This summer, our eighteen-year-old son, Ethan, received his endowment in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. As we waited for the session to begin, we sat with another young man and his father, Keith.
Keith asked where I was from. When I told him Rexburg, he immediately responded, “You know, I just hired a young man from BYU-Idaho, and he has been absolutely fantastic.”
Keith did not know that I worked at the university. He went on to describe the young man’s character, work ethic, and positive influence with genuine admiration.
His experience is not unusual. I regularly hear similar accounts about our graduates. Together, they tell a larger story: BYU-Idaho is developing disciples of Jesus Christ who bless others, and through them, the university’s influence is reaching far beyond this campus—into homes, the Church, workplaces, and communities throughout the world.
25-Year Review
This week marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first day of classes at BYU-Idaho. What has been accomplished during these past twenty-five years is nothing short of miraculous.
Annual enrollment has grown from just over 12,000 students to nearly 31,000. BYU-Pathway was born and launched from this campus. Our ongoing work and collaboration with them now blesses over 100,000 students around the world, carrying the influence of BYU-Idaho far beyond Rexburg.
We have been blessed in recent years as well. Over the past two years, we have welcomed the two largest incoming classes in campus history. Increased fundraising has allowed us to expand scholarships and provide greater support for our students. In just three years, we have launched 50 new alumni chapters, extending and strengthening the BYU-Idaho family across the country.
Most importantly, students are being blessed by their experiences here. They are reporting growth in their faith and testimonies. We have seen meaningful improvements in first-year retention, made great strides in increasing graduation rates, and helped more students find meaningful employment after completing their education.
We cannot recount all that has happened here, but you have witnessed it—and helped make it happen. These accomplishments testify of the Lord’s hand in this university and reflect the hard work, inspired effort, and dedication of people throughout our campus community.
As Elder Bednar declared: “Brothers and sisters, it should be obvious to all of us that something spiritually significant is taking place in Rexburg, Idaho.” [1]
The numbers are worth celebrating, but the people behind them matter most. Our progress is measured by the lives of students—by whether they are strengthened in faith, supported through graduation, prepared for meaningful work, and equipped to bless others as leaders in their homes, the Church, and their communities.
The progress of these past twenty-five years gives us every reason to celebrate, but it also places a sacred responsibility upon us: to preserve what has been built, learn from what has brought us this far, and continue together on the steady, upward course the Lord has established for BYU-Idaho.
More than a record of achievement, these measurable gains—and the lives behind them— show us what faithful stewardship can produce and invite us to continue in the same spirit.
Elder Bednar’s Promise
As we look toward the next twenty-five years, continued progress will require careful stewardship: remaining faithful to the principles that have blessed this university and embracing the commitments that will carry us forward. Elder Bednar has taught that our future depends on whether those principles continue to characterize the people who learn and serve here.
He promised that “as long as intellectual modesty, humility, gratitude, obedience, and frugality continue to characterize those who learn and serve at Brigham Young University-Idaho, then this university will shine forth ever brighter as a beacon of righteousness and of inspired educational innovation.” [2]
Keys to the Future
That promise gives us a clear responsibility to cultivate those virtues as a university community. As I have considered how we can build on the blessings we have received, I believe four commitments will be especially important for our future—commitments we can make individually and to one another as we move together toward the future Elder Bednar envisioned.
We must approach the future with optimism, remain united as a university community, stay anchored to our mission, and remain deeply focused on our students.
These commitments complement Elder Bednar’s counsel and can help us live it as a university community. Optimism gives us courage for the future. Unity gives us the strength to move forward together. Our mission gives us purpose and direction. Focus on students reminds us of who we are here to serve and why this university exists.
Let me briefly consider each of these commitments.
Optimism
When Moses led the children of Israel toward the promised land, he sent twelve spies—one from each tribe—to explore it. After forty days they returned carrying evidence of its abundance, including a cluster of grapes so large that two men carried it between them on a pole.
All twelve agreed that the land was fruitful. But ten focused on the obstacles—the strong people and fortified cities—and concluded, “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” [3] Caleb and Joshua saw the same obstacles, but they also knew the promises of the Lord. Caleb urged, “Let us go up at once, and possess it,” [4] and Joshua testified, “The Lord is with us: fear them not.” [5]
The people could focus on the promised harvest or the imposing walls. Sadly, they chose fear. Seeing themselves as grasshoppers, they turned back and failed to enter the promised land and wandered for another four decades.
That story offers an important lesson as we look toward the future of BYU-Idaho. We face real challenges and will need wisdom, discipline, hard work, and inspired solutions. But we must not allow the walls before us to loom larger in our minds than the promises and possibilities ahead.
Optimism does not mean pretending that difficulties do not exist. It means refusing to give them the final word. It means believing that, with the Lord’s help and by working together, we can meet the challenges before us and continue blessing students in powerful ways.
Caleb and Joshua might be described as grape gatherers, while the other ten spies became wall watchers. As we begin this academic year and look forward to the next twenty-five years, I hope we will be grape gatherers. Let us acknowledge the walls but keep our eyes on the harvest—the students whose lives can be changed, the families that can be strengthened, and the influence for good that can continue to flow from BYU-Idaho.
Unity
The second commitment I want to emphasize is unity.
Just before entering the Garden of Gethsemane, the Savior offered what we call the Great Intercessory Prayer. Among His most important petitions was a prayer that His disciples would be one:
“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” [6]
It is significant that, as the Savior prepared to complete His atoning sacrifice, He prayed for the unity of His disciples.
