Echo From the Buttes returns

Students in masks do a land blessing before a freshman hike up the mountain behind them

Indigenous students give a blessing and land acknowledgement to the sacred site known as “A” Mountain in the Sun Devil community during the 2021 Echo From the Buttes, a long-standing ASU tradition, the morning of Aug. 21, in Tempe. The students are (from left) Felix Muniz, Napolean Marrietta, Gabriel Garcia, Sara Conklin, Ian King, Brandee Joe, Dylan Bia, Ayden Clytus, Riley ONeil, (unknown) and Juliana Scocuzza (far right). Photo by Laura Fields/ASU

August 22, 2021

Echo From the Buttes is a tradition more than 80 years strong, and it returns in force this year after taking a pandemic pause last year.

The event — in which first-year Arizona State University students hike up "A" Mountain in Tempe to paint the "A" white, symbolizing a fresh start to the new school year — included sophomores for the first time ever. It's part of the university's “SophoMORE” initiative to give second-year Sun Devils the “rites of passage” experiences they missed due to the COVID -19 pandemic.

It's a chance for incoming students to feel a part of the ASU community, especially important in a year when nearly half the undergraduate student body hasn't been on campus after the remote learning of the 2020–21 school year. And for those who wonder about the event's name — which changed in 2019 — the event is taken from ASU's fight song.

The "A" will be painted gold again before the first home football game, Sept. 2 vs. Southern Utah.

MORE PHOTOS: ASU Welcome Week | Student move-in

Here are some of the photos from Saturday's event.

Two young women hold up white-painted hands in the ASU pitchfork gesture — Friends Avery Herendeen (left) and Rachel Rupinen help paint the “A” during Echo From the Buttes the morning of Saturday, Aug. 21, in Tempe. Photo by Jenny Dupuis/ASU

A handful of people's legs are shown with white-paint handprints on them — Sometimes a little bit more than just the \"A\" on \"A\" Mountain gets painted. Photo by Jenny Dupuis/ASU

A student wearing a mask and ballcap spreads white paint on the A on A Mountain — Traditionally, Echo From the Buttes is for first-year students. But this year, sophomores were included, as they didn't get to experience many of the freshman milestones last year. Photo by Jenny Dupuis/ASU

Two students wearing masks walk at the front of a line hiking up A Mountain — High school friends turned Sun Devils Shauna Meshkin (left) and Chloe Merriweather start their journey up the mountain to help paint the “A.” Photo by Jenny Dupuis/ASU

Two Native students wearing masks read a land blessing before the A Mountain hike — Ayden Clytus (right), along with other Indigenous students, reads a blessing and land acknowledgement for \"A\" Mountain, considered a sacred site for local tribes including the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Tohono O'odham Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Gila River Indian Community. Photo by Laura Fields/ASU

Young women smile in a group during the A Mountain hike — Ja’Lhyah Francis (back left), Isabelle Rowe (back right) and friends pose for a photo along the trail leading to the \"A.\" The giant initial will be returned to its traditional gold before the first home football game. Photo by Jenny Dupuis/ASU

Alumni, First-year students, Spirit and traditions, Campus students, Student life, Students, Sun Devil community, Campus life

More Sun Devil community

Adults and children sit in a classroom semicircle with several hands raised, surrounded by colorful educational posters and a screen showing cartoon cats playing music.

A different kind of preschool: How ASU's Child Study Lab sets kids up for success

The playground and classrooms on the ground floor of the Arizona State University Psychology Building might resemble the setting of any other preschool, but what happens inside those classrooms and…

Read this story

Healthy Living Education Psychology Science Social science Research

Ela Chachulski, a robotics and autonomous systems undergraduate student in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, part of the Fulton Schools, attends the Polytechnic campus 30th anniversary celebration and poses with Sparky and her commemorative mark design. Photographer: Erika Gronek/ASU

Artwork, exhibit capture spirit of Polytechnic campus as it celebrates 30 years

When Ela Chachulski set out to design a commemorative mark for Arizona State University Polytechnic campus’s 30th anniversary, she faced a great challenge.The bustling campus is home to academic…

Read this story

Student life Engineering

A group of students sits at a table while talking and laughing.

For these ASU graduate students, community starts with showing up

No one had finished the book. Race Schwartz, a first-year chemistry doctoral student, made it halfway. Holly Steinhauer, a second-year biochemistry doctoral student who studies the…

Read this story

Grants / Awards Student life Science Career development