With 25,000 plus students enrolled for the Fall 2025 semester, BYU-Idaho President Alvin F. Meredith III and Sister Jennifer Meredith started off the semester with a powerful and important message about reflecting on the school's past and the rich history of BYU-Idaho, while simultaneously encouraging students to look toward the future.
“In 1888, President Ricks founded the Bannock Stake Academy to teach the children and youth of that first, local stake. That small school, born of faith and sacrifice, grew into Ricks College, and eventually BYU-Idaho,” Sister Meredith said.
With that in mind, the Merediths chose to center their message on the Spirit of Ricks, which is the feeling and attitude that is so central to BYU-Idaho.
“If you think about the way Elder (David A.) Bednar defined it, he defined it as the Holy Ghost and its attendant spiritual gifts,” President Meredith said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio. “That’s exactly the feel that we want to preserve here in this campus.”
While the Meredith’s are inviting students to preserve and increase their efforts to maintain and strengthen the Spirit of Ricks, they also recognized the students and faculty for already doing a fantastic job with it.
“When we talk to people that come to campus for visits, they often remark on just how friendly people are that they pass on the sidewalk,” President Meredith said. “Those simple little hellos and happy smiles, I think we do such a great job at it.”
The Meredith’s invited students to focus on Jesus Christ to preserve the Spirit of Ricks.
“The surest way to honor those who have gone before us is to perpetuate the
Spirit of Ricks in all you do,” Sister Meredith said. “Let us anchor ourselves to Him and become the strong shoulders for those who will follow. In doing so, we will continue preserve the Spirit of Ricks, the ultimate tribute to Thomas E. Ricks.”