“Dixie... Remember & Never Forgetting!!” serves as the theme for Dixie State College of Utah’s annual second homecoming known as D-Week, which will run from March 27-April 4, with various activities and events held on and around the DSC campus.
D-Week’s roots can be traced as far back as 1914, three years after the college’s founding, as a chance for college alumni, students, and faculty and staff, as well as the community, to come together in a reunion setting for a week of activities.
“I have a feeling that this is going to be the best D-Week Dixie State has ever had,” says Donna Stafford, DSC Director of Student Activities. “The traditions of D-Week, including the Great Race and the whitewashing of the ‘D’ on the Black Hill, are two of the oldest traditions we have on campus. These are the things that make us Dixie.”
D-Week officially begins Friday, March 27, with a “DSC SandBlast” at Vernon Worthen Park from 7 -10 p.m. The “DSC Sandblast” will feature a barbeque, relays races and sand volleyball, along with other activities. The full week of events resumes on Monday, March 30, with a D-Week kick-off activity from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring music, snow cones, cotton candy and other edible treats and displays spread throughout campus.
Other main attractions during D-Week include the D-Queen Pageant on Tuesday, March 31, at 7 p.m., in the Cox Auditorium. Tickets for the pageant are available at the DSC Avenna Center ticket office for $5, $3 for DSC students, faculty and staff with current ID. In addition, the annual painting of “D” Road, located at 300 S. and 800 E. on the DSC campus, will be held on Wednesday, April 1, at 4 p.m., while students will have a chance to meet the candidates for the 2008-09 student council from on Thursday, April 2, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Gardner Center.
To many, however, D-Week’s signature event is the Great Race, which will take place Friday, April 3, at 6 p.m., followed by a free BBQ and carnival at the DSC Encampment Mall beginning at 7 p.m. In addition to the carnival, Zions Bank is presenting a free concert at the Encampment Mall featuring Utah’s own American Idol finalist Carmen Rasmusen at 7:30 p.m. All DSC students, faculty and staff, and the community are invited to participate in the Great Race, carnival and concert festivities. For more information on the Great Race or to enter a team, contact the DSC Alumni Office at 435-652-7535.
The starting point for the Great Race, which will snake its way throughout campus, will be on the Encampment Mall on campus. Nearly 20 ten-member teams comprised of DSC alumni, students, and faculty and staff will relay their way across campus by foot, mountain bike, roller blades, water, mud and more.
The inaugural Great Race occurred in 1971, but it origins can be traced back as early as 1964, as a bicycle race around the Black Hill near the airport. The first official Great Race included such events as motocross, horseback riding, and tubing down the Virgin River. Community growth and safety concerns eventually forced the race to the friendly confines of the DSC campus. In addition to the traditional running, biking, and swimming, Great Racers now have to negotiate, among other things, a slip n’ slide track, a roller blade course, a Dixie trivia question, and a mud pit throughout the 10-leg relay course.
“You haven’t lived if you have never seen or participated in the Great Race,” Stafford said. “Just to see these students, alumni, and even our own faculty and staff plow through that mud pit is worth spending the entire evening celebrating with us.”
D-Week wraps up with a busy day of events on Saturday, April 4, beginning with the annual tradition of whitewashing the ‘D’ on Black Hill, which will also feature a pancake breakfast, at 7 a.m., followed by a police escort and parade up St. George Boulevard at 8:30 a.m. Following the parade, DSC student and alumni teams will square off against each other on the diamond in a softball tournament beginning at 10 a.m., at the DSC Cooper Diamonds. The D-Day Dance will wrap up the festivities later that evening at 9 p.m., in the Gardner Center Ballroom. Tickets for the D-Day Dance are available at the door for $10 a couple.
Community members are invited to attend all D-Week activities. For more information, contact the DSC Director of Student Activities Donna Stafford at 435-652-7513 or at stafford@dixie.edu.