Unity is not always characteristic of university campuses. It is not unusual, on other campuses, to find tension between administrators and faculty, among faculty members, or between staff and other members of the university community. We are different here—not because we never disagree, but because we are committed to remaining united in purpose. Preserving that difference will require intentionality.
One important way we strengthen unity is by assuming positive intent. In our work and collaboration, we should begin with the belief that our colleagues are trying to do what is right and contribute to the mission—even when we disagree with their decisions or do not fully understand their perspectives.
Assuming positive intent strengthens trust and creates room for honest conversation and productive disagreement. It does not mean avoiding accountability; it means addressing concerns with charity and seeking understanding before passing judgment.
One of the great strengths of BYU-Idaho is that we are united by sacred and holy things—our faith in Jesus Christ, our covenants, our love for our students, and our commitment to the mission of this university. These commitments unite us around a purpose larger than our individual preferences.
I believe unity is also a prerequisite for receiving revelation. We have all learned this from serving in councils in the Church: the Lord can inspire individuals, but He can also guide a people who seek Him together. As we face the future, we will need to discern together what the Lord would have us do.
Unity does not mean sameness or blind agreement. We will have different experiences, responsibilities, perspectives, and ideas. But it does mean working together in good faith to fulfill our shared mission.
When our unity is tested, may we remember the Savior’s prayer. May we be quick to listen, slow to judge, willing to assume positive intent, and determined to preserve our relationships. If we remain one in the things that matter most, the Lord can use our differences as a source of strength rather than division.
Focus on Mission
The third commitment I want to emphasize is to remain focused on our mission.
We are focused on the mission because it is the reason BYU-Idaho exists. Elder Bednar has described this campus as a “Disciple Preparation Center”:
“In this special and sacred and set apart place, you and I have access to unparalleled spiritual resources that can assist us in developing and deepening our devotion as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the primary and most important reason for the existence of Brigham Young University-Idaho.” [7]
That purpose must remain at the center of all that we do. Everything we do should ultimately contribute to helping students become devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.
One practical way we can keep this purpose at the center of our work is to be more deliberate about how our teams contribute to students’ spiritual development. In my July State of the University address, I invited every team on campus to prepare a brief written plan describing how it would intentionally help increase students’ faith in Jesus Christ and strengthen their testimonies of living prophets and apostles.
I renew that invitation today. As a team, please prayerfully submit a simple plan—three to seven bullet points, no more than half a page. This is not meant to be burdensome or to launch another complicated initiative. It is simply an invitation to be deliberate about the central purpose of our work.
Focus on Students
The fourth and final commitment is to remain focused on our students. We should be both student-focused and student-centered.
Being student-focused means asking what is best for our students collectively. We keep them at the forefront of our decisions and design our programs, curriculum offering strategy, courses, and processes with their learning and success in mind. As their needs change, we must be willing to change with them.
Being student-centered asks something more personal of us. It means asking, “What does this student need from me?” It means seeing the individual student in front of us—the one who needs encouragement, is struggling to understand, or simply needs to know that someone sees and cares.
You already do this in beautiful ways, and I see evidence of it whenever I meet with our students and especially when I talk with our alumni. When I attend alumni gatherings, I talk about the rapid changes taking place in the world and on our campus. But I also emphasize our commitment to preserve the things that make BYU-Idaho unique and special.
I often ask alumni, “What do you hope we preserve as we move forward into this new season for BYU-Idaho?”
Their answers almost always begin the same way. They say things like: “Let me tell you about a teacher I had,” or “Let me tell you about someone I worked with on campus.”
They do not begin by naming a program, policy, or process. They begin by telling us about a faculty member, staff member, or administrator who blessed them. That is what they remember, and that is what has stayed with them.
Thank you for the many ways you already focus on all our students while seeing, loving, and serving them one by one.
Conclusion
As we celebrate all that the Lord has enabled us to accomplish during BYU-Idaho’s first twenty-five years, we can look toward the next twenty-five with confidence. Elder Bednar has reminded us that our future depends on whether these virtues—intellectual modesty, humility, gratitude, obedience, and frugality—continue to characterize those who learn and serve here.
I testify that if we approach the future with optimism, remain united, stay anchored to our mission, and serve our students one by one, the Lord will provide the wisdom, strength, and inspiration we need to build faithfully on the foundation we have inherited.
And if, twenty-five years from now, someone asks what we preserved as a university community, our answer should be a story about a teacher, a mentor, or an employee who changed a student’s life. That is how this university’s influence reaches the world—one student at a time.
[1] David A. Bednar, “Brigham Young University-Idaho: A Disciple Preparation Center” (Brigham Young University-Idaho devotional, Aug. 31, 2004).
[2] David A. Bednar, “The Spirit and Purposes of Gathering” (Brigham Young University-Idaho devotional, Oct. 31, 2006).
[3] Numbers 13:31.
[4] Numbers 13:30.
[5] Numbers 14:9.
[6] John 17:11.
[7] Bednar, “Brigham Young University-Idaho: A Disciple Preparation Center.”
About President Alvin F. Meredith III
Alvin F. Meredith III became the 18th president of Brigham Young University-Idaho on August 1, 2023. He was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 3, 2021, and continues to serve in that role today.
Prior to his call as a General Authority, President Meredith served as president of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. He also served as an Area Seventy in the North America Southeast and Asia Areas, and in a number of other Church callings including as a full-time missionary in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission.
In his professional career, President Meredith worked as a senior executive of Asurion in Tennessee, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He also worked for The Boston Consulting Group and GE Capital.
President Meredith earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.