Leland Hafen was born in Santa Clara, Utah, in 1895 and after a fine athletic career was signed as an athletic coach at Dixie in the fall of 1926. For the next twenty years Coach Hafen guided the athletic program at Dixie, and for a period of ten years (1926-1936) coached both the high school and college squads. Until 1963 Dixie College and Dixie High School were combined into what was called upper and lower divisions . From 1936 until 1946 Coach Hafen coached only the high school but was the athletic director and taught classes in history to both upper and lower division students . Coach Hafen's record as an athletic coach was outstanding: it included as a college coach, one conference championship, one southern division championship, second place in the conference play-off on two different occasions, third in the conference two years, second in the southern division twice , and two seasons when his team placed fourth. His high school record was equally as eminent , having taken his "Fliers" to the state meet on thirteen occasions in this twenty-year span. His finishes were as follows: one championship , three second places , two third places, consolation was played for on four occasions , and on only two occasions did a Dixie team fail to compete all four nights of the tournament . Added to these fetes was the fact that at that time there was just one classification, no "A" or "B" alignments , so he was usually competing against much larger schools. Coach Hafen possessed a wonderful personality, and made friends wherever he went. He took a great deal of pride in Utah's Dixie and enjoyed telling the many people he met about his homeland , which included all of Southern Utah. Coach Hafen held many positions of responsibility in both the Utah Activities Association and the I. C. A. C. Conference, and as athletic director of Dixie he realized a life long dream when in 1957 an ultra modern fieldhouse was built, which includes not only a fine athletic layout but also physical education facilities for both men and women. Physical Education for a ll age groups meant a lot to Coach Lee and he was a great advocate of fitness for both men and women as witnessed by the modern skillrooms dance studios, etc. , etc. , which can be found in the gym. On November 23, 1959 , Coach Hafen died of complications following surgery in the Dixie Memorial Hospital.

Utah's current educational systems were largely shaped by a transitional era that occurred during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A time when the region itself moved from territorial to state status, the dominant religion in the area, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), likewise changed in its role in Utah society. Previously dominating most aspects of life, the Church was forced to reevaluate its place in society due to greatly increased secular power and context. Educational changes, as harbingers of larger societal shifts, are illustrative of such paradigm changes. During the four decade period stretching from 1888 to 1933, the LDS Church experimented with several private educational endeavors, seeking to maintain its place in the changing Utah society. Originally opposed to public education, these experimental private schools eventually became part of the public system itself as the Church restructured its paradigm. St. George, Utah, like many of the LDS-dominated intermountain communities, experimented with these educational changes during this era. Key to this experimentation was the St. George Stake Academy, founded in 1888 as a religious alternative for the region's youth. Though challenged initially, the privately sponsored Church school grew as did its public counterparts during the early twentieth century. Eventually, this growth included expansion into post-secondary education, as the school became Dixie Normal College, Dixie Junior College, Dixie College, and ultimately Dixie State College. Such growing, however, brought increased financial need. Faced with rising costs and budgetary restraints caused by periods of economic depression, the LDS Church rethought its educational policy. In the 1920s and early 1930s, the Church restructured its educational system, turning over to the state many programs originally intended as religious alternatives to public schools. This study traces the changing nature of education in Utah from 1888 to 1933, illuminating the process of paradigm change within religious organizations. Using St. George as the model, it tracks the roles the state and the LDS Church played in shaping the current educational structure, as both parties sought to understand their place in society.