“Quick to Observe”

I have been looking forward to today since May 1. Some of that “looking forward” has been with enthusiasm, some of it has been with excitement, and some of it has been building in anxiousness. Someone might need to check and see whether blood is flowing back into my wife’s hand after I was gripping it so tightly. I’ve also heard, by the way, that cameras add some things to people. I’ve heard that cameras add ten pounds; I’m hoping they add six inches.

My friends and colleagues, as we begin another school year together, I want to express to you my deep gratitude for each and every one of you—all 4,500 of you—who constitute the remarkable workforce of Brigham Young University. It is a joy for me to labor with faculty, staff, and administrative colleagues who have a clear sense of our university mission and who tirelessly work to fulfill it. Each of you labors daily to help our students become what prophets have said they are destined to become.

Of that destiny, President Spencer W. Kimball said:

I am both hopeful and expectant that out of this university . . . there will rise brilliant stars in drama, literature, music, sculpture, painting, science, and in all the scholarly graces.¹

President Kimball hoped BYU would be a “refining host for many such [stars].”² Much of that refining comes as our students rub shoulders with you. Thank you for being who you are and for doing what you do to help our students fulfill President Kimball’s prophetic vision.

Introduction

Few figures in all of human history are more impressive than the prophet Mormon. Mormon lived through—indeed, he actively participated in—a season of horrific and constant war. “A continual scene of wickedness and abominations,” he reflected, “has been before mine eyes ever since I have been sufficient to behold the ways of man.”³

And yet, despite the terror of his times, Mormon remained unwaveringly loyal to the Savior and unbreakable in his faithfulness to his covenants. He remained a “peaceable [follower] of Christ”⁴ and to his dying day testified of faith, hope, and charity, “the pure love of Christ.”⁵

But what was Mormon’s secret? How did he remain faithful while his society careened toward annihilation? How did he retain hope in the face of widespread despair? How did he cultivate charity in the face of total war?

Part of the answer can be found in the spiritual gift that Mormon received and developed when he was very young. Mormon was just ten years old when Ammaron identified him as the future custodian of the Nephites’ sacred records. To the ten-year-old Mormon, Ammaron said:

I perceive that thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe;

Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four years old I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people. . . .

And behold, ye shall . . . engrave on the plates of Nephi all the things that ye have observed concerning this people.⁶

I take my text today from Ammaron’s charge to Mormon. In doing so, I follow the example of Elder David A. Bednar, who, in an unforgettable devotional in 2005, said this about the verses I have just quoted:

Please note that the root word observe is used three times in these verses. And Mormon, even in his youth, is described as being “quick to observe” (Mormon 1:2). As you study and learn and grow during your time as a university student, I hope you also are learning about and becoming quick to observe. Your future success and happiness will in large measure be determined by this spiritual capacity.

Please consider the significance of this important spiritual gift. As used in the scriptures, the word observe has two primary uses. One use denotes “to look” or “to see” or “to notice.” . . .

The second use of the word observe suggests “to obey” or “to keep.” . . .

Thus when we are quick to observe, we promptly look or notice and obey. Both of these fundamental elements—looking and obeying—are essential to being quick to observe. And the prophet Mormon is an impressive example of this gift in action.⁷

I believe that our work at BYU will be immeasurably enhanced and our capacity to bless our students’ lives will be greatly increased if we can receive and cultivate the spiritual gift of being “quick to observe.”

Today I want to highlight six areas in which we can all benefit from this lesser-known gift:

1. Mission-aligned hiring

2. Inspiring learning

3. Our students’ successes

4. The Church Educational System (CES) Honor Code, including its dress and grooming standards

5. Leaning into our unique mission

6. Heeding the words of prophets

Let me address each of these areas in turn.

1. Mission-Aligned Hiring

I reiterate today what my predecessor has said: “The most important decisions that will be made in my tenure as president at BYU are the people we hire.”⁸ The people we hire will be role models to whom our students will look for examples of combining professional excellence with spiritual commitment. The people we hire will spend time with our students—significant time—both in and out of classrooms. Our students need models who understand that excellence in one’s chosen field and faithfulness in keeping sacred covenants are not mutually exclusive. We must never subscribe to the false dichotomy that we can be either excellent or faithful. No, we can and we must be excellent—not in spite of our loyalty to the gospel of Jesus Christ but directly and precisely because of it. We will anchor our excellence in devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our spiritual mission provides the strengthening leaven for our academic mission.

