ST. GEORGE — Dozens of students, community members, alumni and faculty marched up to the “D” on the hill on Saturday to bathe it in a white lime and water mixture to ensure it continues to glow looking over St. George.
This was the final event of D-Week, which ran April 8-13. The tradition of painting the “D” was born out of class rivalries.
“They used to put the numbers on the Dixie rock,” Connor Shakespeare, an alumni and the man who mixes the lime and water solution, told St. George News. “Students thought it’d be fun to switch the three on 1913 to a four for the next class of 1914.”
Shakespeare said this sometimes ended in fistfights, so the city and the school gathered to formalize the monuments.
“They decided to put Dixie on the Sugarloaf and make a symbol, the letter ‘D,’ for our city on the Black Ridge,” he said.
The “D” is aligned directly with Tabernacle Street, where the old Dixie campus used to be. It stands 100 feet tall and 75 feet wide, with the lettering itself standing 13 feet high. It was constructed on Feb. 19, 1915, and received its first coat of whitewash on that date.
Shakespeare handed out small buckets to gather the solution out of 13 50-gallon buckets.
“The energy was higher this year,” said Isabelle Peck of the class of 2025. “Things like this make Utah Tech really fun and unique.”
Student Body President Jose Martinez said this is his favorite event.
“I love seeing the community and the students being involved together,” Martinez said. “I think we need more of that.”
Photo Gallery
The view while painting the "D" on Black Ridge, a culminating event of the university's annual D-Week festivities St. George, Utah, April 13, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News
Students decide where to pour their buckets while painting the "D" on Black Ridge, a culminating event of the university's annual D-Week festivities, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News
Those at the bottom of the "D" ended up splashed, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News
"Dixie" is visible on the Sugarloaf from Black Ridge and the painting of the "D," a culminating event of the university's annual D-Week festivities, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News
Some faculty brought their children along to paint the "D" on Black Ridge, a culminating event of the university's annual D-Week festivities, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News
Some nearby high school students participated in painting the "D" on Black Ridge, a culminating event of the university's annual D-Week festivities, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News
Trailblazer Queen Allison Park pours the last of a 50-gallon bucket while painting the "D" on Black Ridge, a culminating event of the university's annual D-Week festivities, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News
Utah Tech freshmen pose while painting the "D" on Black Ridge, a culminating event of the university's annual D-Week festivities, St. George, Utah, April 13, 2024 | Photo by Bridger Palmer, St. George News
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