Latter-day Saint colleges and universities now reach more than 138,000 students a year and are achieving the faith-based aims of the church that sponsors them, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said Tuesday morning at BYU’s annual university conference.
“Today, no matter where you live in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you have access to an affordable, high quality, spiritually based education because of the priority the church places on education,” Elder Cook said at the conference’s general session for the school’s 4,500 faculty, staff and administrators in the Marriott Center.
Elder Cook provided updated numbers about the Church Educational System and the church’s missionary efforts, congregations and temples. Both he and new BYU President Shane Reese referenced the updated honor code, ecclesiastical endorsement and dress and grooming standards which are now uniform across Brigham Young University, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Hawaii and Ensign College.
“It is not coincidental that we have a house of the Lord adjacent to every CES campus,” Elder Cook said. “Here in Provo and soon in Rexburg there will be two temples.”
As BYU’s 150th anniversary approaches in 2025, Elder Cook also referred to the late church President Spencer W. Kimball’s 1975 address setting out the goals for BYU’s second century.
“Our purpose,” Elder Cook said Monday, “in addition to the knowledge and education, is preparing students for eternity. If we are going to use the light of Christ, and to lay hold upon every good thing, these purposes of Christ’s restored church must not just be understood but exhibited in all of our lives and included as part of the gospel, gospel methodologies and Elder Kimball’s foundational address.
“Each of us must continuously strive for personal righteousness and temple worthiness. I believe BYU, its faculty members and employees are on the right track to be the institution that Spencer W. Kimball described.”
Reese used his talk to announce a new class for every incoming freshman rooted in part on his own difficult experience as a freshman on the Provo campus three decades ago and on BYU’s new emphasis on belonging. At the start of the winter semester in January 2024, every freshman will be required to take the course “BYU Foundations for Student Success,” which will connect them immediately with both a peer mentor and a faculty member.
Reese said freshmen who took a pilot course reported greater confidence and said the class “will connect incoming students with a peer network and a faculty mentor, orient them to the resources available on campus and above all instill in them a profound sense of our inspiring mission.”
The doctrinal imperatives underpinning BYU education
Elder Cook until recently was a member of the Church Board of Education that oversees BYU, and he is the chair of the university’s Wheatley Institute Advisory Committee.
He said the portion of BYU’s Mission statement that says it is founded, supported and guided by the church “is a significant asset and not a restraint.”
“I am exceedingly pleased with what I see transpiring at this great university,” Elder Cook said. “I see continuous and significant righteous achievement. But the standard Elder Kimball set is a high bar. Our best efforts are expected and there is yet much to be accomplished.”
He said the church’s goal and BYU’s goal is to prepare students for the rest of their lives but also for eternal life. He pointed to a recent article by Deseret News contributing writer Meagan Kohler in which she explained what national media could learn about Latter-day Saint temples from everyday church members.
“I loved her description that temples are monuments,” Elder Cook said. “‘They are beacons of light and peace, piercing clouds of cynicism, conflict and despair.’ She was concerned that some media articles had primarily focused on ‘temples as beautiful and financially expensive buildings.’ She declared, ‘If the church’s significance and impact is only measurable in dollars distributed, then it’s a charitable organization rather than a church. To decide whether the church spends its money well, you must first decide what matters most. If the answer is forming eternal bonds with God and each other, then a temple-building spree is money well spent.’”
Elder Cook said the church’s higher education efforts are linked to four doctrinal imperatives — to invite all to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, care for those in need, live the gospel and unite families for eternity.
“These are not just current objectives and purposes. They are based on historical revelation and the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” he said.
He added, “These commitments require huge amounts of time and significant financial resources to achieve.”
He emphasized those doctrines to “clearly establish the unquestioned significance of responsibilities that matter most, and rest upon all of us, and particularly those of us who work with the rising generation.”
How many students attend the BYUs and other church schools?
Elder Cook’s statement that church members anywhere in the world, in any circumstance, have access to higher education through the church came after he described the size of the church’s efforts in higher education.