Speaking from this rostrum two years ago, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stressed the importance of being true to BYU’s spiritual mission. He said:

It seems clear to me in my seventy-three years of loving [this university] that BYU will become an “educational Mt. Everest” only to the degree it embraces its uniqueness, its singularity. We could mimic every other university in the world until we got a bloody nose in the effort, and the world would still say, “BYU who?” No, we must have the will to be different and to stand alone, if necessary, being a university second to none in its role primarily as an undergraduate teaching institution that is unequivocally true to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.⁹

In that same message, Elder Holland declared:

I will go to my grave pleading that this institution not only stands but stands unquestionably committed to its unique academic mission and to the Church that sponsors it.¹⁰

As president, I commit to do everything in my power to answer this apostolic plea. We do and we will stand “unquestionably committed” to our inspired mission and to our sponsoring church. We will never waver in that commitment—not on my watch.

That commitment will require us to be quick to observe in our hiring decisions. I am profoundly grateful to all of you for your prayerful attention to hiring individuals who strive for excellence in their field and for devotion in their discipleship. Thank you for adding to our ranks those who we recognized earlier today and who are intentional about strengthening our students’ testimonies and building our students’ faith.

2. Inspiring Learning

We are striving to hire colleagues who are committed to what President Kevin J Worthen called “inspiring learning.”¹¹ As you know, President Worthen has recently become the inaugural distinguished faculty fellow for the BYU Wheatley Institute’s constitutional government initiative as well as a visiting professor at the Yale Law School. We are eternally grateful to President and Sister Worthen for their heroic contributions to advancing BYU’s mission. We love them, and we are excited for this next chapter of their journey.

As Kevin and Peggy ride off (at least temporarily) into the New Haven sunset, some have wondered whether we will continue to emphasize inspiring learning. The answer to that question is a resounding yes! Of course we will! We have no choice. Remember that “inspiring learning” was President Worthen’s shorthand notation for the heart of our mission and aims. As long as we are true to our mission and aims, we will promote inspiring learning.

Like me, many of you remember when President Worthen introduced the phrase “inspiring learning” at university conference seven years ago. With characteristic clarity, President Worthen taught:

When I use the term “inspiring learning,” I have in mind both meanings of the word inspiring. I hope we inspire our students to learn. And I hope that learning leads to inspiration. When both things happen, inspiring learning occurs, and we can then know we are on the right track to achieve the core goals set forth in our mission statement.¹²

For seven years President Worthen’s message—also included in volume 1 of Envisioning BYU¹³—has led to inspiration and revelation. I hope we will all return to it often.

In light of President Worthen’s powerful message, there is no need to reinvent the wheel and no reason to deploy new terminology to describe our aspiration for our students. We already have a winning strategy for engaging with students in inspiring ways—both in and out of the classroom. But what does that winning strategy look like?

It looks like dedicated faculty guiding students on study abroad trips through which they are immersed in countries and cultures different from our own and during which they see gospel principles reinforced in those different settings. It looks like projects that address societal problems through principles of self-reliance and sustainable help. It looks like incorporating gospel questions into research collaborations between faculty and students. It looks like staff and administrative employees modeling for student employees a life of faith in the workplace.

Last year, thanks to your extraordinary efforts and commitment, more than 12,000 students reported an inspiring learning experience. I believe that number is higher than 12,000, but that is the number from whom we have received a report. We know from numerous studies that students who participate in high-impact educational practices—and inspiring learning practices are high-impact practices—are more likely to succeed in college. We are committed to increasing the proportion of students who participate in these high-impact experiential learning opportunities and inspiring learning opportunities. I invite you to work to be quick to observe the students who need an inspiring learning experience and to find ways to provide such experiences.

