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'This isn’t a stunt’ — BYU, Utah students created purple Block U to call attention to climate change

Football fans on their way into Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night weren’t seeing things. There on the hill next to the Block U, illuminated in red and white, was a second U — in purple.

Yes, purple is a combination of BYU blue and Utah red, the colors of the teams facing off on the field. But it was intended as something more than that — a call for action on global warming.

“This is a bigger issue than the football game going on tonight, but a lot of people are paying more attention to that,” said Madison Marichuch, a senior at the University of Utah who’s majoring in environmental studies.