{"id":27498,"date":"2023-10-31T11:35:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T17:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/?post_type=speech&p=27498"},"modified":"2024-03-07T11:47:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T18:47:14","slug":"fulfilling-the-dream","status":"publish","type":"speech","link":"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/talks\/john-s-and-susan-w-tanner\/fulfilling-the-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Fulfilling the Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Susan:<\/strong> Greetings! John and I are happy to be here with you on Halloween for this forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> We are especially grateful to share the stand with my former student Justin Collings. Thank you, Justin, for that generous introduction and for these leis. What a surprise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> We were asked to speak on the mission of Brigham Young University, so this may feel more like a devotional than a forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> We have also tried to connect our talk to Halloween, but it has not been easy to find an uplifting Halloween theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> Well, Halloween did begin as a religious festival, All Hallows\u2019 Eve. In fact, in the traditional Christian calendar, Halloween is followed by All Saints\u2019 Day on November 1 and All Souls\u2019 Day on November 2. The whole season is called Allhallowtide. The larger meaning of these holidays is that this is a time to remember the dead, which actually does connect to our topic, fulfilling the dream of BYU. Let\u2019s explore how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uplifting Seasonal Themes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> First, as I have often said, BYU is built on the dreams and hopes of its founders more than most universities are.1<\/sup> In fact, to continue the Halloween theme, you might say that we are haunted by their dreams. We hope that throughout this Halloween forum you will feel the presence of those who have dreamed the dream of BYU, many of whom have passed away. They had a vision of what the university would become. You inhabit their hopes and dreams. These hopes and dreams are now yours to fulfill. And that is what we want to talk about today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> Also, while we don\u2019t celebrate Allhallowtide in the Church, it is a good time to remember our own Halloween revelation on the dead, Doctrine and Covenants 138, and a beautiful song in our hymnal, \u201cFor All the Saints,\u201d2<\/sup> which was originally written for All Saints\u2019 Day. This revelation and this hymn provide two additional uplifting connections to these holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> First, let\u2019s talk about the Halloween revelation. It is fascinating that President Joseph F. Smith\u2019s vision of the dead, Doctrine and Covenants 138, was unanimously accepted by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve in 1918 on October 31\u2014Halloween! So in a way, it is a Halloween vision. Not only was it ratified on Halloween, but it dramatically clarifies Halloween themes\u2014such as the true nature of the realm of the dead and of our relationship to the dead.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> For Halloween, John and I have taken to reading Doctrine and Covenants 138 and going to the temple to serve and honor the dead in the Lord\u2019s way. We recommend that you do so as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> A faculty member at BYU\u2013Hawaii heard me make this point and then illustrated it for her class by dressing up as a ghost with signs on her front and back that read, \u201cI am your ancestor\u201d and \u201cDid you do my temple work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> We also like to sing \u201cFor All the Saints,\u201d so I am really glad we sang it to begin the devotional today. The gorgeous music by Ralph Vaughan Williams is considered \u201camong the finest of twentieth-century hymn tunes.\u201d4<\/sup> The lyrics are also inspiring. We love both the tune and the text.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> We really do. As Susan said, the text was originally written for All Saints\u2019 Day, which is tomorrow in the traditional Christian calendar. We want to apply a line from the hymn\u2019s second verse in the Latter-day Saint hymnal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, may thy soldiers, <\/em>faithful, true, and bold,<\/em><\/strong>
Fight as the Saints who nobly fought of old,<\/em>
And win with them the victor\u2019s crown of gold.<\/em>
Alleluia, Alleluia.<\/em>6<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brothers and sisters, we challenge you, our beloved BYU community, to be \u201cfaithful, true, and bold\u201d in pursuing the mission of BYU. For if BYU is to realize its full potential and become the BYU of prophecy, as President C. Shane Reese invited us to become in his stirring inaugural address,7<\/sup> we must be \u201cfaithful, true, and bold\u201d in fulfilling the dream of BYU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So now, having made these holiday connections, Susan and I will talk about the dream of BYU itself, including our more than fifty years of personal experience with it and the insights that we have gained from compiling and studying mission-centric talks for a recently published collection entitled Envisioning<\/em> BYU.