I wasn’t alive then, but my father was. It was the late 1950′s, and Arizona State College (ASC) in Tempe, Arizona was growing in size and stature.

I’ll never forget the story my Dad told me because of how it ended. In 1958, a brand new Sun Devil Stadium would be opening for the upcoming football season. It was also the first year of a Sun Devil Head Coach by the name of Frank Kush. Kush would ultimately become a legend of legends in Tempe and one of the most successful coaches in all of College Football.

The night before Sun Devil Stadium opened it’s inaugural season, fans from the University of Arizona proved their arrogance and took the ultimate measure of disrespect for their rival in Tempe. They proceeded to break in to the prestine stadium in the wake of an historic event for fans of the Maroon & Gold, and burned a large mark into the center of the playing field that said “NO 200.” “200″ Referred to a heated state-wide proposition that Arizona State College had earned university status, thus becoming Arizona State University as it is known today. 

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These excerpts are from the 1958 report about the sequence of events leading up to the vote on Proposition 200.

They can be found in the wiki for the History of Arizona State University which sites Grady Gammage: ASU’s Man of Vision, Tempe: Arizona State University, 1989 and The Sahuaro 1959, Tempe: Associated Students of Arizona State University.

In 1953 the Arizona Board of Regents (dominated by University of Arizona alumni), authorized the establishment of a College of Arts and Sciences and called for the United States Department of Education to evaluate the ASC program. Dr. Ernest V. Hollis’ 1954 report declared that ASC was “rapidly becoming a university” and proposed the establishment of four colleges: Liberal Arts, Education, Applied Arts and Sciences, and Business and Public Administration. The Hollis Report precipitated howls of displeasure from southern Arizona that echoed through the Board of Regents and the Arizona Legislature, but in the November 1954 Regents meeting Governor Howard Pyle cast the deciding vote to accept the recommendations, which were implemented the following year.

Meanwhile, a war of words erupted in legislative chambers, major city newspapers and alumni magazines over Hollis’ declaration that a second Arizona university was emerging in the desert. Arizona State College student leaders collected petition signatures, legislation was crafted and buried in committees, and Eugene Pulliam’s Arizona Republic justified references to Arizona State University as a matter of accuracy in journalism. But the powerful State Senator Harold Giss of Yuma unwittingly poured gas on the fire when in March 1958 he introduced legislation to name the institution Tempe University. Hundreds of angry students laid siege at the state capitol in Phoenix until Giss appeared at the balcony and promised to withdraw the bill. An embarrassed President Grady Gammage admonished the student behavior, and quietly appointed Alumni Association Executive Director James Creasman to coordinate the statewide initiative drive that would give Arizonans their second public university. 

Five hundred and ninety-nine students formed a committee to collect petition signatures in the spring of 1958, assisted by the Alumni Association and the “Citizens for Arizona State University” led by Walter Craig and John B. Mills. They needed 28,859 valid signatures, but by July 1 they had collected 63,956 signatures and they delivered them to the capitol by armored car. Meanwhile the “Citizens for College and University Education” returned fire with editorials, radio ads and pamphlets declaring that the “name change” movement was wasteful duplication and poor educational policy. Mrs. Kathryn Gammage, first year football coach Frank Kush and college administrators and faculty toured the state to promote Arizona State University, while C.W. Laing and Tom Lillico barnstormed the state in their Yes 200 Piper aircraft. Opening day at the new Sun Devil Stadium featured the letters AS painted in the end zone, with room for the U to be added, while the opposition burned “No 200″ into the turf at midfield. 

Election day dawned on November 4, 1958 and an army of 1,500 student volunteers was deployed to assist with voter information and transportation to the polls. A communications center was established in the Memorial Union, and the students gathered outside as the polls closed at 7:00. The teleprinter chattered election results in favor of ASU two to one, and at 10:00 the Citizens for College and University Education conceded the election. Celebrations began, but thirty minutes later a wire service reported returns two to one against ASU and the tension was renewed. At 11:00 the teleprinter declared the previous reports inaccurate and Proposition 200 approved by a two to one margin. The celebration was renewed with the Sun Devil Marching Band, cheerleaders and pom-pom girls leading 5,000 jubilant students to Sun Devil Stadium. All that remained was the gubernatorial proclamation enacting the initiative results, and so on December 5, 1958, the governor signed the executive order that created Arizona State University.

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So back to my Dad’s story. It was now three months after the fans from Tucson disrespected their rival at midfield of their new stadium. The UA Wildcat football team travelled to Tempe to play the new ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS on that same field. The date was Friday, November 22, 1958. 

That night, in the new Sun Devil Stadium and in his first game as ASU Head Coach against UA, Frank Kush’s football team beat their opponent into the ground in a resounding ass kicking.

DieHard Sun Devils know about PROPOSITION 200, and will never forget. 

John Haro, class of 87′, is an active board member of the White Mountain Alumni Chapter. Their scholarship charity and 7th Annual White Mountain Steak Fry, Golf Tournament & Heritage Night Cocktail Party is June 20-21. For more information, please see the DieHard Forums.