UVUphoria: Name change won't alter focus on serving community
As it was, though, the Park family was just sharing memories of their hometown school, Utah Valley State College. Harold Park, 98, is the oldest living graduate of the institution, which, after 18 months of preparation, will officially take on the title of Utah Valley University Tuesday.
"Who do you want in the photo?" one family member asked, as the newspaper photographer hustled the Parks off the couch for a group shot.
"Anyone who's taken classes at UVSC."
They laughed. The only one who wasn't included in the photo was the toddler, who tinkered with Matchbox cars as her elders chatted.
"She's a future Utah Valley University grad," her mother said, with a wink.
It's not an anomaly, in Utah County, for a family to have so many ties to UVSC.
"We're a regional institution," said UVSC President William A. Sederburg. "To be locally engaged is one of our major initiatives."
"As we decide what kind of university this is going to be, we are constantly asking ourselves, 'How can we be stewards of our community?"' Sederburg said. "Community engagement has always been at the heart of this school's goals."
Generation One: technical school
UVSC's original conception was in response to public need.
It was the early 1940s, and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor had just violently thrust the United States into World War II.
"As things were stirring in Europe, the country was stressing defense-oriented technical training," said Mark Bezzant, UVSC's official historian. "They were worried the Japanese would bomb the steel plants on the coast so they wanted to train more people who could work in the steel industry."
So, the school's first director, Hyrum Johnson, organized classes in a barn at the Provo City Fairgrounds, and Central Utah Vocational School was born. Among other things, the school offered courses in welding, parachute upholstery and nursing.
When the military turned Harold Park down because of a weak ankle, he enrolled at Central Utah Vocational School.
"I thought, 'Well if they're not going to take me in the Army, I'll stay and work,"' he said.
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