<\/em>8<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> We are deeply invested in the dream of BYU. It has blessed us as well as many members of our family. Currently it is blessing six of our grandchildren. Here is a photo of those grandchildren as little ones and a photo of them now (with our missionary included) as current BYU students. [Two photos were shown.] We want to address our remarks especially to our grandchildren, some of whom are beginning freshmen, all the way up to those who will soon graduate from BYU to \u201cgo forth to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> We hope that our comments will help you grandkids\u2014and everyone else who watches or reads this forum\u2014to understand BYU\u02bcs mission. We also encourage you to read and study the talks in Envisioning<\/em> BYU.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Susan will tell you about how she first came to embrace the dream of BYU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early Experiences of Embracing the Dream<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> As a young girl and as a teenager, I always dreamed of coming to BYU. When I started in the Late Summer Honors Program three weeks before the regular semester began, I felt at every turn that this was the place for me. It was rigorous academically, as a university should be, and everything\u2014the classes, the coursework, the professors, the friendships, the extracurricular activities\u2014was \u201cbathed in the light . . . of the restored gospel.\u201d9<\/sup> I really felt the Spirit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the early forums I attended articulated my feelings well.10<\/sup> It was given by Elder Bruce C. Hafen, now an emeritus General Authority Seventy who was then serving as the assistant to the president of the university. In his talk he reflected on how important education was for our early leaders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Joseph founded the School of the Prophets and other schools, and Brigham espoused \u201clearn[ing] everything that the children of men know\u201d11<\/sup> and declared that \u201cour religion . . . circumscribes all the wisdom in the world.\u201d12<\/sup> They both sought to educate the Saints academically, culturally, and spiritually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that forum, Elder Hafen told a handcart pioneer story of Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley\u2019s grandmother Polly, whose refined family left southern England to come to Zion after they had converted to the Church. As a young girl, Polly sacrificed and suffered so much on that trek, losing three siblings and her mother to death on their journey. Polly later wrote about their condition when they finally entered the Salt Lake Valley. She said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early next morning . . . Brigham Young . . . came. .<\/em> .<\/em> . When he saw our condition\u2014our feet frozen and our mother dead\u2014tears rolled down his cheeks.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doctor amputated my toes. .<\/em> .<\/em> . The sisters were dressing mother<\/em> [for her grave]. Oh how did we stand it?<\/em> .<\/em> .<\/em> .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

. . . I thought of<\/em> [my mother\u2019s] words<\/em> [before we left England], \u201cPolly, I want to go to Zion while my children are small, so they can be raised in the Gospel of Christ. For I know this is the true<\/em> Church.<\/em>\u201d<\/em>13<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This family as well as many other families came from cultured cities of Europe. They welcomed a religion that prioritized education and schools along with spiritual knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder Hafen then imagined a fictional evening with pioneers on the plains. These were not rough frontiersmen but cultured and refined Saints who longed for opportunities to learn in the light of the gospel. He said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you imagine with me that perhaps on one of those nights as some of the pioneers came across the prairies, one or two of the older youngsters who liked books (or even Brigham himself, who liked books) might have sat beneath the stars and said to one another, \u201cDo you think that one day there might be a great university in Zion? A great school, with all the books and laboratories and teachers\u2014where the Saints might come from all around the world to learn together? Just think\u2014all those books, and the Spirit<\/em> too!<\/em>\u201d<\/em>14<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder Hafen continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An impossible dream? They might have thought so. But the dream has come true. Let us not forget about<\/em> . . . the Pollys or the dream. We must take it as seriously as they did. . . .<\/em> [Just think,] all those books, and the Spirit<\/em> too.<\/em>15<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phrase \u201call those books, and the Spirit too\u201d16<\/sup> has lingered with me all these years. I recall it often when I participate in this great university that bears the name of its founder, Brigham Young. Here we have the great privilege for an education for our whole souls.17<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BYU\u2019s \u201cPrime Directive\u201d: To Teach All Things with the Spirit<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> Thank you for sharing that, Susan. Ever since you told me about Bruce C. Hafen\u2019s forum many years ago and his subsequent devotional in 1991, I have been touched by the phrase \u201call those books, and the Spirit too.\u201d It has become a kind of watchword for us. I hope that BYU always qualifies to be the school that the early Saints envisioned and sacrificed for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, in the collection of talks called Envisioning BYU,<\/em> I have tried to give voice to some of the hopes and dreams of those who built BYU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one would expect, the collection includes the famous founding charge from Brigham Young to Karl G. Maeser. Brigham Young said, \u201cBrother Maeser, I want you to remember that you ought not to teach even the alphabet or the multiplication tables without the Spirit of God.