Provo • In honor of Brigham Young University’s sesquicentennial celebration, the Provo school’s current president joined three past ones Tuesday and discussed their favorite experiences while leading the flagship campus of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
With a combined experience of almost 30 years leading BYU, current President C. Shane Reese and his predecessors — Kevin J. Worthen, Cecil O. Samuelson and Merrill J. Bateman — reminisced at a Marriott Center devotional about their tenures and important moments in the university’s history.
BYU’s uniqueness
Bateman, who was president from 1996 to 2003, spoke of BYU’s unique spiritual component that rests at the core of its students’ education.
“Brigham Young University is a great university, Bateman said. “But more than that it is a temple of learning.”
BYU’s mission
Samuelson thanked the many donors and alumni who contributed to the school in building the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center during his administration from 2003 to 2014.
More than 70,000 individuals donated to fund this building, said Samuelson, who described the process as a succession of “mini-miracles.”
“The gospel is true,” Samuelson said, “you are true, and BYU is true.”
Love for BYU
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Former BYU Presidents Merrill J. Bateman, second from left, Cecil O. Samuelson, Kevin J. Worthen and current BYU President Shane Reese listen as church President Dallin H. Oaks speaks on video during the devotional.
Worthen, who led BYU from 2014 to 2023, addressed the immense love that many, especially the students, have for the school.
The former president explained that whenever he met with critics, he would encourage them to talk with the students in hopes that their inner fire would rub off on them.
To Worthen, heading up BYU was “an opportunity to see the heavens open up, not only for me but for members of the President’s Council, for faculty, for students being directed by Heavenly Father.”
BYU’s true spirit
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Current BYU President Shane Reese says he looks to the school's students with "great hope."
Reese continued Worthen’s praise of the students, saying that all BYU presidents look to the students “with such a great sense of hope.”
Although two former presidents, apostle Jeffrey R. Holland and church President Dallin H. Oaks, were absent from the panel, a video of a recent interview with the two leaders was shown in their place.
“I know BYU is the Lord’s university,” Oaks said in the video, “because it was established by a prophet (its namesake, Brigham Young).”
Celebrations of BYU’s 150th anniversary will continue for the next year. Specific events can be found on its calendar.
Note to readers •Dylan Eubank is a Report for America corps member covering faith in Utah County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps to keep him writing stories.