Southern Utah University, the self-proclaimed "University of the Parks" marked the 100-year anniversary of the National Park Service by canceling regular courses and organizing over one-hundred national park or outdoors-based educational field trips--from on-campus activities to a bussed excursion to the Grand Canyon.
Abby Wyatt was among the hundreds who arose early Thursday, and boarded busses or traveled in private vehicles to participate in SUU's celebration of America's national parks.
"I'm going to go see the Great Basin Observatory dedication as part of my group. We’re going with … the two physics professors here on campus. They’ve been directly involved in Great Basin and this observatory. SUU is one of I think of 5 different university partnerships with the Great Basin, so we’ll be able to use the telescope from a remote location here on campus - to took through it and we can move it as well. All the universities will have different times when you can use it."
Thursday's activities took SUU students to national and state public lands locations in Utah, Nevada and Arizona.