Today there is a widely accepted notion that an educational institution must choose between being academically excellent or spiritually minded, BYU president C. Shane Reese (BS ’94, MS ’95) told youth and parents in a packed stake center near Denver.
“I’m here to tell you that’s a false dichotomy,” said Reese, who, since becoming president of BYU, has stressed the university’s commitment to the spiritual welfare of every student.
“We can be excellent in developing our students’ spirituality, and we can provide an education that is second to none,” Reese said. “As President Kimball described, we can be equally committed to the spiritual welfare of every individual who enters the doors of BYU.”
Speaking alongside Elder Clark G. Gilbert (BA ’94), commissioner of the Church Educational System, and BYU–Idaho president Elder Alvin “Trip” F. Meredith (BA ’94), Reese reiterated his message of excellence in education in a series of firesides across the western states this past year.
This trio, along with Christine Calder Gilbert (BS ’94), Wendy Wood Reese (BS ’95), and Jennifer Edgin Meredith (BA ’95), have met with thousands of youth and their parents to talk about the importance of education, why it should matter to young people in the Church, and the opportunities available through CES.
Gilbert explained that obtaining an education and getting knowledge has been described by President Russell M. Nelson as a religious responsibility: “He’s saying it is part of the very fabric of what we believe.”
He then asked the youth to brainstorm why the prophet would say this. Building upon their responses, which included service, self-reliance, understanding God’s word, appreciation for different perspectives, civic engagement, and lifting others, Gilbert described what the Church’s educational system offers, from BYU to BYU–Pathway Worldwide to Seminaries and Institutes. “All of these,” Gilbert said, “can deepen moral and spiritual character.”
Regarding the “remarkable changes” that have taken place at BYU–Idaho, Meredith laughingly said that BYU–Idaho is not the junior college on the hill that your parents or grandparents attended. Ricks College once had 7,000 students; now there are three times that many—yet the average class size is 27 students, a rarity in higher education.
“Wherever you decide to go,” Meredith said, “involve the Lord in your work and know that there’s a place in the Church Educational System for everyone.”
