became Weber State University on Jan. 1, 1991. Weber State University was formerly known as: Weber Stake Academy, Weber Academy, Weber Normal College, Weber College and Weber State College.
  • The Ethel Wattis Kimball Visual Arts Center, dedicated May 2002, was the first WSU building funded completely by private donations.
  • In 2006, WSU’s Dental Hygiene Clinic teamed up with local dental professionals to participate in the Utah Give Kids a Smile charity organization. Annually, for one day in February, the clinic provides free dental services to children in need.
  • In 2007, former Republican National Committee chair Richard Richards established the Richard Richards Institute for Politics, Decency and Ethical Conduct at WSU to inspire ethical behavior and to provide scholarships to WSU students interested in politics.
  • In 2007, WSU created the Community Involvement Center, now known as the Center for Community Engaged Learning. The center provides both curricular and co-curricular community engagement opportunities for students, faculty and staff in partnership with local community organizations. The center creates connections and opportunities to give service, to grow through learning and experience, and to build a community that thrives.
  • In 2008, WSU first received a Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Community Engagement classification, recognizing Weber’s dedication to working with the community.
  • Lindsey Anderson became the first Wildcat to compete in the Summer Olympics when she ran in the steeplechase at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.
  • In 2009-10, 78 percent of graduates from WSU’s Dumke Family Pre-Medical Program were accepted into prestigious medical schools, well above the 45 percent placement rate of pre-med programs nationwide.
  • In 2012, Sierra Magazine ranked WSU as a “Cool School,” taking into consideration everything from “waging war on emissions to serving sustainable foods to teaching a verdant curriculum.”
  • In 2012, WSU outpaced perennial favorite Johns Hopkins University to be named the Best Radiological Technology Training Program in America by Auntminnie.com, an honor bestowed by professional peers in the field of medical imaging.
  • On Oct. 1, 2013, the Ogden City Council, mayor, WSU president and student body president signed the College Town charter initiative formalizing an ongoing partnership between the city and university.