Higher Ed Utah

(Richard Briggs, Dixie Sun) — A fire truck carrying members of student government and President Stephen Nadauld raced by the pavilion next to the Udvar-Hazy School of Business, signaling the official start of the celebration.

Community members, students, faculty, staff and Ragin’ Red began singing the Dixie State College school song, and the celebration of DSC’s 100th birthday also began.

Nadauld took the microphone and talked about DSC’s history. He told the story of Sam Brooks, the St. George man who was the first enrolled student of the college. Brooks slept at the steps of the college the night before Dixie opened to make sure he was the first student to be enrolled.

Ragin’ Red members then tried to get audience members involved in singing the songs that have become their staple. Although most people in attendance were content to sit and watch Ragin’ Red perform, there were a couple of students who joined in on the sing-along portion of the party.

Now, everyone associated with the college looks ahead to becoming a university a century later. From one student sleeping at the steps of the college in 1911 to 9,000 students busily pacing from 600 South to Tabernacle, the Red Storm still have distance to travel in their journey—distance larger than the picnic-table-sized cake served at the Centennial Birthday Bash.

“We’ve made the public declaration that we’re going to be a university,” Nadauld said. “That’ll happen within the next five years. Beyond that we have to add master’s degrees, and we have to continue to expand our offerings of baccalaureate degrees and associate degrees. We’ll grow our student body from 9,000 to 12 or 15,000. We’ve got a lot of exciting plans.”

Steve Johnson, DSC’s public relations director, expressed his excitement for the next 100 years and the direction DSC is heading.

“The next 100 years looks fantastic with the continued addition of degree programs,” Johnson said. “The next three to five years, the probability of becoming a regional state university. We close the chapter on 100 years tonight, and we’re going to start a new century tomorrow. I don’t want to use the cliché, ‘The future looks bright,’ but I don’t see this institution going anywhere but up.” More…