\u201d18<\/sup> You grandchildren should know this founding charge. I like to think of Brigham Young\u2019s charge to teach all subjects with the Spirit of God as BYU\u2019s \u201cPrime Directive\u201d\u2014borrowing a phrase from Star Trek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> When speaking to the university, President Spencer W. Kimball rephrased President Young\u2019s charge. President Kimball said he expected \u201cthat every . . . teacher in this institution would keep his subject matter bathed in the light and color of the restored gospel.\u201d19<\/sup> Isn\u2019t that beautiful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctrine and Covenants 88: The Olive Leaf and BYU\u2019s \u201cBasic Constitution\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> It is beautiful, and I love both of those injunctions. They are core. BYU, however, didn\u2019t really begin with Brigham Young\u2019s famous charge to Brother Maeser, nor does Envisioning BYU.<\/em> BYU has its origin in scriptural injunctions, such as Jesus\u2019s command to love God with all of our mind20<\/sup> and Joseph Smith\u2019s revelations, especially Doctrine and Covenants 88, known as the Olive Leaf, which contains the oft-quoted counsel to \u201cseek learning, even by study and also by faith.\u201d21<\/sup> President Dallin H. Oaks called the Olive Leaf \u201cthe first and greatest revelation of this dispensation on the subject of education\u201d and BYU\u2019s \u201cbasic constitution.\u201d22<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> This constitutional revelation is rich in implication for BYU. In our talk today, we will focus on five principles from that revelation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. \u201cCease to be unclean.\u201d23<\/sup>
2. \u201cTeach one another.\u201d24<\/sup>
3. Learn \u201cof things both in heaven and in the earth.\u201d25<\/sup>
4. Learn \u201cby study and . . . by faith.\u201d
5. Live \u201cin the bonds of love\u201d and \u201ccovenant.\u201d26<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. \u201cCease to Be Unclean\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> From the beginning, Latter-day Saints believed worthiness to be essential to education. In Doctrine and Covenants 88:124 we find the clear injunction to \u201ccease to be unclean.\u201d This mandate runs all through the Olive Leaf. There is a repeated emphasis for learners in the School of the Prophets to be clean and to be worthy to qualify for the Spirit. Clearly the expectations of integrity, moral purity, and worthiness did not begin with the current Church Educational System Honor Code. Indeed, like in the temple, those who were received into the School of the Prophets were to be \u201cclean from the blood of this generation.\u201d27<\/sup> They were received through \u201cthe ordinance of the washing of feet.\u201d28<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> Susan, you and I have long been touched by a panel in the exhibit Education in Zion<\/em> in the Joseph F. Smith Building, which we encourage all of you to visit. The panel shows a washbasin, some soap, and some clean clothing. It explains that early in the morning, students who entered the School of the Prophets would wash themselves and put on clean clothing. Zebedee Coltrin, an early Church leader and student in the school, is quoted: \u201cWe came together in the morning about sunrise, fasting, and partook of the Sacrament each time; and . . . we washed ourselves and put on clean linen.\u201d29<\/sup> They wanted to be clean outwardly and inwardly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> This is the beginning of a true code of honor. One of my freshman impressions was that my honors colleagues were not just bright students but also honorable people who could be trusted to keep the code of cleanliness and honor to which they had agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> That\u2019s right. They were people of integrity. Whether or not they agreed with each rule, they had committed to abide by them, so they kept them. That is what integrity<\/em> means\u2014being whole. It is moral wholeness. Like Dr. Seuss\u2019s Horton the Elephant, they meant what they said and said what they meant.30<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. \u201cTeach One Another\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> A second principle in the Olive Leaf, in addition to the injunction to be clean, is that students were to \u201cteach one another.\u201d In fact, student and teacher at times exchanged roles, \u201cthat all may be edified of all.\u201d31<\/sup> The idea of students teaching and learning from each other goes back to the earliest days of the Brigham Young Academy. It is in our institutional DNA. Indeed, this principle was implemented through what Karl G. Maeser called the \u201cmonitorial system,\u201d32<\/sup> in which students took responsibility to teach and assist other students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, grandkids, I hope that you will have <\/p>\n\n\n\n

