- Utah Tech University celebrated the 111th annual whitewashing of the D on Black Hill Saturday.
- John Bowler emphasized the event's significance, symbolizing the pioneer spirit and unity.
- The tradition began in 1915, fostering community and honoring the university's history.
ST. GEORGE — For John Bowler, whitewashing the D means so much more than just a new coat of paint. To him, it represents over 100 years of community members working through challenging situations to make something beautiful.
On Saturday, many community members, including current Utah Tech University students, faculty and alumni, hiked the D trail on Black Hill in St. George to participate in the 111th annual tradition of painting the large block letter.
"The tradition of whitewashing the D on the hill is very important to students and alumni," Bowler told KSL. "It's the longest lasting tradition that the university has."
Bowler is the director of alumni relations at Utah Tech University, and the event on Saturday was part of D-Week that was held at the university this past week. Having the community come together to paint the D is a "representation of the pioneer spirit," that was also referred to as the "Dixie spirit," he said.
"When the pioneers showed up (in St. George) they were asked to raise cotton and cotton silk because they couldn't raise it in northern Utah," Bowler explained. "Washington County is very inhospitable environment.
"The pioneers showed up here and persevered through drought and floods. That culture is something that we honor. We call Utah Tech the Trailblazers because that's what trailblazers are. It's an acknowledgement that the trailblazers showed up and paved the way. Whitewashing the D is a small moment of saying to the community that we are together and we're going to push through this."
Dixie State University alumni Connor Shakespeare led the group Saturday. He spoke about the history of the event that originally began on Dixie Rock, just a few miles away from where the D is.
"Our school started in 1911, and it started as St. George Stake Academy and evolved to Dixie Academy," Shakespeare explained. On the red rock where Dixie Rock is written, they wrote their class year on it, and there began to be scuffles between class years."
Due to those "scuffles," school officials decided that putting a D on the hill would serve as a way to bring alumni together.
"The school decided to write the words 'Dixie' on the red rock and they'd put an iconic 'D' on the hill on the west end of town," Shakespeare explained. "It's 100 feet tall and 75 feet wide. The letter itself is 13 feet wide. It was constructed on Feb. 19, 1915."
Whitewashing the D isn't just about pouring paint on the rocks. In fact, anyone who wants to participate must hike up a steep, rocky hill and stand on an uneven, rocky slope. To Bowler, the entire experience is a representation of the pioneer.
"When the pioneers showed up here, they had to work hard to make it a place they could live," Bowler said. "They had to work toward progression, and I think that's what the pioneers found in it. They made incremental changes to make it better.
"Whitewashing the D represents a refreshing of that spirit," he continued. "That pioneering spirit we used to call the 'Dixie spirit.' The Utah Tech folks would say that's the 'trailblazing spirit.' Isn't it the same idea? It's a spirit of, 'Look! We're gonna make this work. We're gonna figure out how to get through this and make it better.'"
Bowler said that as a descendent of Utah pioneers himself, he believes that those early pioneers would be proud.
"I think they'd look at the community and go, 'Wow. Look what we started.'"
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Arianne Brown
