Nevada, which fought so hard to keep Las Vegas from having a University. In 1951, when the post-war boom had swollen Las Vegas' metropolitan population to more than 50,000, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), established an extension program. Twenty-eight students began meeting for classes in the dressing rooms of Las Vegas High School's auditorium. In 1954, the Nevada Board of Regents founded the Southern Regional Division of the University of Nevada, popularly known as Nevada Southern. Students adopted the Rebel name and mascot to reflect their desire to break free from UNR. On September 10, 1957, the first classes were held on campus in a new 13,000-square-foot building, later named for Maude Frazier, a state assemblywoman and founding force behind Nevada Southern.
Despite its expansion, Nevada Southern remained under UNR's control. In fact, university officials required students to spend a semester in Reno before graduating. After fighting to become a degree-granting institution, Nevada Southern held its first commencement in 1964, graduating 29 students as the "Centennial Class" in honor of Nevada's 100th anniversary as a state. The next year, the school became Nevada Southern University, with its own curriculum. Donald Moyer served as its first chancellor and then became its first president in 1968, when the university finally won its autonomy under the state's higher-education system, giving it equal status to UNR.
In 1969, with the board of regents' approval, the university adopted its current name. By the following year, as Las Vegas' metropolitan population reached 275,000, UNLV enrolled more than 5,500 students. During the 1977-78 academic year, UNLV surpassed UNR in total enrollment.
Many people and students now days believe that the Rebel has something to do with the Civil War, which is incorrect. It was because of the University of Nevada and the politicians from Reno and the surrounding area that didn't want to give Las Vegas their own University. It was the State of Nevada's own war between the two sides and the powers to be in the North didn't want to lose control over what the students and the powers to be in Southern Nevada wanted.
That is why UNR is hated so much by many people in Southern Nevada and UNLV alums, such as my Son. The annual football game has what is considered to be the heaviest and most expensive college football trophy. It weighs 545 pounds and cost $10,000 to build, better known as the "Fremont Cannon", named after the American Explorer John C. Fremont.