During this year’s resource-planning exercise, we learned about many incredible examples of inspiring learning from the past year. In both academic units and academic support units, we saw example after example of campus colleagues who are quick to observe. In one of the most difficult tasks of my short time as president, I have had to choose only one example to share with you today. [A video was shown about BYU engineering students helping design low-cost prosthetics in Ecuador.¹⁴]

I love this example of a student who saw a need when she was a missionary and who worked closely with other students and a faculty mentor to respond to that need. This example illustrates how students who understand their identity as children of God, children of the covenant, and disciples of Jesus Christ¹⁵ instinctively recognize their covenantal responsibility to help their fellow human beings, who share that primary identity. The students in the video exemplify core principles of inspiring learning, including intentionality and reflection. These principles distinguish inspiring learning at BYU from experiential learning practices elsewhere. They reflect our unique mission to foster “the balanced development of the total person”¹⁶—or, as President Kimball put it, the “eternal [person].”¹⁷

3. Our Students’ Successes

The mission of this university is to help our students succeed—temporally and spiritually, in school and in life, and in time and in eternity. Unfortunately, many of our students come to us without all the advantages that might prepare them for success at BYU. I know this well because I was such a student when I first arrived on this campus almost thirty-five years ago. That dates me. One of the most challenging parts of my freshman experience as a first-generation college student was all of the “unknown unknowns.” The campus seemed huge, and there was so much that I did not know about BYU. I didn’t know where to go for help. I didn’t know what my place was in the mission of BYU. I didn’t know where I fit in with my peers. In other words, I lacked three things that I needed to succeed: resources, a sense of mission, and connection. Thankfully I was blessed by BYU employees—including a young law professor named Kevin Worthen—who were quick to observe my need and to help me find my way.

Many of the freshmen who will enter our doors this fall lack the same things I lacked—resources, an understanding of BYU’s unique mission, and a sense of connectedness to fellow students. Today I am pleased to announce an inspiring initiative designed to help equip all our students with all three of these things. Over the past year we have piloted a new course called BYU Foundations for Student Success that will connect incoming students with a peer network and a faculty mentor, orient them to the resources available on campus, and, above all, instill in them a profound sense of our inspired mission. The students who have participated in this course thus far have reported amazing experiences. I want to share a video that describes just a few of those experiences. [A video was shown.¹⁸]

I love that video. I love the experience our students had there. And I am pleased to announce that beginning winter semester 2024, BYU Foundations for Student Success will be required of all newly admitted students. I express profound gratitude for those who have developed this course, prepared for its rollout, and volunteered to teach it. These colleagues have been quick to observe our students’ needs and swift to respond. They are eager to minister to students experiencing what Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman has called “a crisis of meaning.”¹⁹

4. The CES Honor Code, Including Its Dress and Grooming Standards

In his memorable message about being quick to observe, Elder Bednar praised young people who are quick to observe prophetic teachings—including prophetic teachings about personal conduct, dress, and grooming.²⁰ As a university community, we remain profoundly committed to the CES Honor Code and to its dress and grooming principles and standards. In keeping with patterns that youth in the Church are now very familiar with, we have recently released updated ecclesiastical endorsement procedures and an updated CES Honor Code, including principles and expectations for dress and grooming. I feel impressed to say a word or two about each of these updates.

In his first devotional message as BYU president, Elder Holland noted that BYU is, as it were, a school on a mission.²¹ And like the missionaries we send out into the world, we at BYU need to look different from the world. Our dress and appearance should reflect our unique mission.

As we considered updating the Honor Code, we tried to understand the hearts and minds of our students. A team from the office of the Church commissioner of education conducted focus groups at several CES institutions, including here at BYU. Without exception, these students were enthusiastic about proposed changes to the ecclesiastical endorsement process and to the Honor Code, including dress and grooming provisions. Students were especially attracted by the prospect of principle-based revisions that would provide greater consistency across our CES institutions.

New ecclesiastical endorsement questions were developed to better align the endorsement process with ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Ecclesiastical leaders can now focus on the ecclesiastical aspects of qualifying to attend BYU. The revised interview questions closely track the standard temple recommend questions, but they also accommodate the fact that some of our young people might be in various stages of their testimony development. The questions regarding testimony development focus on “striving” toward deeper testimony rather than on whether or not one has a testimony at all. Aligning the questions asked by bishops and stake presidents more closely with their ecclesiastical responsibilities will bolster their unique ministry.

