How students maintain the iconic ‘M’ in Golden
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GOLDEN, Colo. — There are a lot of things you can look up to in Golden: the steel brewing tanks at Coors Brewery, Lookout Mountain and even stars in the night sky if you distance yourself from the light pollution.
Of course, there’s also the iconic “M” on the side of Mount Zion.
Built by Colorado School of Mines faculty and students in 1908, the 11,000-square-foot M is a staple for the university’s community.
For the last century, the student-run Blue Key Honor Society has maintained the mountaintop M.
“It’s a long-standing symbol of engineering and school pride,” said Connor Dunfee, chapter director of Blue Key Honor Society. “[The M] is essentially something great that Golden can look to as a commonality — a lot of people in the city have pride in it too.”
Assembled from whitewashed rocks and trimmed in light bulbs, the structure has been lit since 1935.
Every year, freshmen at the Colorado School of Mines hike up to the structure to drop off a rock from their hometown. This tradition, called the “M Climb,” is deeply rooted in the school’s culture.
The students in the Blue Key Honor Society help plan each climb. They also maintain the symbol, changing the designs for holidays and cleaning up debris.
Here’s a look at how the students recently changed the M into a bat for Halloween.
The students hike up Mount Zion in the middle of the school day, three days out from Halloween. Videos: Peter Vo, Rocky Mountain PBS
The string of lights are untangled; they’ve been in storage containers all summer.
Tyler Ware and Caitlyn Johnson carry the string of lights up to the top of the ‘M.’
Dunfee pulls the string of lights on the left side of the ‘M’ to make the tip of the wing.
Johnson walks up the ‘M’, pulling on the lights.
Caroline Landers screws in the weatherproof light bulb onto the string of lights.
Ware and Dunfee work on zip-tying the lights.
Landers and Lauren Quinn untangle lights.
The ‘M’ lit up as a bat for Halloween.
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.