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Show College. In the midst of uncertainty concerning the future of the college, William Miller told faculty, students, and parents to stick with the college and the traditions of quality education will continue to be upheld. In numerous presentations, Miller suggested that Weber College was and would continue to be an efficient operation and would save the state money if it were allowed to continue to operate as a state institution. On several occasions, Miller met with President Ernest L. Wilkinson of Brigham Young University to plan for a possible merger with the L.D.S. Church School System, and Miller and Wilkinson met with Church President David O. McKay concerning possible plans. Throughout the year of 1954 in relationship to the issue before the voters about state or church ownership of Weber College, the leadership of the L.D.S. Church did not come out on either side of the issue, but said rather that the issue should be left to the voters. Under the leadership of Abe Glasmann, the Ogden Standard Examiner became involved as an advocate of Weber College as a public institution serving northern Utah. Weber students carrying signs advertising them as Junior College Minute Men Fight for Americanism collected money to aid the Weber campaign. The referendum campaign slogan was The American Way - Give the People their vote! Weber residents looked for every opportunity to boost the College including a petition with 2525 signatures sent to President Dwight Eisenhower concerning the need to convene state and national conferences on education with a special focus on Utahs educational crisis. Governor Lee responded by a letter to Eisenhower in which he suggested that the arguments presented [in the Weber Petition] give an emotional and one sided picture of education in Utah the petition with all its emotion is no justification for a state conference and for federal intervention in our affairs. With that I am sure you will agree. The educational situation in Utah in both public and higher education was widely publicized throughout the nation with particular attention paid to the junior college issue. Not all citizens of Weber County were opposed to the College being transferred to the Mormon Church. Some saw the transfer as an advantage for a higher quality of education than at a public institution, and others felt that Weber could become a senior institution under the L.D.S. Church more rapidly than under the state of Utah. As the summer passed and fall came, the referendum issue heated up. Debates were held on the radio, on television, in the newspapers, and in public meetings. The Ogden Standard Examiner was filled with stories, photographs, and opinions largely against returning Weber and the other colleges to the Mormon Church. A poll printed in the October 18, 1954 Salt Lake Tribu ne noted that 34 of those who were polled were for the transfer, 54 against the transfer, and 12 were undecided. Election day, November 2, 1954, was the day set for the decision on the controversial referendum. By a vote of 120,683 to 79,955 Utah voters rejected the attempt to return Weber, Dixie, and Snow Colleges to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Utah voters also rejected the attempt to close Carbon College. The vote which underlined the direction of Weber College and the relationship between Weber and the community was one of Ogdens finest hours. From its beginnings as a Stake Academy, Weber had been a community school, representing the ideals and educational values of the community, and on this election day in 1954, the community and the college gave continuing credence to the understanding that their futures, as their pasts had been, were inextricably intertwined. The future of Weber as a state institution seemed secure and the next goal of the community and the college was a four-year program. On the evening of November 2, 1954, Weber College faculty and staff held a party in Building One on the new campus to hear the election returns by radio. As the returns filtered in, the group celebrated the overwhelming majority that continued to build through the night. The 1954-1955 school year had begun with most activities held on the new campus. Vocational classes, physical education classes, and assemblies were held on the old or lower campus while the rest of the activities of the college were held on the new campus. The Ogden Bus Company agreed to transport students between the two campuses for 7 cents each way, and classes began on the upper campus on the hour and on the old campus on the half hour to permit commuting. Often there were difficulties of travel between the two campuses, and automobiles traveling between the campuses were filled to the brim with ten, twelve, and even fourteen students making the short commute. Tuesday, September 22, 1954 was the day that classes began on the upper campus and a special assembly was held in the stadium featuring President Miller and Student Body President Nelson Wright. At the beginning of the school year it was announced that Dello G. Dayton was appointed chair of the Social Science Division replacing Basil Hansen. On October 27, a dedicatory service was held for the four new buildings in the hallway of Building One. Rulon T. Hinckley, Chairman of the State Board of Education, offered the dedicatory prayer, and speeches were given by H. Aldous Dixon; E. Allen Bateman, State Superintendent of Public Instruction; D. H. Whit-tenburg, Chairman of the State Building Board, and Lamont F. Toronto, Secretary of the State of Utah. As the 1955 Legislature began to meet, there were rumors that bills might be introduced which would transfer the junior colleges to local school districts to either operate or close. House Bill 118 provided for the establishment of local junior college districts and the discontinuance of state junior colleges by July 1, 1955. This bill never came out of committee. The 1955 Legislature authorized the purchase of 22 acres of land from the Mills and Wilson families located immediately south of the first four buildings at a cost of 97,150. This 22 acre land purchase is the site today for the Stewart Library, the Collett Art Building, and the Browning Fine Arts Center. Tuition and fees were increased from 17 to 25 a quarter, and 525,000 was appropriated for a technical education building, 60,000 for a maintenance shop building, and 80,000 for campus development. Senate Bill 143 passed the legislature which authorized college campuses to maintain police forces on campus. During the school year lawns were planted, window coverings were installed, and plans were approved to move to the new campus from |