In addition to refining the ecclesiastical endorsement process, we have also codified language within the Honor Code that has been an uncodified appendage to the Honor Code since 2020. Many institutions of higher education have codes of conduct that prescribe standards of acceptable behavior. I love the distinctive nature of our Honor Code, beginning with its name. It is an honor code because we believe that its principles and standards foster an environment marked by “honor, integrity, morality, and consideration of others.”²² The Honor Code thus helps us accomplish our spiritual mission by engendering an atmosphere conducive to that mission:

Brigham Young University . . . exist[s] to provide an education in an atmosphere consistent with the ideals and principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That atmosphere is created and preserved by a community of faculty, administration, staff, and students who voluntarily commit to conduct their lives in accordance with the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ and who strive to maintain the highest standards in their personal conduct regarding honor, integrity, morality, and consideration of others.²³

The Honor Code’s updated dress and grooming principles and standards—which have been influenced by feedback from student focus groups—are grounded in core principles. Consistent with those principles, every student, faculty member, administrative or staff employee, and volunteer on this campus agrees, through their dress and grooming choices, to

1. Represent the Savior Jesus Christ, the Church, and the Church Educational System

2. Preserve an inspiring environment, without distraction or disruption, where covenants are kept in a spirit of unity so the Holy Ghost can teach truth

3. Promote modesty, cleanliness, neatness, and restraint in dress and grooming

4. Maintain an elevated standard distinctive to educational institutions of the Church of Jesus Christ²⁴

These are powerful principles, and our students are confident that when dress and grooming guidelines are rooted in enduring principles, an understanding and a commitment will certainly follow—even if it takes some time for that understanding and commitment to take hold.

Now, as your president, I commit to uphold these principles. Today I am asking you to commit to uphold these principles for yourselves. It is a privilege to represent the Savior, His Church, and its educational system. Cultivating a learning environment free from distraction requires concentrated effort from all of us. The impact of our efforts is magnified when we invite the Holy Ghost to be part of our learning environment. As President Russell M. Nelson has prophetically declared, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”²⁵ Our educational goals cannot be achieved if they are unaided by the influence of the Holy Ghost. “And if ye receive not the Spirit,” the Lord decreed, “ye shall not teach.”²⁶

We are asking each and every one of you—all of our employees, whether you are faculty, staff, or administrative—to help teach these principles. Obviously the best place to start is by being quick to observe these principles in our own dress and grooming decisions. We ask you to apply these principles and simplified standards in your own personal lives. For most of you, this will involve no change at all. For some of you, it might require some adjustment.

Beyond personal observance, we are asking each of you to help reinforce these principles with our students. Students frequently justify noncompliance by muttering, “Well, nobody ever said anything to me about it.” Although the absence of a reminder does not excuse a lapse of integrity, we should be more willing to encourage one another in our commitment to live the principles and standards we have all agreed to.

Will you join me in being both quick to adopt these principles and standards in your own lives and quick to observe students and other campus community members who might need a reminder about a principle or expectation in their dress and grooming? I realize that this may not be easy and that some of these discussions will require practice, training, and sensitivity. Kevin W. Utt, director of the BYU Honor Code Office, has expressed a willingness, along with his team, to discuss with departments and other campus units the most effective way to teach and reinforce these principles. Kevin and his team have experience, wisdom, and understanding of how best to help students and others internalize these principles. I commend the Honor Code staff to you for help in your internal discussions—especially those discussions that may be somewhat sensitive in nature.

When a principle-based revision of For the Strength of Youth was released to the worldwide Church in October 2022, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a general conference address titled “Jesus Christ Is the Strength of Youth.”²⁷ In April 2023, in a companion talk titled “Jesus Christ Is the Strength of Parents,” Elder Uchtdorf shared wise counsel with the parents of the rising generation. I hope it won’t detract too much from his powerful message if I take the liberty of modifying it to apply it to our BYU employees:

God has given [BYU employees] the “sacred duty to [nurture our students] in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to . . . observe the commandments of God.”

That’s enough to keep even the best [BYU employees] awake at night.

My message to all [BYU employees] is this:

The Lord loves you.

He is with you.

He stands beside you.

He is your strength in guiding your [students] to make righteous choices.

