A. Copper
The copper axe, donated by one-time English Department head Dr. Mary Hill, was fabriecated by a copper company in Douglas, Arizona in 1933. The axe itself is the object of one of the most colorful scandals in NAU's history. Two students from the normal school in Tempe (now ASU) removed the axe from the vault in the business office. Almost immediately, everyone was notified of the theft, classes were dismissed, and roadblocks were set up on all of the roads leading out of Flagstaff by city police and the Coconino County sheriff's office. Students and faculty even gave chase in their own cars! The thieves, riding motorcycles, were apprehended as they tried to evade a roadblock near Williams. The police turned the perpetrators over to the college administration who then handed them over to the student council. For their punishment, the thieves' heads were shaved and faces painted. They then were marched from campus to downtown Flagstaff as part of a parade prepared specifically for the humiliating occasion.