interactive teaching and learning opportunities here. I strongly encourage you to choose friends and roommates from whom you can learn. I was so blessed to learn together with some remarkable friends and roommates at BYU. One became a Rhodes Scholar and another clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of them was an honors aide with me. We would talk about ideas late into the night. Not only did we teach and edify one another, but we also sought out-of-classroom experiences to learn from our professors. My roommates and I would sometimes invite favorite professors over to our house for a pancake breakfast and then invite them to tell us about their research. I remember doing this with Frank Fox, who was then a young history professor with a specialty in the American Revolution and the founding of our country. That was great fun. We thought that we were paying Professor Fox in pancakes for doing this. Gratefully he didn\u2019t complain about our doughy offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also organized a personalized reading class for our honors general education. One roommate, a history major, led discussions on the Federalist Papers. Another, who spoke Danish, led discussions on S\u00f8ren Kierkegaard\u2019s Training in Christianity.<\/em> I chose to lead discussions on a book called I and Thou<\/em> by Martin Buber, of which I had read a snippet in a philosophy class. I still remember the books we taught to each other\u2014maybe better than the books we read for normal classes. My roommates and I taught one another in and out of class. So should you. Don\u2019t be what a Harvard professor called \u201ca bench-bound listener\u201d or learner.33<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Learn \u201cof Things Both in Heaven and in the Earth\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> A third principle in Doctrine and Covenants 88 is that we are to learn broadly: \u201cof things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass.\u201d34<\/sup> Why? \u201cThat ye may be prepared in all things.\u201d35<\/sup> This sounds a lot like a general education curriculum to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A broad education is a crucial part of the Olive Leaf. So, in light of the revealed importance of general education, I want to tell you a funny family story that illustrates how passionate John is about general education. It happened when he spoke with our daughter who was preparing to start college. She casually mentioned that she wanted to \u201cget her GEs out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John just about went through the roof. He said, \u201cWhat do you mean \u2018get your GEs out of the way\u2019?! You shouldn\u2019t think of college as something you just \u2018go through\u2019 for a degree; college needs to go through you.\u201d He went on to say that too often students think of general education as something someone else requires them to do, like soldiers in World War II who were told to pass down a line of people giving them medical shots. They didn\u2019t know why. The shots were just something to be endured, something someone else said was good for them. And that\u2019s how people often experience general education\u2014as something imposed by others, something to get out of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> That story is a bit embarrassing. My response may have been a little over the top.36<\/sup> But I actually still feel the same way about that principle, which in fact applies not just to education but to exaltation.37<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too often we describe our goal as going through<\/em> the temple or making it to<\/em> the celestial kingdom, rather than having the temple go through us or becoming celestial people, like God. The Lord wants us to become<\/em> a good person\u2014not just a person who does good things. He wants us to love<\/em> godliness\u2014not just to grit our teeth and obey. He won\u2019t inflict a celestial life on those who don\u2019t love celestial things. The point is to become<\/em> celestial people\u2014not just to make it to<\/em> the celestial kingdom. As President Russell M. Nelson said, we need to \u201cthink celestial.\u201d38<\/sup> We need to become<\/em> celestial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is likewise for education. Too many people conflate college with credentialing. You are not here just to get a credential, as important as that is. The Lord endorsed a stunningly broad education. Why? So \u201cthat ye may be prepared in all things when [He] shall send you.\u201d39<\/sup> You are here to become educated so that you can \u201cgo forth to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> I think you can still feel John\u2019s passion. Now I want him to tell you about how he became so invested in general education at BYU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> After my mission I spent a lot of time thinking about what makes an educated person. For a couple of years as an honors aide at BYU, I helped the Honors Program implement an experimental general education program in which students were asked to devise their own GE requirements. They had to write letters to the honors deans justifying their GE categories and courses they wanted to take based on what they thought an educated person should know. I read these justifications every day and ghost-drafted possible responses for the deans. This meant I had to think long and hard about the what and the why of education, especially from a BYU perspective and a gospel perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> You didn\u2019t know it at the time, but I think the Lord was preparing you for another later assignment that would help define the dream of BYU. When you were asked to join the administration in the early 1990s, the academic vice president, Todd Britsch, and the provost, Bruce Hafen, assigned you to draft a statement about what a BYU education should do for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> At first I thought, \u201cWhy?