Envisioning BYU: BYU Speeches BYU Speeches

David O. McKay was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when he authored this article. Elder McKay believed deeply in the value of Church schools, where students could study all subjects in the light of the gospel, deepen their testimonies, and develop noble character traits. He helped preserve Brigham Young University as an exception to the Church’s general policy of divesting itself of Church schools. Later, as Church president, he founded BYU–Hawaii and the Church College of New Zealand. You can access the full talk here.
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James R. Rasband was serving as academic vice president when he delivered this address. He situated his topic by observing how the restored gospel “rejects either-or choices in favor of both-and possibilities.” Note how instead of or, the restored gospel uses and in these dichotomies: “It is not faith or works but faith and works. It is not a choice between body or spirit but a recognition that both body and spirit constitute the soul of man.” Likewise BYU consistently straddles seeming contraries, such as learning by study and by faith. The faculty in BYU’s house of learning must negotiate tensions between these paired aspirations, each making legitimate and even compelling competing claims. The talk can be accessed here.
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John S. Tanner was serving as academic vice president when he delivered this address during the faculty session of university conference. He based his remarks on the Lord’s great revelation on education—Doctrine and Covenants 88, or the Olive Leaf—which established the School of the Prophets. Tanner emphasized the connection between school and temple in Latter-day Saint history and doctrine, as well as the importance of all learning of all. He spoke of the need for learners and teachers to be worthy and to walk together as brothers and sisters bound by shared command- ments and covenants “in the bonds of love” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:133). The talk can be accessed here.
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Bonnie Brinton, a nationally recognized speech-language pathologist, was a professor in the BYU Department of Communication Disorders and dean of BYU Graduate Studies when she delivered this address. Brinton spoke to the blessing of working at BYU, where scholars “can use information gained through spiritual means at the same time that [they are] observing and testing the phenomena in the world around [them].” She related this ability to be “bilingual”—as President Spencer W. Kimball called it in his address “The Second Century of Brigham Young University”—to the anableps, a fish that can see simultaneously what is above and below the waterline. You can access the talk here.
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Susan W. Tanner was serving as the Young Women general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was serving on the BYU Board of Trustees when she delivered this address. She encouraged the BYU campus community to learn by heart, a rarely discussed aspect of one of BYU’s aims—lifelong learning. Sister Tanner emphasized that when an individual learns by heart, the truths become internalized and can then lift, inspire, and change the heart. You can access the talk here.
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Kristine Hansen was a professor of English and associate dean of Honors and General Education when she delivered this inspiring devotional on BYU’s aims. She reflected deeply and lucidly on each aim, which she compared to facets of a towering mountain, ultimately encouraging faculty, staff, and students to unite in their efforts to live the aims and ascend together as they help BYU fulfill its divine destiny. Although her remarks are primarily addressed to students, they can and should be internalized by all who come to work, study, or serve at the university. You can access the talk here.
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