“Last year, BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Hawaii and Ensign College had a combined campus enrollment of 76,856,” he said. “Through BYU-Pathway Worldwide, an additional 61,491 online students were served across 180 countries.
“In the next two years, BYU-Pathway enrollment will exceed the combined enrollment of all four university campuses, reaching students who could not afford or did not think they had access to education. Beyond church schools, Seminaries and Institutes enrolls an additional 733,668 students. Each of these institutions provides a roadmap for success in this life and service in the kingdom.”
Elder Cook noted that last year, his colleague in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder David A. Bednar, told the National Press Club the church annually invests over $1 billion in higher education.
BYU, the other CES schools and missionary work
President Russell M. Nelson recently introduced “Preach My Gospel,” a church publication for its missionaries, by declaring the Savior’s gospel is the only enduring solution for the challenges faced in today’s world, Elder Cook said.
That is one reason missionary work is an imperative for Latter-day Saints, Elder Cook said. He noted approximately 62,970 missionaries served during the first 120 years of the church’s history, from 1830 to 1950.
“Amazingly, we have over 69,000 missionaries serving under call from the prophet right now,” Elder Cook said. “We’re grateful for the enormous expansion of the missionary effort. In the last two decades, there have been almost 5 million missionary convert baptisms into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The number of missions has increased from 338 to 414 since 2004; 160 nations and many territories are within the boundaries of these missions. Our effort to invite all to receive the gospel has shown dramatic results.”
He reported that more than two-thirds of BYU students are returned missionaries.
“In any given semester, that’s more than 21,000 students,” he said. “Think of the strength that these BYU students have carried across the world. In turn, consider how their mission experiences strengthen the learning environment on this campus. All of this is an outgrowth of a fundamental doctrine of the church to invite all to hear the gospel.”
Elder Cook said missions also prepare a rising generation of church leaders.
“It is interesting that experts on mental maturation not of our faith have pointed out to the church leaders that serving a mission provides a maturation process for learning that is an excellent preparation for higher education,” he said.
Living the gospel and uniting families for eternity
Elder Cook said almost everything the church does is bring people to Jesus Christ and his promised blessings.
“We have over 31,300 wards and branches and over 19,400 chapels,” he said. “These meetinghouses are spread across 195 countries. On this campus, we help our students prepare for future church service through our 21 university stakes with more than 260 student wards.”
Those wards have evolved over the past two years to nearly eliminate adult leadership and turn over more leadership positions to students.
“All students should have instilled in their hearts a desire to receive the power from on high, represented by temple endowments and sacred temple covenants,” he said. “Revelation President Nelson is receiving to establish temples all over the Earth is clear and convincing evidence of the necessity of each individual to give this effort a very high priority.”
Last week, the church announced Latter-day Saint students at BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Hawaii and Ensign College would be asked questions during their annual ecclesiastical endorsement interviews similar to the questions asked by ward and stake leaders for temple recommends.
He said BYU employees should help students strive to become temple worthy.
“When I returned from my mission in 1962, there were 12 temples and five countries across the entire world. Today, there are 179 dedicated temples in 51 countries, and an additional 136 temples in 50 countries that have been announced or are currently under construction. It is not coincidental that we have a house of the Lord adjacent to every CES campus, here in Provo and soon in Rexburg there will be two temples.”
Elder Cook expressed trust in the school’s direction.
“I am confident that this marvelous institution will be a seminal voice for building faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his Atonement and preparing for the second coming of our Savior,” he said.
President Shane Reese’s address
Reese will be installed as BYU’s 14th president during a campus devotional on Sept. 19, at 11 a.m. in the Marriott Center.
Reese asked the BYU faculty, staff and administrators to be agents of unity. He also asked them to develop the gift of being quick to observe, a reference to a scripture in the Book of Mormon.
