A few years ago, Eastern tourists struck up a conversation with Utah residents at a restaurant, asking about the block letters decorating nearby mountains. They wondered if they held some religious significance to Mormons.
The locals laughed as they explained. The block letters -- symbolic of college, high school and even town spirit -- are a unique feature of Utah's landscape. At some Utah universities and colleges, the letters are a source of pride, while elsewhere the letters have faded away or schools have sought more environmentally friendly alternatives.The University of Utah claims its block "U" is the oldest such symbol of its kind in the nation, dating back to 1905. The U. is seeking to raise $250,000 to renovate the symbol, which is also Utah's most permanent mountainside letter because it's set in concrete.
The university wants to install a drainage system around the letter, put in a new fiber optic lighting system and revegetate the hillside. The fiber optic system would allow the "U" to glow in different colors, most often red. The first round of solicitation letters went out to alumni and university friends two weeks ago, said Marc Day, U. director of development relations.
"In just two weeks we have raised $20,000," Day said.
Day said many students and alumni look at the "U" as their logo. It's also a beacon of sorts when area residents want to know the outcome of football or basketball games.
"When the basketball team went to the national championship, many people, if the didn't know the final score, went outside to see if the "U" was blinking," Day said.
Similar stories accompany both the genesis of the block "Y" above BYU in Provo and the block "U."
The block "U" above Salt Lake City began as a prank when two sophomores put their year in school, "07," on the hill. Other classes climbed the hill to change the number to their own year. Eventually, students agreed to combine their spirit and create a "U" created with powdered lime. The next year, after weather had faded the "U," it was enlarged and filled in with lime. By 1907, a plan to make the "U" out of concrete was hatched. With the help of mules from Fort Douglas, students took three days to pour the concrete 5 inches deep. In the late 1960s, the "U" was rebuilt with two feet of concrete.
BYU students apparently picked up on the U. fad in 1906. The class of 1907 whitewashed '07 on what has become Y Mountain. The letters didn't last long when other students rushed up the hill. Like the U., the school's president decided to settle the disputes by having students create a BYU on the mountainside. After completing only the "Y," energy and lime gave out. While the U. claims the oldest letter, BYU claims the nation's largest, according to the schools' respective history books.
The "Y' has never taken on as much permanence as the "U." Last year, BYU's letter got a coat of gunnite and this summer got a coat of 150 gallons of paint. The gunnite -- made from a mixture of sand and concrete -- is designed to stabilized the letter for 30 years.
While the U. and BYU have maintained their letters, others have faded away. Weber State University no longer has a permanent block letter above Ogden because of environmental concerns. Instead, students put up a portable string of lights in the form of a "W" that glow during homecoming, said spokesman Jason Wanlass.
In Logan, the school's dean of students in the 1940s didn't like the idea of a block letter, but he did allow some engineering students to dig a block "A" to commemorate the Aggies. Up until early this decade, the "A" was illuminated by using a system of torches made from burlap and diesel. The "A" was on private land, and a new landowner and the proximity of new homes stopped the annual lighting tradition. University officials say they are now looking at reviving the "A" on other land on mountains south of the campus, possibly with an electronic lighting system.
"We're still in the talking stages," said a university spokesman.
Southern Utah University doesn't have a block letter overlooking its campus in Cedar City, and CEU's "E" is in disrepair.
At Snow College in Ephraim, students climb the nearby mountain in May to paint the "S" on "S" day. The students also perform other service projects around the community. At homecoming, the "S" is illuminated with cans of burning oil.