Tribute to the Founders Poem Unveiling

Fae Decker Dix ('26) and daughter Nancy

An inspiring event during Homecoming week was the unveiling of a large engraved panel of glass in the President's Suite on the third floor of Old Main displaying a beautiful remembrance to the founders of the University.

In 1947, Branch Agricultural College graduate Fae Decker Dix ('26) wrote "Tribute to the Founders of SUU," a poem performed at the College Cavalcade presented during Commencement week in 1947 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the BAC (known now as Southern Utah University). The pageant was a beautiful evening program presented in the football stadium, which at that time ran north and south at the base of the west side of Old Main Hill. It featured a water curtain which turned colors and separated the audience from the football field.

Fae was passionate about learning and, for a woman in the 1920's, had an uncommon interest in a college education. She was an avid reader, loved history and journalism, and was an advocate of cultural and civic events, finding particular enjoyment in music, art, literature and theater. She was active in the community and served for sixteen years as the coordinator for adult education in Iron County and provided valuable service and leadership to the Cedar City Fine Arts Guild and the Cedar City Music Arts and Arts Exhibit Committee.

Fae moved from Cedar City in 1956 to Logan and later to Salt Lake City, where she continued to make her mark in adult education, arts and civic affairs. On October 29, 2002, Fae passed away in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 96.

Tribute to the Founders of SUU

Give us the work and strength to get it done,

So rang the burden of their decision,

We must and we will, every woman and man,

This was their prophecy, this their vision.

Then face this task, 'tis time for actual deeds.

We've logs to get, and brick and sullen lime,

And rocks to cut from yonder firm red cliffs,

and roads to build, and many hills to climb.

So break the earth and raise the towering walls,

This our privilege -- this our blessed task,

To build for those ahead, those yet to come,

This be our answer when the future asks!

With a stubborn trust, and unflinching faith,

They toiled and they labored from dawn to dark,

In the barren fields and the frozen hills

By dint of hard labor they left their mark.

Till, from a thousand dreams they had built this one,

And taught it as a part of the way to live,

Not what I will get back from this life,

But only how much can I give?

-- Fae Decker Dix

Engraved Glass Panel on the third floor of Old Main