\u201d We already had a beautiful mission statement that President Jeffrey R. Holland had drafted a few years before.40<\/sup> Wasn\u2019t that enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, I was told. We needed a statement focused on student outcomes, such as that all students should learn to write. This assignment triggered memories of drafting those GE letters, and that got me started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time I also had a deep impression\u2014almost a revelation\u2014that I should connect what students should learn at BYU to Brigham Young\u2019s educational vision. After all, the university bears his name. So I read Hugh Nibley\u2019s essays describing Brigham Young\u2019s views on education. With all this in mind, I set about drafting what became The Aims of a BYU Education.41<\/sup> As you study the aims, note that each aim begins with a quote from Brigham Young. This was deliberate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> I hope you are familiar with the four aims of a BYU education. The first aim is that it should be \u201cspiritually strengthening,\u201d42<\/sup> which ties to Brigham Young\u2019s original charge to Karl G. Maeser to teach nothing here \u201cwithout the Spirit of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next aim is \u201cintellectually enlarging,\u201d43<\/sup> which was described by Brigham Young when he said, \u201cEvery accomplishment . . . in mathematics, music, and in all science and art belong to the Saints.\u201d44<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third aim is \u201ccharacter building.\u201d45<\/sup> Brigham Young espoused \u201ca firm, unchangeable course of righteousness\u201d46<\/sup> in integrity, sportsmanship, honesty, fairness, and all moral virtues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the final aim of a BYU education is that a BYU education should lead to \u201clifelong learning and service.\u201d47<\/sup> Our founder said, \u201cWhen shall we cease to learn? I will give you my opinion about it; never, never.\u201d48<\/sup> About service, he stated, \u201cOur education should . . . make us of greater service to the human family.\u201d49<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> We didn\u2019t know at the time I drafted the aims that a paradigm shift was coming that would sweep across higher education. It was a shift from a \u201cteaching paradigm,\u201d which looks at inputs such as class sizes and faculty credentials, to a \u201clearning paradigm,\u201d which looks at student outcomes.50<\/sup> Soon all institutions of higher education would be required to articulate what they expected their students to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> I think the aims helped BYU meet the challenge of a new era, and they have held up very well over the years. We encourage you to study the BYU mission statement and the aims so that these ideals are embedded in your souls\u2014now, as you study here, and also later, when you leave this hallowed place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> Recently when Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke to the university about the aims, he recognized that they point outward to lifelong learning and service. He said that a BYU education should lead to \u201cthe end of shared service in the cause of Christ.\u201d51<\/sup> This outward orientation is also deliberate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our prophet, President Nelson, has taught this by word and example. Think of how much he learned after his initial degree\u2014he wasn\u2019t in it just for credentialing\u2014and of how he has used his education to bless others. He said, \u201cEducation is the difference between wishing you could help other people and being able to help them.\u201d52<\/sup> He also said, \u201cWe educate our minds so that one day we can render service of worth to somebody else.\u201d53<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder Christofferson added: \u201cLearning is not an end unto itself but a means to bless God\u2019s children.\u201d54<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Learn \u201cby Study and . . . by Faith\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> President Nelson is such a beautiful example of lifelong learning and service. Let\u2019s turn briefly to a fourth educational principle from the Olive Leaf: to learn \u201cby study and . . . by faith.\u201d This combination is crucial at BYU and to education for Latter-day Saints generally. The Lord expects us to learn with both our intellect and our spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love the way President Kimball described this when he addressed the university at the beginning of its second century. He said that we should be \u201cbilingual\u201d: \u201cYou must speak with authority and excellence . . . in the language of scholarship, and you must also be literate in the language of spiritual things.\u201d55<\/sup> I hope that you cultivate the bilingual education of the whole soul that you can receive here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know what it is like to have to study really hard to learn. I also know what it is like to have the Spirit enlighten my mind. One of my favorite visual reminders of this principle is found on a sign in a stairwell inside the Harold B. Lee Library that quotes the scripture \u201cseek learning, even by study and also by faith.