Reese said BYU is led by living prophets and sponsored by Christ’s “true and living church,” and he asked the university workforce to be quick to observe the church leaders. He described six ways they could do so:
Mission-aligned hiring
“The most important decisions we make under my tenure as president are the people we hire,” Reese said. “The people we hire will be role models to whom our students look for examples of combining professional excellence with spiritual commitment.”
Reese said BYU will anchor its excellence in devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Our students need models who understand the excellence in one’s chosen field and faithfully keeping sacred covenants are not mutually exclusive,” he said. “We must never subscribe to the false dichotomy that we can be either excellent or we can be faithful. No, we can and we must be excellent, not in spite of our loyalty to the gospel of Jesus Christ, but directly and precisely because of it.”
Inspiring learning
Last year, 12,000 BYU students reported an inspiring learning experience, a higher form of what other schools call experiential learning. Inspiring learning includes mentored research, where undergraduate students undertake research alongside faculty members.
Reese said students who engage in an inspiring learning experience are more likely to succeed.
“When I use the term inspiring learning I have in mind both meanings of the word inspiring,” former BYU President Kevin Worthen said. “I hope we will inspire our students to learn and I hope that learning leads to inspiration. When both things happen, inspiring learning occurs and we can then know we’re on the right track to achieve the core goals set forth in our mission statement.”
Reese shared an example of a global engineering project, where students went to Ecuador and helped people make their own prosthetics.
“This example illustrates how students who understand their identity as children of God, children of the covenant and disciples of Jesus Christ instinctively recognize their covenantal responsibility to help their fellow human beings who share that primary identity,” Reese said.
He said the principles of intentionality and reflection distinguish BYU’s inspiring learning from experiential learning practices at other schools.
“They reflect our unique mission to foster the balanced development of the whole person,” he said, “or as President Kimball put it, ‘the eternal person.’”
Student success
Reese said he lacked resources, a sense of mission and connection when he arrived at BYU.
“Many of the freshmen who enter our doors this fall lack the same things I lacked,” he said, “resources and an understanding of BYU’s unique mission and a sense of connectedness to fellow students. Today I am pleased to announce an inspiring initiative designed to help equip all our students with all three of these things. ... I’m pleased to announce that beginning winter semester 2020 for BYU foundations for students success will be required of all newly admitted students.”
CES honor code
Reese said BYU is a school on a mission, which is reflected in its mission statement and founding documents but also in the updated honor code, ecclesiastical endorsement and dress and grooming standards.
“And like the missionaries we send out into the world, we at BYU need to look different from the world. Our dress and appearance should reflect our unique mission,” he said.
BYU’s new ecclesiastical endorsement questions were developed to better align the endorsement process with the ecclesiastical jurisdictions of ward and stake leaders.
“Ecclesiastical leaders can now focus on the ecclesiastical aspects of qualifying to attend BYU,” he said. “The revised interview questions closely track the standard temple recommend but they also accommodate the fact that some of our younger people might be in various stages of their testimony development.”
Reese said the principles and standards in the CES honor code foster an environment marked by honor, integrity, morality and consideration of others.
“As your president, I commit to uphold these principles,” he said. “I am today asking you to commit to uphold these principles for yourselves. It is a privilege to represent the Savior, his church and its educational system. Cultivating a learning environment free from distraction requires concentrated effort from all of us.”
He also asked them to help students “build faith in Jesus Christ, to love his gospel and his church and prepare for a lifetime of righteous choices.”
“Our educational goals cannot be achieved if they are unaided by the influence of the Holy Ghost,” he said.
Leaning into BYU’s unique mission
He also asked the BYU community to lean into the school’s mission.
“At BYU we unabashedly declare that belief enhances inquiry,” Reese said.
Heeding the words of the prophets
Finally, Reese asked to find ways to incorporate the teachings of the church’s First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in their individual and professional lives.
Reese altered a quote from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorun of the Twelve Apostles about the principles in the For Strength of Youth pamphlet.
“God has given BYU employees the sacred duty to nurture our students in love and righteousness to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to observe the commandments of God. ... Accept this privilege and responsibility courageously and joyfully.”