On a hillside above Weber State University sits an immense new “Flaming W.” There are about 100 such mountain monograms in Utah and some 500 in the western United States, but this almost completed one is extraordinary. Indeed, there is apparently no other such “geoglyph” like it in the world, for this one is entirely covered with custom-fit solar panels which will soon generate electricity for the university. These panels are encased in a steel and aluminum frame which will house a 4-inch-wide trough filled with LED lights. This monumental W was created to demonstrate the institution’s strong commitment to energy sustainability. 

Construction of such mountain letters in the Western US began more than a hundred years ago when the first one for a university, a giant concrete “C” was built in 1905 above the University of California at Berkeley. Their popularity quickly took off in Utah. Over the next two years, Brigham Young University constructed its “Y” and the University of Utah created its “U” on the slopes above their campuses. 

Weber State’s “W” has come and gone since 1937, when a flaming W was set alight. It had burlap sacks for its wick and consumed vast amounts of kerosene. Even flares were used until they sparked a brush fire in 1957. In 1970, botany faculty and students, along with a zoology professor, Dr. Orson Whitney Young, made the embarrassing mistake of planting sumac bushes to create the W, only to find out that mule deer liked to eat them. This might be the only instance of an herbivore-driven devastation of a geoglyph! These plantings had also suffered due to soil damage from the whitewashings and herbicides used in creating previous W’s. An electrically lit version was first developed for the school’s homecoming festivities in 1979. 

Over the ensuing decades, Weber State’s students have been the primary force behind efforts to produce a more lasting W. Several years ago, student groups initiated discussions with the institution’s Facilities Management division to develop a new one. 

I recently met with Jake Cain, the Interim Associate Vice President of Facilities Management to learn how this process unfolded. Following discussions between the students and Jake, who has overseen the university’s energy sustainability program, the decision was made to move forward with a solar paneled W. Jake noted that the carbon footprint of the W will be readily offset by the electrical energy created in future years by the solar panels.

The W is about 200 feet tall and some 125 feet wide, taking form in a larger area that has been cleared of vegetation. It is being built under challenging circumstances: on a 36-42% grade mountain slope after the removal of an approximately 6-inch layer of soil. The project was designed by VCBO Architecture and is being built by Jacobsen Construction — both Salt Lake City firms. These companies have been directed to minimize disturbance of the surrounding hillside and to use native plants when re-seeding the denuded area. 

The cost of this large monogram is between $1.5 and 2 million dollars. The majority of this sum will be covered by a university energy fund, with the anticipation of recouping this cost from future energy savings. Weber State is hoping to raise a half-million dollars from donors through their “Light the W” campaign.

A project that has altered the landscape to such a degree is certainly not without its critics. I have spoken with people who live in houses just to the west of the W and several are disturbed by its looming presence. For those in the homes closest to this new hillside addition, a large portion of their view of the mountains has been swallowed up. 

Some expressed disappointment that they were neither consulted nor informed about this project. Apparently many in this neighborhood were unaware that the university owns virtually all of this hillside, mistakenly believing that it was owned by the US Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, and would thus be protected.

Several university faculty are disturbed about the message this sends to their students: that it is okay to deface a natural habitat. Concern was also expressed that the faculty were not involved in the discussions about this project. 

The institution’s Environmental Initiatives Committee, which consists of faculty members, did approve of the project, but when it was presented to the Faculty Senate, it was done so as an “informational item,” with the W’s creation being a “fait accompli.” Perhaps the faculty and their students can become involved in studies of the revegetation of this area and other research.

Jake Cain is confident that the faculty, staff, students, and alumni are very supportive of the project. As with other educational institutions in the West, these mountain letters are a source of pride and identity. This is a fascinating cultural phenomenon in this part of the nation, as there are very few such symbols in other regions. Weber State not only has its long sought after enduring W, it has created an absolutely unique symbol that expresses sustainability. There’s simply nothing else like it on Earth.

Feature Image Photo by Benjamin Zack/Weber State University.