As each of 20 countries was announced, candidates for US citizenship stood with smiles on their faces—including these three from Nigeria (pictured).
In April 2024 BYU hosted its first naturalization ceremony, organized by international relations student Elizabeth M. Reynolds (’25). Orchestrating the event was Reynolds’s capstone project for her civic engagement minor. “We tried to make the ceremony…focus on the new citizens,” she says. “It wasn’t about BYU. It was their day.”
The United States government relies on entities to donate venues for naturalization ceremonies, and because of Reynolds’s efforts, BYU will continue hosting the ceremonies—another was held in October. “I’m really happy about it,” Reynolds says. “I think it will bring more…attention to what the naturalization process is like.”
This article has been updated to reflect the correct country of origin for the men in the photo. A previous version identified them as being from Ghana.
