20 WEBER COLLEGE - OGDEN, UTAH History Weber College was founded as an academy in 1889. On January 7, 1889, Weber College was founded by a corporation, the Church Association of Weber Stake. It was then known as Weber Stake Academy. In January, 1916, the Latter-day Saint Church Board of Education established a Normal School by adding two years of college work to the four-year high school curriculum of the academy. By this action the school acquired junior college status. College instruction was begun in September, 1916, but the name of the institution was not changed to Weber Normal College until the year 1918. Weber College was organized as a junior college in 1922-1923. With the opening of the school year, 1922-1923, Weber College was organized with two distinct departments: the senior high school, consisting of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth years; and the college, consisting of two additional years. At this time the Commissioner of Education of the Latter-day Saint Church announced a new policy of the Church School System. It was decided that as soon as possible the church schools should confine their efforts to college work. In conformity with this policy the high school department of Weber College was discontinued in May, 1923. Weber College was transferred to the State of Utah in 1933. In 1933, the Utah State Legislature passed House Bill Number 120, which was an amendment of House Bill Number 101, as passed by the Utah State Legislature of 1931. To effect the provisions of this statute, on July 1, 1933, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints transferred by gift to the State of Utah the Weber College, buildings, grounds, and equipment. From this date, Weber College has been known as a state supported junior college under the direction of the Utah State Board of Education. Accreditation Weber College was accredited as a junior college in 1932. In the year 1932, Weber College was accredited by the Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools. The college is a member of the American Association of Junior Colleges, and is fully recognized by the higher institutions of the state. Buildings Weber College buildings are centrally located. The Louis Frederick Moench Building, located on Jefferson Avenue between Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Streets, opposite Lester Park, is the fourth home of Weber College since its founding January 7, 1889. Classes were first held in the Second Ward. In the autumn of 1889, the WEBER COLLEGE - OGDEN, UTAH 21 school was moved to the Ogden Tabernacle, and in the spring of 1890, to the Fifth Ward Institute. By the year 1892, Weber Academy was housed in the first building on the present campus, the east section of the Moench Building. In 1907, a wing on the west side of the original building was constructed, and in 1934, through federal and state aid, the west entrance to the Moench Building was added. From the early part of 1934 to the fall of 1935, extensive repairs and renovations were made through funds made available by the government. The College Gymnasium Building, erected at a cost of $300,000.00 is situated on Twenty-fifth Street between Adams and Jefferson Avenues. The building, dedicated January 9, 1925, serves both the community and the college. Extensive remodeling on this structure during the years 1934 and 1935 resulted in the addition of a west entrance and other improvements. The Vocational Education Building was ready for occupancy September 1, 1938. On August 25, 1937, the Public Works Administration made Weber College a grant of $65,592 for the erection of a Vocational Educational Building to cost $145,760. The building faces Adams Avenue between Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Streets. Lecture rooms, laboratories, auditorium, and library are located in the Moench Building. The Moench Building has twenty lecture rooms, eleven well-equipped laboratories, an auditorium with a seating capacity of seven hundred, and a modern library with stack rooms and reading rooms. The College Auditorium is supplied with modern devices for lighting and staging sizeable musical or dramatic performances. A collection of oil paintings and water colors adds appreciably to the cultural atmosphere of the hall; a pipe organ contributes an enjoyable feature to college assemblies and serves in the interests of community programs. The College Library occupies space for general reading rooms, circulating library, and a library office. It contains standard, general, and special reference books; current periodicals selected with a view to the needs of departments of instruction; and newspapers of local and national reputation. The collection of the International Relation Club and the collection of the Child Culture Club add materially to the resources of the main library. Ballroom, gymnasium, administrative offices, bookstore, and ladies' lounge are located in the Gymnasium Building. The Gymnasium Building contains a large ballroom, a gymnasium floor with a balcony of fifteen hundred seating capacity, four handball courts, tiled swimming pool, archery range, indoor golf net, shower and steam rooms, boxing and wrestling room, and locker rooms. The administrative offices: offices of the President, Registrar, Treasurer, Dean of Instruction, Dean of Women, and Director of Gymnasium are located in the Gymnasium Building as is the College Bookstore. The second floor of the Gymnasium Building is held exclusively for women. During the year 1936-37, the Ladies' Lounge was furnished, thereby providing for the women of the institution, a social center, a delightful environment for study, rest, and informal entertainment. With the opening of the college year, 1938-1939, students felt a need for a mixed lounge where both men and women could go. During the autumn quarter the Freshman Class appropriated one hundred dollars and the Associated Students of Weber College appropriated a similar amount. With this money a Stu dent Lounge was established in the lobby of the gymnasium.