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> When I see that sign, I also note the worn stairs, which for me symbolize the pursuit of learning by study. I also think of the countless prayers that have ascended to heaven from the library and from the classrooms of BYU as students also seek to learn by faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> We have walked those stairs and we have said those prayers hundreds and hundreds of times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> We have worn the grooves in those stairs, as have you, I hope. This always reminds me of what happens at the university on Sundays. As a student and later as a campus bishop, I attended wards in which the sacrament was laid out and blessed between Bunsen burners, and I partook of the sacrament in a room that had the periodic table on the wall. The sacrament amidst Bunsen burners and the periodic table\u2014what an image of joining study and faith! Every Sunday, when the campus turns into a church, it is evident that we belong to an institution deeply committed to developing bilingual disciples who know how to learn \u201cby study and also by faith.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Live \u201cin the Bonds of Love\u201d and \u201cCovenant\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> Now before we leave our discussion of section 88, let us talk about a beautiful fifth principle of Latter-day Saint education: namely, that we are to interact \u201cin the bonds of love\u201d and \u201ccovenant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love this conclusion of Doctrine and Covenants 88, which describes a formal salutation by the \u201cpresident, or teacher,\u201d56<\/sup> of the School of the Prophets\u2014who was Joseph Smith\u2014to his students. He greeted them \u201cin the bonds of love\u201d and \u201ccovenant\u201d with these words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever.<\/em> Amen.<\/em>57<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> That stirs me to my very soul. Can you imagine the Prophet greeting you in the name of Christ and in covenantal fellowship as you entered the school? We don\u2019t greet students this way now at BYU, but we should retain the spirit of this salutation in our hearts. I would often repeat it to myself as I prepared to interact with my students, and I encourage all faculty and staff to do the same. Like the School of the Prophets, this community should be bound together \u201cin the bonds of love\u201d and \u201ccovenant\u201d; it should be a place where we strive \u201cto walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving.\u201d This should be a place of covenant belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temple and School<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> Likewise, Joseph said that the School of the Prophets was to be \u201ca sanctuary . . . of the Holy Spirit,\u201d58<\/sup> like BYU59<\/sup> and the temple. Interestingly, it is nearly impossible to tell if the Lord was talking about school or temple in Doctrine and Covenants 88 when He commanded the Saints to build a house of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, and order\u2014\u201ca house of God.\u201d60<\/sup> I think it is meant to apply to both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> I do too. That\u2019s why I included temple prayers that reference BYU in Envisioning BYU.<\/em> So I hope you will come to see and feel a connection between school and temple at BYU and that you will participate in temple ordinances often as an important part of your education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord indicated that a Church school was to be held in the upper room of the temple in Kirtland.61<\/sup> Nowadays every Church school is located beside a temple. I love the beautiful twin murals in the exhibit Education in Zion.<\/em> They visually pair the first Latter-day Saint temple with BYU and depict both structures as enveloped in heaven\u2019s light. There is and ought to be a spiritual connection between school and temple for Latter-day Saints. After all, both are called houses of learning in the scriptures. Church schools should strive to be worthy of their temple neighborhoods. I often said that at BYU\u2013Hawaii, and I say it here too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we leave these accounts of the early builders of BYU, Susan will tell you about a vision recorded by Brigham Young\u2019s daughter Zina P. Young Williams Card. It is a vision about BYU that has touched us both deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ Has \u201ca Care over This School\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> The early years of the Brigham Young Academy were fraught with challenges, including financial hardships, and the prophet who had had the vision for this school had passed away. Brigham Young\u2019s daughter Zina, an early graduate of the academy who later became a faculty member and the first dean of women, was very anxious about the success of the academy. She traveled to Salt Lake City to pour out her school worries to President John Taylor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He lovingly took her into his private library and said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My dear child, I have something of importance to tell you that I know will make you happy. I have been visited by your father. He came to me in the silence of the night clothed in brightness and, with a face beaming with love and confidence, told me .<\/em> .<\/em> . that the school being taught by Brother Maeser was accepted in the heavens and was a part of the great plan of life and salvation; that Church schools should be fostered for the good of Zion\u2019s children .<\/em> .<\/em> .