While Weber State University’s main campus was dropping 12,500 balloons, Wildcats at the Davis campus were having a party of their own on Tuesday morning. With all the festivities commemorating WSU’s 125th anniversary, this milestone was celebrated in the lobby of the D3 Building of WSU’s Davis campus.
Following the theme, the room was transformed into a party zone with purple balloons, prizes and cake. Anyone wearing WSU colors was rewarded with a raffle ticket. Prizes included purple blankets and WSU camping chairs.
Alexis Marquez, Davis campus vice president on the student senate, said she felt honored to play a part in the making of this celebration. “This has been a great experience for me . . . to see how everybody’s celebrating their Weber pride,” she said.
School pride was apparent as Wildcats clad in purple discussed what they loved about their school. WSU President Charles Wight said his favorite thing is the high quality of education at WSU. “My favorite thing about Weber State right now is the dedication of our faculty to excellent teaching. Seeing our amazing faculty work with the students and help them through the material is just magical.”
Marquez said she loves everything about WSU, but listed “the atmosphere, the students, the opportunities and that close-knit community feeling that you get” as some of the standouts for her.
During the celebration, both students and faculty had the opportunity to huddle together and sing “Happy Birthday” to the university.
“I just want to wish Weber State the best 125th birthday ever,” Marquez said. “. . . It’s crazy to think that our university is so old. There’s so much tradition and so many students that have gone through these doors.”
Bruce Davis, the university vice provost and dean of Continuing Education, said he has witnessed a lot of change at the university. “I’ve been teaching at Weber State since 1984,” he said. “Even when I came on full-time in 1990, it was still a college, and it was the next year that we transitioned to a university. That was a major shift.”
To ensure WSU’s future is just as promising as its past, Wight announced “Dream 125: The Campaign for Weber State.”
“Today we’re announcing the public phase of a fundraising campaign to raise $125 million to secure a bright future for our students,” said Wight, who clarified that this is the largest fundraising campaign in WSU’s history, and it is hoped to support the school for years to come.
“I think it’s important to occasionally pause and take stock of where we’ve been, where we are and where we want to go as an institution,” Davis said. “The 125th anniversary gives us the opportunity to do that collectively and reflect the rich possibilities that the future affords us.”
The celebration served as a reminder of WSU’s commitment to success.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to look back at our past and the wonderful way that we’ve served students over the last 125 years,” Wight concluded.
