President Nathan J. Morrison, first president of Fairmount College, selected the motto for his fledgling institution, "Unto the Perfect Person." He also directed that the "Lamp of Learning" be featured in Fairmount College's official seal. By tradition, a lamp was passed from the senior class president to the junior class president at Commencement. This activity demonstrated that the light of learning sweeps away the darkness of ignorance.
Although the original lamp has been lost, the ideal it symbolizes has endured. The lamp has remained an integral element of the seal throughout the university's three historical phases: Fairmount College, 1895-1926; the Municipal University of Wichita, 1926-1964; and Wichita State University, 1964.
In 1996, Wichita State's Centennial Year, Professor Emeritus and Centennial Coordinator George M. Platt presented a new lamp to Dean David C. Glenn-Lewin during the spring commencement ceremony. The oak base holding the lamp was made by Philip Schneider, professor of English. The lamp and base are on display in the Fairmount College Dean's Office.