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In the beginning was the “Y.” That’s where the Y Days tradition began.
In 1906, the junior class of 1907 came together and whitewashed the letters of their graduating year on the mountainside just east of the BYU campus. When the other classes found out about the junior’s monument on the mountain, heated class distinctions and clashes began.
The monument was destroyed and to prevent more clashes, President Brimhall and administrators suggested and approved painting the University symbol on the mountain.
Two hundred and fifty acres were purchased for the project. Originally, the project encompassed all three of the University’s letters, “B” “Y” and “U”. The project ended up taking students about six hours longer than they had expected, and they had just lightly covered the “Y” without even beginning the other two letters. The other two letters were never whitewashed.
It was hard work and most of the men had no breakfast or dinner. No one dared to quit, as it would break up the line. In the afternoon, it was more than some of them could take. They fainted and had to be helped down the hill.
A new tradition was created annually from that time on, every year students would show their school spirit by whitewashing the “Y”.
On Y Day in the spring, the men students met early for roll call. The men would head up to the “Y” and the women would stay behind preparing lunch for the men.
The faculty cleared the trail, freshmen hauled water from a spring, sophomores carried up the whitewash and mixed it in wooden troughs and juniors and seniors painted it onto the large letter. The band played music all day to keep the spirits of the workers up.
Until 1972, all the water and lime was carried to the “Y” by a bucket brigade. That year, a helicopter was hired to carry the lime ready-mixed to the mountain.
The last year the “Y” was whitewashed was 1978, when evidence of erosion problems and the fact that there were too many students to effectively organize Y Day as it once had been, brought a swift halt to the 70-year tradition. The “Y” is reputed to be the largest school emblem in the world.
In 1989, the revival of Y Day came about with community service projects and planting trees in local canyons. Y Day was first expanded to Y Days week in 1991, in a effort to motivate students to become involved in Saturday service projects.
Today, the meaning of Y Days has changed since that first lime-washed letter, but the spirit hasn’t changed.
