20 Idaho State University Magazine
Fall 2011
110 ISU Turns
1901: Academy of Idaho The Academy was created on March 11, 1901, when Governor Frank W. Hunt signed Senate Bill 53 into law. The Academy opened its doors on September 15, 1902 with four faculty members and 70 students. Tuition was free for Idaho residents and out-of-state tuition was $5 per term. 1915 The Academy of Idaho was renamed the Idaho Technical Institute, referred to by many as “the Tech.” 1917 When the United States entered World War I, enrollment dropped by nearly 50 percent in just a few months. The Tech was saved by a contract with the federal government establishing a Student Army Training Corps. Four Tech students were killed in the war. The sundial in front of Frazier Hall is a memorial to those who served in the war. 1918 “The year has been fateful but prophetic” -1918 Wickiup In October, the academy closed for nearly two months due to the Spanish Flu Epidemic. During this time, Principal
Miles Reed suffered a fatal heart attack. Shortly after reopening, the academy was affected by dropping commodity prices which caused banks to close and farms to be repossessed. All non-essential functions and activities were cancelled for the rest of the school year. 1922 The Quad was dedicated to Ralph F. Hutchinson, a former football coach and athletic director in the 1920s. After his death in 1935, his ashes were scattered over the field, which bears his name. In honor of their beloved mentor and friend, ISU vowed to never build on the Quad, which is why all the buildings circle it. 1927 Under the 1927 House Bill 160 compromise, the Academy became University of Idaho-Southern Branch. Within the branch there were four divisions: Letters and Science, Engineering, Vocational Completion and Pharmacy. Coach Ralph Hutchinson, a Princeton alumnus, established Princeton’s orange and black and the Bengal Tiger as the branch’s colors and mascot.