Accept this privilege and responsibility courageously and joyfully. Don’t delegate this source of heavenly blessings to anyone else. Within the framework of gospel values and principles, you are the ones to guide your [students] in the details of daily decisions. Help your [students] build faith in Jesus Christ, love His gospel and His Church, and prepare for a lifetime of righteous choices.²⁸

Elder Uchtdorf’s prophetic guidance was to empower parents, who hold the primary responsibility for helping our young people implement a principle-based approach to making righteous choices. I hope we too will be courageous and joyful as we accept Elder Uchtdorf’s invitation with our students. As we do so, we will assist our students in their commitment to these powerful principles.

5. Leaning into Our Unique Mission

Next, may I invite all of us this year to strive to be quick to observe the many facets of our uniqueness as an institution. Having observed these unique features, I invite us all to lean into them. In this respect, I again quote from President Kimball:

There are many ways in which BYU can tower above other universities—not simply because of the size of its student body or its beautiful campus but because of the unique light BYU can send forth into the educational world. Your light must have a special glow, for while you will do many things in the programs of this university that are done elsewhere, these same things can and must be done better here than others do them. You will also do some special things here that are left undone by other institutions.²⁹

This will be true not in spite of our uniqueness but because of it. At BYU we unabashedly declare that “belief enhances inquiry, study amplifies faith, and revelation leads to deeper understanding.”³⁰ The principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by living prophets and apostles, anchor our common mission and form the essence of what makes the BYU experience so unique. We at BYU can tap into divine help for solutions that do not merely scratch the surface of the problems of our day but address the substance and roots of those problems.

6. Heeding the Words of Prophets

Finally, I want to close with an invitation similar to the invitation extended by Elder Bednar: Let us look to the words of prophets, seers, and revelators and find ways to incorporate their teachings into our individual and our professional lives.³¹ At BYU we have the unique opportunity to be governed by a board of education composed of prophets, seers, and revelators. In those meetings it is regularly confirmed that President Russell M. Nelson is truly a prophet of God. I want you as members of our campus community to know that I know he is a prophet. I also know that the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—one of whom is with us today—are prophets, seers, and revelators. So my invitation to you today is to be quick to observe when the prophet speaks and to endeavor in your daily lives to observe what he teaches. Today I want to draw your attention to teachings from two prophets that seem particularly applicable as we begin a new semester in an increasingly polarized world.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stressed the importance of unity in his April 2023 general conference address. He said:

We are too diverse and at times too discordant to be able to come together as one on any other basis or under any other name. Only in Jesus Christ can we truly become one.

Becoming one in Christ happens one by one—we each begin with ourselves.³²

Elder Christofferson then urged us to press toward such unity imperfectly but determinedly. He said:

And when we fall short, Christ, by His Atonement, has given us the gift of repentance and the opportunity to try again.

If individually we each “put on Christ,” then together we can hope to become one, as Paul said, “the body of Christ.” To “put on Christ” certainly includes making His “first and great commandment” our first and greatest commitment, and if we love God, we will keep His commandments.

Unity with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ grows as we heed the second commandment—inextricably connected to the first—to love others as ourselves. And I suppose an even more perfect unity would obtain among us if we followed the Savior’s higher and holier expression of this second commandment—to love one another not only as we love ourselves but as He loved us. In sum, it is “every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.”³³

As we begin this semester, may we be agents of unity. May we seek the interest of our neighbors—whether they be students, coworkers, or those within the walls of our own homes—with our gaze fixed firmly on the glory of God. As we do so, we will be the “peacemakers” that President Nelson said are so desperately needed in our polarized world.³⁴ The prophet gave this invitation:

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to be examples of how to interact with others—especially when we have differences of opinion. One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people.³⁵

Let us be quick to observe the prophets of God.

Conclusion

Friends and colleagues, I will be the first to admit that I am not always quick to observe. If you need a second witness of that fact, my wife, Wendy, will happily confirm it. But I want to close with two things that I have observed during my service here at BYU and in the crucible of life’s experiences.

First, I have observed the goodness, capacity, and consecration of the remarkable people who work at this school. I am inspired by your ability to discern a need and to then “lift where you stand.”³⁶ You are not only quick to observe but are also quick to “lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees”³⁷ and to “mourn with those that mourn . . . and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.”³⁸ For that I extend my profound gratitude.

Second, and finally, in a thousand different ways I have observed—and I know and testify—that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Not only is it true but it is good and beautiful and mighty to save. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that this is His school, led by His living prophets and sponsored by His true and living Church. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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