<\/em> , for they would need the support of this knowledge and testimony of the gospel, and there was a bright future in store for the preparing<\/em> . . . the children of the covenant for future usefulness in the kingdom of God; and that <\/em>Christ Himself was directing and had a care over this schoo<\/em><\/strong>l<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong>62<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each time I hear this beautiful story, it thrills my heart. Think of it! Jesus Christ Himself has a care over this school. And why? Because it is a place where the children of the covenant are being prepared for future usefulness in the kingdom of God. I wish that every student and all others who walk this campus would keep the words \u201cChrist Himself has a care over this school\u201d running through their minds. I think it would inspire gratitude for the opportunity to study in a place that is cared for by Christ Himself and would prompt them to ask themselves: \u201cWhat is my role and responsibility in helping this school reach its destiny? What can I do to live up to the privilege of being here? And how can I fulfill the dream of BYU?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Impossible Dream?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> I love the vision that Zina recounted! What a thrill to learn that Christ has a care over this school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his second-century address, which I hope you all will read, President Kimball said that BYU has a \u201crendezvous with history.\u201d63<\/sup> He then shared a remarkable statement by a Christian president of the United Nations, Charles H. Malik, who said he believed one day that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a great university will arise somewhere .<\/em> .<\/em> . to which Christ will return in His full glory and power, a university which will, in the promotion of scientific, intellectual, and artistic excellence, surpass by far even the best secular universities of the present, but which will at the same time enable Christ to bless it and act and feel perfectly at home in<\/em> it.<\/em>64<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this an impossible dream? You might think so, commented President Henry B. Eyring in a BYU address, had not President Kimball then said, \u201cSurely BYU can help to respond to that call\u201d to be a university where Christ can feel at home.65<\/sup> President Eyring then explained that Christ will feel at home at BYU only if we are consecrated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know something of what a place must be like for the glorified Savior to feel perfectly at home. . .<\/em> . Those who labor there .<\/em> .<\/em> . will have long before consecrated it to Him and to His kingdom.<\/em> .<\/em> .<\/em> .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

. . . He will be at home, perfectly at home, because they will not only have said the words \u201cThis is the Lord\u2019s university,\u201d but they will have served and lived to make it so. They will have made it a consecrated place, offered it to<\/em> Him.<\/em>66<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is our dream to fulfill. Prophets and university leaders have helped keep the dream alive for us. They have invited us, as did Justin Collings in his inspiring BYU devotional, to \u201cseek holiness, seek learning, seek revelation, seek the best gifts, seek Christlike exemplars, and, above all, \u2018seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written.\u2019\u201d67<\/sup> It is He who has a care over this school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulfill the Dream<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Susan:<\/strong> We hope that you now, more than ever, feel surrounded by the spirits of those who have built BYU. Great, noble men and women have built this place. Sometimes they were paid in cabbages and carrots. But they were consecrated. They believed in BYU. They believed that Christ Himself has a care over this place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May you be \u201cfaithful, true, and bold\u201d in fulfilling their dream of BYU, like all those \u201cSaints who nobly fought of old.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John:<\/strong> As you leave, you will hear the carillon bells. The carillon was dedicated by President Kimball at the end of his prophetic second-century address. Every time I hear the bells, I remember what President Kimball said in his prayer when he dedicated them: \u201cJust as these bells will lift the hearts of the hearers . . . , let the morality of the graduates of this university provide the music of hope for the inhabitants of this planet.\u201d68<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brothers and sisters: this is our dream<\/em> to fulfill\u2014to become the music of hope for an increasingly discordant world! The bells call you and me to be faithful, true, and bold as we pursue the dream of BYU. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Brigham Young University. All rights reserved.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFulfilling the Dream | Susan and John Tanner | BYU Speeches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Tanners share five principles of a Christlike education that will allow us to fulfill the dream and vision of BYU and its founders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/talks\/john-s-and-susan-w-tanner\/fulfilling-the-dream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fulfilling the Dream\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Tanners share five principles of a Christlike education that will allow us to fulfill the dream and vision of BYU and its founders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/talks\/john-s-and-susan-w-tanner\/fulfilling-the-dream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BYU Speeches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/byuspeeches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-07T18:47:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Speeches_ShareCard2024.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BYUSpeeches\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"26 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"John S. and Susan W. 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