Envisioning BYU: BYU Speeches

Latest Episodes:

Final Address | Karl G. Maeser | January 1892 Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Karl G. Maeser was completing his time as principal of the Brigham Young Academy when he gave this address on 4 January 1892. Access the talk here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everything Pertaining to Learning | John Taylor | April 1879 Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

This is an excerpt of a discourse delivered by John Taylor, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on April 13, 1879, in Ephraim, Utah. Access the excerpt here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Second Half of the Second Century of Brigham Young University | Jeffrey R. Holland | August 2021 Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

Elder Holland looks at where BYU is now and offers counsel about reaching for the university’s prophetic future. Access the talk here.

Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, delivered this university conference address on August 23, 2021.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Religious Education in BYU’s Prophetic Historical Context | Bruce C. Hafen | August 2019 Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

Though Elder Hafen was particularly addressing religious educators when he gave this speech, he chose to focus on the broader history and mission of BYU. Elder Hafen traced the history of why prophets have chosen to preserve a few Latter-day Saint colleges and universities—such as BYU and its sister institutions—in which religion can be integrated across the entire campus, rather than opt exclusively for the much less expensive and simpler model of Latter-day Saint institutes, where the faith is taught next door to secular universities. The history Elder Hafen recounted illustrates both the problems and promises of teaching and learning at a fully integrated Latter-day Saint university such as BYU. Access the speech page here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inspiring Learning | Kevin J Worthen | August 2016 Mar 08, 2023

Show notes

In this university conference address, President Kevin J Worthen captured the essence of BYU’s mission and aims in a memorable two-word phrase: “inspiring learning.” The idea of inspiring learning quickly spread across campus, guiding educational initiatives and enabling student learning in new and expansive ways. Access the speech page here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Aims of a BYU Education | March 1995 Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

The Aims of a BYU Education builds upon the Mission of Brigham Young University. Focusing on student outcomes, it attempts to articulate the desired effect of a BYU education in the lives of students. The document appeared just as higher education was undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift from a “teaching paradigm” to a “learning paradigm.” The aims prepared the university to translate its educational aspirations into learning outcomes, as would soon be required by its accrediting bodies. The sections were purposefully ordered “to envelop BYU’s intellectual aims within a more complete, even eternal, perspective that begins with spiritual knowledge and ends with knowledge applied to the practical tasks of living and serving.” Access the text here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Mission of Brigham Young University | November 1981 Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

When President Jeffrey R. Holland began his administration, the university did not have a formal mission statement. It was felt that BYU needed to set forth its mission publicly, clearly, succinctly, and boldly. President Holland briefly discussed writing that statement in a BYU devotional in 1981. He said that he “tried to read almost everything that had been said about BYU and then attempted to reduce that down to a single statement . . . as to why BYU exists.” He then drafted a lofty, eloquent mission statement that, with very little modification, was endorsed by the board and adopted by the university. It has guided and inspired BYU for more than four decades. Access the mission statement here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Second Century of Brigham Young University | Spencer W. Kimball | October 1975 Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Spencer W. Kimball was president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he gave this seminal address at the Founders Day commemoration on October 10, 1975—almost a hundred years to the day after the university’s founding. Speaking prophetically, President Kimball envisioned a remarkable destiny for BYU in its second century. His talk drew upon his visionary 1967 speech “Education for Eternity”; it also became the basis for his inaugural charge to Jeffrey R. Holland in 1980. This speech was unique as a major address by a president of the Church in that it was entirely focused on BYU’s mission. Its soaring expectations and sobering admonitions have guided the pursuit of excellence at BYU for nearly half a century. It has become a foundational discourse for the university, much as “The Charted Course of the Church in Education” (pages 23–41) has for the Church Educational System. Access the talk here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Charted Course of the Church in Education | J. Reuben Clark Jr. | August 1938 Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

Concerned about rising secularism in Church education, J. Reuben Clark Jr., first counselor in the First Presidency, gave this address to Church seminary and institute leaders at the BYU summer school in Aspen Grove. It has been called “the most influential address to seminary and institute teachers in the history of Church education.” While President Clark focused on seminary and institute teachers, the talk also implied the university’s need to hire Latter-day Saint faculty in all disciplines who were fully converted, for “our Church schools cannot be manned by unconverted, untesti- monied teachers.” President Packer admonished BYU faculty that “The Charted Course” “should be read by every one of you every year. It is insightful; it is profound; it is prophetic; it is scripture.” So it is included among BYU’s founding documents even though its focus is on seminaries and institute teachers. Access the talk here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

History of the Academy | Karl G. Maeser | 1891 Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

This address was delivered at Brigham Young Academy’s first Founders Day exercises. President Maeser recounted how Brigham Young Academy began with the revelation to Brigham Young of “the necessity for the establishment of a new kind of educational institution for Zion.” The new educational system was not merely to duplicate existing models, for “following . . . in the old grooves would simply lead to the same results.” Brigham Young Academy was to be unique. At BYA “neither the alphabet nor the multiplication tables should be taught without the Spirit of God.” “The spirit of the latter-day work” was to go through the academy “like a golden thread.” Karl G. Maeser served as president of Brigham Young Academy from 1876 to 1892. Access the talk here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Envisioning BYU: BYU Speeches

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected