Two former presidents of Brigham Young University sat down to reflect on the school’s influence and history to mark 150 years since its founding in October 1875.
President Dallin H. Oaks, the leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joined President Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the discussion. From a recording studio on Temple Square in September, they talked about BYU’s influence on them as students and leaders, the university’s spiritual obligation and educational mission, and the growing presence of women in its professional schools. Both are graduates of the university and expressed deep gratitude for their BYU education and its prophetic leadership.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
BYU’s Spiritual Obligation and Educational Mission
President Holland emphasized the spiritual obligation of BYU, describing it as a university founded on the belief that students are children of God.
“It is a university. We come there to study and to take degrees — and it’s everything from art to zoology. But running through it is a foundation and a theme that these are children of God,” President Holland said. “We’re to teach them for eternity. ‘Education for eternity’ is a phrase that we use.”
President Oaks reflected on the challenge he had during his tenure (1971–1980) of balancing spiritual and academic responsibilities.
“Coming as I did from a professor of law at a great university, I had no experience with balancing the spiritual,” said President Oaks, who taught for 10 years at the University of Chicago Law School. “The rest of [university administration] I was familiar with, but it was a struggle for me all the time I served at BYU to watch the thermometer registering spiritual temperature. I think the university [today] does it much better than I in my struggles was trying to do it.”
The two leaders said that two of BYU’s significant spiritual influences are student congregations and the presence of returned missionaries (including those who learned another language) or students studying to be missionaries.
“That is a powerful advantage that our Church Education System institutions have in the quality of education they can offer,” President Oaks said.
Demographic Changes
President Holland, who led BYU from 1980 to 1989, noted that more than half of BYU students today are female. President Oaks said the same is true of BYU’s law school demographics.
“When I enrolled in law school at the University of Chicago in 1954, there were only two or three out of about 100 in the student body who were women. Now it would be a majority of those enrolled,” President Oaks said.
The senior Church leader also noted the number of living alumni, which has grown from 125,000 to 466,000 over the past 50 years.
Athletic Programs and Humanitarian Efforts
President Holland spoke of the strong alumni support for athletic programs, which has been recognized by commentators from major broadcast services.
“I don’t think there’s a school in America that has the built-in alumni support and visible athletic support that BYU has wherever it goes — in numbers and in quality,” President Holland said.
He also praised the skill and devotion of coaches and staff.
“[They] are just increasing in every way — but particularly increasing in loyalty to the standards and the skill with which they take a higher and higher stand and position in the national assessment of such things,” President Holland said.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
President Oaks noted the important humanitarian work taking place when the football team travels for games. They turn competition into collaboration to help those in need.
“They become coworkers in humanitarian projects [and] other things that the local school wants to promote,” President Oaks said. “And that very active BYU alumni and the cooperation of the team gets behind the local school.”
Added President Holland, “That has bridged some potential problems that didn’t turn out to be problems because the presidents could talk to each other.”
Personal Reflections and Gratitude
President Holland said two decisions changed his life forever. One was serving a mission for the Church. The other was enrolling at BYU.
“My life was changed like a tsunami,” President Holland said. “It was a major, major reset in my life — with eternal consequence.”
For his part, President Oaks said it was at BYU that he learned “how to read, how to write, how to judge, how to use my time in the learning process.” He also “received an advanced understanding of the gospel in the various religion classes I took.”
“BYU is the Lord’s university because it was established by a prophet,” President Oaks said in conclusion. “It has been carried on with prophetic leadership to this day. And it places the highest priority for its students and its faculty and its administration and its position in the community to furthering the ideals, the teachings and the values of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”