Salt Lake Collegiate Institute

The Salt Lake Collegiate Institute opened to students of all ages on April 12, 1875 in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church. Its first classes were taught by the Coyner family. 'Mrs. Mary Wilson Coyner took charge of the primaries, Miss Emma Margaret Coyner the intermediates and I had those in the advanced studies,' wrote J.M. Coyner in 1897. As a result of their efforts, the Coyners taught sixty-five pupils in their first term. The Salt Lake Collegiate Institute began without being able to offer the necessary material objects that a school should provide. In 1883, Principal Coyner described conditions as 'two basement rooms, bare of everything like school furniture, poorly lighted and illy [sic] ventilated, no desk, no maps, no endowment, no money, and no positive assurance of students, was all there was.' The Collegiate Institute's purpose was to bring a strong Christian presence to the education system of the West. It sought to provide high school education to Presbyterian youth, as well as members of the Mormon Church. In 1877, financial backing came to the Collegiate Institute after the formation of the Women's Executive Committee and the Presbyterian Church Home Mission Board's subsidization of three female teachers. In 1896, the Woman's Board took full possession of the Collegiate Institute, and would retain control until 1910. In 1910, ownership was transferred to the Board of Trustees of Westminster College. Starting in 1902, the Collegiate Institute was gradually incorporated into Westminster College as its Preparatory Department. The Collegiate Institute moved from the property of the First Presbyterian Church (the old building, the new building, and the dormitory known as the 'Octagon House') to the property purchased by the college to be used as the new (and current) campus. The last principal of the Collegiate Institute was George B. Sweazey (1904-1914), who became the dean of Westminster College in 1914. The Collegiate Institute operated as the Preparatory Department of Westminster College until 1936, when the department was phased out entirely. The Collegiate Institute produced the first student publication at Westminster College, "Collegiate life". It contained news related to students, faculty, and the Collegiate Institute, and also featured a variety of student writings, such as poems and jokes. Started in 1912, the publication had a professional appearance but little is known of its history. Only a few issues (1912-1930) have survived and are housed in Westminster College's Archives.