Talk:Wasatch Academy

Proposed: Expanded founding section

Per my COI disclosure on my talk page, I'm proposing rather than directly editing. The current History section is brief. I'd like to suggest expanding the founding context:

Proposed text:

Wasatch Academy was founded in 1875 by Presbyterian minister Reverend Duncan J. McMillan, who was sent by the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions to establish a school in the remote Sanpete Valley of central Utah. McMillan arrived in Mount Pleasant with his wife and began classes in a small adobe building with a handful of students. The school was part of the broader Presbyterian mission effort to establish educational institutions in the American West during the late 19th century.

Sources:

• School's official history
• Presbyterian historical records (if available)

I'm happy to provide additional sourcing or adjust the text based on feedback. Sparks19923 (talk) 09:14, 1 January 2026 (UTC) ``` ---

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot 10:41, 10 November 2007 (UTC) =

I have completed a significant expansion and cleanup of this article to reflect the school's current status and its 2025 Sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary.

I have completed a significant expansion and cleanup of this article to reflect the school's current status and its 2025 Sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary.

Here is a summary of the changes made:

• **History:** Added a dedicated section covering the 1875 founding, the 1972 transition to independence, and the 2025 sesquicentennial events (cited via school admissions/scholarship pages).
• **Alumni Cleanup:** I audited the "Notable Alumni" list. I removed individuals who were previously listed but had no verifiable connection to the school (e.g., Sophia DiCaro, Lawrence Lee, Nane Alejandrez) and added verified alumni with citations (e.g., Tana Jambaldorj, Timmy Allen, Hosea Helps CEO Elisabeth Omilami).
• **New Sections:** Added verified details on the "Coltharp Center" (Engineering/Makers Lab), the "Learning Center" (neurodiversity support), and the Equestrian program to provide a more complete picture of the curriculum beyond just basketball.
• **Formatting:** Standardized all dates to MDY, fixed bolding to use Wikitext, and applied MOS:DASH to grade/year ranges.

I verified all new additions with reliable sources. Please feel free to review or discuss further improvements here. Sparks19923 (talk) 10:46, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

Revised proposal: Founding and the Liberal Alliance

{edit COI}}

I have built off the draft I previously suggested and sourced it more fully to archives and peer-reviewed journals where available. The following text is my suggested replacement for or expansion of the current "Founding" section since it better explains the school's historical ties to the Liberal Party of Utah and the Presbyterian mission.

Proposed text

Founding and the Liberal Alliance (1875–1890)

Wasatch Academy was founded by Presbyterian missionaries in the religious and political climate of nineteenth-century Utah Territory. In March 1875, Rev. Duncan J. McMillan, a Presbyterian minister from Illinois, arrived in Mount Pleasant to recuperate from illness and to begin missionary work. McMillan had been invited by Sheldon Jackson to the Sanpete Valley to start a school and establish a Presbyterian mission after Jackson had noted a local interest in Protestant schools that were not under the control of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

McMillan received support from local members of the Liberal Party, a political coalition of non-Mormons and former members of the LDS Church who were politically active in an effort to limit church influence in the territory. Jeremiah Page, a postmaster and member of the Liberal Party, welcomed McMillan into his home, where he met around 30 families from the surrounding community that were interested in a school not controlled by a local church. McMillan acquired Liberal Hall, a community center built with funds donated by the Liberal Party to serve as a non-church-affiliated meeting space for the group, by taking over its debts. He secured the title of the building from the Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City, who assisted by providing $500.

On April 19, 1875, the academy opened as a tuition-free grade school in Liberal Hall with a nine-month term. It had a regular curriculum taught by trained instructors and was initially in contrast to the local LDS ward schools, which at the time commonly had two- to four-month terms. The school opened with 44 students and grew to 109 by the end of its first year. McMillan chose the name from the Wasatch Range, and according to school tradition, it was because he "wanted the school to endure like the Wasatch Mountains." It came under direct supervision of the Presbytery of Utah in 1880 as a Presbyterian outpost and school during a time of ongoing federal and LDS hostilities.

References

• Brackenridge, R. Douglas. "Duncan James McMillan: Missionary to the Mormons." Journal of Presbyterian History 55, no. 2 (1977): 143–161.
• Crosby, James B. "Wasatch Academy." Utah History Encyclopedia (1994).
• Glidewell, Donna. Wasatch Academy: The Story Continues (2016). ISBN 978-0692751336.
• Jensen, F.C. Early History of the Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant (1921). OCLC 13745281.
• National Park Service. "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: Wasatch Academy" (1978).

COI Disclosure

I am an alumnus of Wasatch Academy and a member of the school's Advancement Committee. This revised draft attempts to further improve the neutrality and verifiability of the article.

Sparks19923 (talk) 02:13, 4 January 2026 (UTC) Sparks19923 (talk) 02:13, 4 January 2026 (UTC)