east bench, July 2009 Weber State University was founded by
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Weber
Stake Academy in 1889. "Weber" comes from the name of the county where the university is located.
Weber County was named after
John Henry Weber, an early fur trader. The university opened for students in 1889 with 98 students enrolled for classes The first principal of Weber Stake Academy was
Louis F. Moench; he served from 1889 to 1892 and again from 1894 to 1902. In the latter year, Moench was succeeded as principal by
David O. McKay, who served in that position until 1908. From 1914 to 1917,
James L. Barker was the principal of the Weber Stake Academy. In the early 20th century, the school underwent multiple name changes: Weber Stake Academy from its founding in 1889, Weber Academy in 1902, Weber Normal College in 1918, and Weber College in 1922. By the late 1920s, however, the college was in financial difficulty, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints faced four choices—transfer the college to a partnership of the city of Ogden and Weber County, transfer it to the
University of Utah as a branch campus, transfer it to the state of Utah as a
junior college, or shut it down. In 1931, the
Utah Legislature passed a law providing for the acquisition of Weber College and
Snow College from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1933, Weber College became a state-supported junior college. In 1954, the college moved from its downtown location in Ogden to a spacious and scenic area in the southeast bench area of the city. The school became Weber State College in 1962, and in 1964 became a four-year college. It was a charter member of the
Big Sky Conference The first graduate program (accounting), was added and it gained university status on On July 8, 1993, 28-year-old student Mark Duong, a senior at Weber State, opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun at a grievance hearing. Duong wounded three, including a police officer; the officer returned fire and killed Duong. Duong was attending the grievance hearing due to an accusation of sexual harassment by a female classmate. == Academics ==