Weber State University held its annual “Light the W” event in the Stewart Bell Tower Plaza on Oct. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. Wildcats from all corners of WSU came to kick off homecoming week with this four-year-old tradition. The event was hosted by the WSU Student Association and the Student Involvement and Leadership department.
Emily Sorenson, vice president of leadership at WSUSA, has been involved in setting up and hosting the homecoming week events. Sorenson said there was a live DJ, a photo booth, blow-up basketball, various yard games and lanterns for students to decorate.
“It’s cool to see all the different wishes students write on the lanterns, it definitely makes the event feel more heartfelt,” Sorenson said.
Sorenson said the event is funded by student fees.
Salayellece Neal, a freshman student at WSU, attended Light the W with her friends. Neal described the event as something that encourages people to do more than sit at home and around the same people.
“This event has a friendly environment, and it’s a great event to start homecoming week,” Neal said. “It’s also a perfect time to make friends and get in the school spirit mood.”
Sheldon Cheshire, coordinator of leadership programs at WSU, remembers the lighting of the W on the mountainside of Mount Ogden when he was a child visiting the area from Layton.
“Lighting the W on the mountainside has been around for years. I remember coming to visit my grandparents and seeing it on the mountainside,” Cheshire said.
However, it did not become a bigger WSU traditional event until 2019 when Cheshire had an idea proposed to him by a member of facilities management. The idea was to make it a big kick-off event for the community on homecoming week.
“The students have really enjoyed it,” Cheshire said. “It has been one of the things that tie us together as a community, and we’d love to expand on that.”
There are hopes of getting a more permanent structure constructed on the mountain, with its own power source, to have the W light up whenever desired. Currently, Facilities Management goes up every year and places the W in different permitted spots and restringing the lights.
