In years past, a ‘W’ on the hillside above WSU’s Stewart Stadium was an on-again, off-again tradition, temporary and changing over the years both in implementation and timing. Now, it’s permanent. Months of digging, pouring, installing and engineering led to Saturday night when a new ‘W’ lit the night sky from the foothills over Ogden.

A solar-panel-clad letter outlined with LEDs now makes the shape of the university’s academic-based logo, often called the “Flaming W.”

Saturday night at halftime of WSU’s football game against Butler, 99-year-old Jack Lampros, emeritus chair of the Stewart Education Foundation and longtime WSU benefactor, and university president Brad Mortensen led a group of officials who ceremoniously lit the new ‘W’ for the first time. After the crowd counted down from 10, the group threw a large, decorative lever from one side to the other.

The ‘W’ illuminated a bright white to cheers from the crowd.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

“The W is a symbol of both community spirit and Wildcat pride,” WSU News Coordinator Rachel Badali told the Standard-Examiner in an email Monday. “It’s visible far beyond campus, which means so many people get to see this visual reminder of our shared power, brilliance, and light.”

She said the new solar-powered W is more versatile than previous iterations that have appeared on the side of Mt. Ogden over the decades.

“There’s room for the tradition to grow and evolve but, for now, the plan is for the W to glow white every night from dusk to 11 p.m.,” she said. “Also, the lights will change for some special occasions, like flashing purple and white after athletic home wins or glowing solid purple for things like homecoming and Founders Day. The lights can also be set to have a flame-like effect. Since the shape of that W is called the ‘Flaming W,’ that setting can really embody the spirit of the mark.”

The ‘W’ blinked white and purple Saturday after the Wildcats put away Butler 38-24, alternating colors until it turned off at 11 p.m.

The concrete base and solar panel array form a black-colored ‘W’ during the day; during the night, the base is not seen and only the LED outline is visible.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

According to the university, the first ‘W’ was literally flaming, lit in 1937 with kerosene and burlap sacks. It became a combination of bushes and painted rocks, but the tradition lost steam with a brush fire in 1957.

In 1979, the tradition reignited with J. Farrell Shepherd and Lynn Kraaima figuring out a way to install temporary lights around a ‘W’ shape for homecoming, a tradition that continued off and on until plans emerged for the permanent fixture that debuted Saturday.

Badali added that the new ‘W’ will also have some benefits for the school beyond aesthetics.

“It’s not only beautiful, it’s also sustainable,” she said. “The W has hundreds of solar panels, which produce electricity and feed back into WSU’s power grid.”

She added that it’s huge for WSU and the community to finally have a permanent ‘W’ on the mountainside.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

“For years, it’s been a dream to have a permanent W on the mountainside,” she said. “Lots of conversations, lots of support, and lots of planning went into this. When people see that W illuminated in the distance, they can think of everyone — both on and off campus — who make this community great.”