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Dixie Junior College    Pres. Glen E. Snow New President

Dixie Junior College  Pres. B. Glen Smith

Glenn E. Snow succeeded President Smith as President in the fall of 1938 and remained for 12 years. 

President Snow was born and raised in St. George, attended Dixie College and the University of Utah where he earned his BA and MA degrees in Science.  He married Laura Gardner in September 1925.  They were the parents of five children, three boys and two girls.

 He began his teaching career in Toquerville, Utah and then went on to Alamo, Nevada; after which he became principal of Hurricane High School.

During his teaching career he served as President of the Southern Utah Teachers Association, President of the Utah Education Association, served as a member of the Utah State Senate from 1937 to 1944, and was the first individual from west of the Mississippi to be elected President of the NEA.  He became assistant Ex­ecutive Secretary of the NEA after he left Dixie in 1950 and served until 1964.  He was a Regent of the University of Utah from 1967 to 1969. 

During his administration of the College, President Snow was always held in high respect by the students and faculty.  In the school yearbook the students said of him: “…our appreciation for your interest in us, your kind words when days are dark, and your untiring understanding words ... you have truly created the 'Dixie Spirit' in the hearts of all."

 He was known for his close-knit faculty and for their collective dedication to the College.  Following the period of almost "starvation" for the College, President Snow was instrumental in helping to put the College on a firm footing.

 He began the move to have the women's dorm, Dixiana, constructed.  He became more determined than ever that it would be established after he learned that Church leaders in Nevada were telling students not to come to Dixie because of the inadequate, unsuitable living accommodations.

 Professor Emeritus Wayne McConkie who taught Geology at Dixie and retired in 1975, described the period leading up to and the construction of Dixiana:

  "One of the things that was really crippling to Dixie was that we had almost nothing in the way of student housing. There were two locations of housing.  One was the trailers, located on the site of Dixiana, and the other, some temporary hous­ing units on the west side of town that had been moved in.  These took care of some of the Dixie students, especially the married ones.

        “The trailers located where Dixiana now stands were affectionately known by the students as 'Cockroach Terrace' and the units on the west side of St. George were called 'Termite Terrace'.

 “Before Dixiana was built, the male population at Dixie was much higher than the female population.  It was an unfavorable balance.  I was in charge of the building trades so I worked closely with President Snow to get the women’s residence hall built.

         “We hunted and hunted for a location to build the dormitory and the only one we could find that was at all satisfactory belonged to the LDS Church and the bishop was determined to build a chapel there.  The bishop was ill and later passed away so we were able to negotiate and buy that property for the College.

 "Since the College had no money to buy the ground, an organization that was in effect when I came here in 1947, The Dixie Education Association, came to the aid of the College and raised the necessary money to purchase the property.  The group was made up of local men and people that were strong supporters of the College who dug deep into their own pockets to buy the property we wanted.

"The first part of Dixiana was built with faculty and students donating labor.  We dug out all the footings, what is now the basement, with shovels and wheelbarrows.  We didn't have any large excavating equipment at all.

"The construction and excavation of the Dixiana began in the last year of President Snow's administra­tion (1950) ... and after he moved away, continued during President Himes' years.

"President Himes used all the available funds to further this building project. He urged faculty members to lend all of their energy to support this.  He led out by coming to work after school and on Saturdays.  He personally moved a lot of dirt with shovel and wheelbarrow to get this work done.  His pursuit of this work made it possible for the project to be completed in the administration of President Arthur Bruhn.

 "After Arthur Bruhn became President he was concerned with getting Dixiana finished.  They were able to raise enough money to finish the job and hire a man to be in charge of construction and I was to work with him.

"I was in charge of all volunteer labor and would work from after school to about midnight.  In that way we finished the building and it helped create a lot of feeling that Dixie College should remain open and a part of the State Educaton System," Professor McConkie concluded.

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