Today, as we honor President Alvin F. Meredith III as the new president of BYU-Idaho, I speak briefly of him, as well as recent past presidents of Ricks College and BYU-Idaho. I have been blessed to know all of them as mentors and friends.
The first of these presidents is Henry B. Eyring. He inherited a financially strapped campus, occasioned by Mideast war and a soured global economy. As a result, operating budgets had to be cut, and some new faculty hires were furloughed. At the same time, President Eyring felt obliged to personally hold the line on standards of deportment. But it was the beginning of an upward trend.
President Eyring was followed Bruce C. Hafen, who later became my law school dean at BYU. President Hafen brought a scholar’s bent to Rexburg. Though the institution remained a college, the seeds of a university were being sown.
President Joe J. Christensen, who followed President Hafen, was my missionary training center president. He was among the world’s best religious educators, as well as a gospel scholar. That is partly due to his longtime collaborations with Commissioner of the Church Educational System Neal A. Maxwell.
President Steven D. Bennion personifies the best of secular and spiritual learning. He also loved his student body. Thanks to near-total recall, Steve knew the students and faculty as though they were close friends. Never did Ricks College students feel more like beloved daughters and sons.
Elder David A. Bednar established a foundation strong enough to build a university in Rexburg. He combined the spiritual and secular as though they were naturally bonded. With that structure in place, it was possible for President Hinckley to establish a four-year university.
With Elder Bednar’s call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Brother Robert M. Wilkes, a senior BYU-Idaho executive, led the university for nearly a year. His stewardship was exemplary. He is a man without guile, while personifying love.
Then came world-class scholar and organizational leader Kim B. Clark. With a single stroke, BYU-Idaho was recognized as a serious academic institution. I also appreciate the 10 years during which Kim was home teacher to my family, particularly our young sons, Spencer and Matthew.
My longtime friend and current Commissioner of the Church Educational System, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, brought his organizational genius to the growing university. In addition to rationalizing our operations, Elder Gilbert linked us to the other CES institutions, especially BYU-Pathway Worldwide, to the great good of would-be students around the world.
I also thank members of the university who consecrate their efforts daily. If I make it to heaven, I’ll have plenty of company, including you faithful and wonderful students who bring light and joy to this important work.
Along with Sister Eyring, I heartily endorse Elder and Sister Meredith as leaders of Brigham Young University-Idaho. I first met Elder Meredith on a snowy February Saturday in Rexburg, when he and I were on assignment to reorganize a local stake.
As we deliberated over a significant number of outstanding stake president candidates, Elder Meredith and I were blessed to feel a sense of brotherhood and rightness. Nonetheless, Elder Meredith felt that we should seek additional candidates. Following that impression, we sought and identified others. Several of them were summoned from their homes, unexpectedly.
After all the candidates had been interviewed, Elder Meredith and I stood before a whiteboard, shoulder to shoulder. We deliberated at length, gradually leaning toward several candidates.
I can still feel the unity that came to us in the stillness. We qualified for heaven’s direction. From experience, I can attest that Elder and Sister Meredith are prepared to lead this university. They will be led on a “steady, upward course.”1 And the employees and students will be lifted. As a result, this great institution will get better still. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
- Henry B Eyring, “A Steady, Upward Course,” BYU-Idaho Foundational Addresses, Sept. 18, 2001, https://www.byui.edu/speeches/a-steady-upward-course.