Alumni Join School Of Mines Freshman For Yearly Tradition On Mount Zion

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - New students at the Colorado School of Mines took part in a yearly tradition on Monday.

The students each brought a 10-pound rock from their hometown to cover with watered down white paint add to the "M" that sits atop Mount Zion. They were joined by some alumni, including 76-year-old Ed May.

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"This was on my bucket list. I never did it 55 years ago and I thought I better get it done now or I'm not going to get it done," said May from the Class of 1965.

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"I did this 55 years ago ... there were just a few people there," said Lothar Klingmuller.

This year's incoming class set a record for School the Mines. Thirty-one percent of the incoming class is women, a 6 percent increase over last year.

PHOTO GALLERY: 2015 White-Washing Of The 'M'

When seniors graduate, they are allowed to retrieve their rocks.

The monument was created, according to the school, in 1908 when roughly 250 students and 20 faculty members packed supplies aboard burros for a haul up the mountain.

In 1931, members of Mines' Blue Key International Honor Society chapter first lit the "M" with light bulbs and a generator. In 1948, the lighting became automated. Updates occurred in 1989 (wiring and conduit upgrades), 2003 (a wireless antenna was installed) and 2008 (LEDs replaced 1,653 incandescent bulbs).