Faith and Education at Brigham Young University

My Brethren : it is with a feeling of great honor that I stand before you this afternoon. It is also with a feeling of humility, as I feel keenly the great responsibility that' has been placed upon my shoulders in being President of the Brigham Young University, and I pray ¶

that my Heavenly Father will bless me in this position, that I may carry forward the great work of that institution as my Father in heaven would have it carried on. ¶

I have somewhat the feeling which has been expressed by some of the good brethren when they have stood in this position in conferences past. I remember Brother Lee, Brother Kimball, Brother Benson, Brother Mark Petersen, how they felt when a great responsibility was put upon them. I, just in a small measure, feel that same feeling going through myself. For the past two weeks it has been a great dream. It has hardly got past the dream stage, but every day it is becoming more a reality. ¶

When the First Presidency called me to the office and asked me if I would consider such a position I told them it took my feet from under me, and they said, "You are not the first one whose feet have been taken from under him in this room." I asked them if I might go home and talk it over with my wife. We were both floored, as you might say, and after a few minutes of contemplation and serious thought Mrs. McDonald turned to me and said, "Howard, we have been married for twenty-eight years and I have said more than once I knew you were going to drive me to Provo." (Laughter) ¶

Since the First Presidency and the authorities of the Church have asked me to carry on this great work I feel that I can, with the blessings of my Heavenly Father, as I have always felt that without his aid I would be able to do nothing. ¶

ours, I asked my Heavenly Father to bless me, and I believe he did. When the authorities of that school system called me into the position of vice-principal of the largest High School in San Francisco, I again continued to pray that God would help me, and he did. When I was asked by the superintendent to be deputy superintendent in charge of teaching personnel I asked my Heavenly Father to bless me, and he did. When I was called back to Salt Lake City as superintendent of Salt Lake City Schools, I asked God to bless me in that position, and if we have met with any success this past year it isn't the efforts of myself, but of my Father in heaven who has blessed me. ¶

When I was called upon by Brother George F. Richards to be me then, and I believe he did; and if the Presidency of this Churchy those in authority, want me to go to the Brigham Young University as ' the president, if they will send me with their blessings, and if God will go with me, I believe we can carry on that great work as you people would want it carried on. We want to promote in that institution the traditions of the founder of that great institution, Brigham Young. What were his standards? I think if he were laying the foundation and stood here today he would say to me, "We want established in that institution principles wherein the boys and girls, the young men and young women who enter that institution, will have faith in God, ¶

that they will be nurtured in the faith that God lives and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the World, and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the leaders of this Church from the Prophet Joseph to the present, President Heber J. Grant, have been prophets and seers of the living God. As you presidents of stakes and you bishops of wards go back into your stakes and your wards I hope you will carry this message with you, as the young men and young women will be coming to you for advice. Where shall we go for our education? I want you to know what my philosophy of life and education are, that you might know that those boys and girls who come under the jurisdiction of that institution will be well cared for. ¶

I also want to say, so all the world may know, that we want teachers, professors in that institution, who have faith in God, faith in a living God, a personal God, and who have faith in the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that they may carry to the boys and the girls, the young men and women that same faith. ¶

Horace Mann, that great educator, gave a definition of what a teacher should be. He said, ¶

"A young man or a young woman whose education is sound, whose language is well selected, whose pronunciation and tones of voice are correct and attractive, whose manners are gentle and refined, whose topics of conversation are always elevating and constructive, whose dignity of heart maintains acts of civility, courtesy and kindness, who carries with him an unnamed charm into whatever circle he goes, -- that should be the teacher of. every school." ¶

I would add to that, to all of those qualifications for those who teach in the Brigham Young University, not only should they have those qualifications but they should have the qualification of faith in God, and in the divinity of the Prophet Joseph Smith. ¶

Time will not permit to go further, but I feel like William Lyons Phelps when he said, "I cannot explain to another the joy and the happiness I get out of teaching. It is more than a profession, an occupation, a vocation, a struggle; it is a passion, for I love to teach." He said, "I love to teach as a painter loves to paint, as a singer loves to sing, and as a musician loves to play. Every strong man loves to run a race." ¶

Never in all the world has there been a greater time to be a teacher than at the present time, in this twentieth century. With all these problems before us today we have the greatest opportunity to be a teacher, and I want our teachers to be lovers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

It has been my privilege to sit in the company of men who have professed that they are Latter-day Saints, coming to the Bay area with the groups of educators. They didn't happen to know that I belonged to the Church, and they thought that they had to be in with the rest of the world to make a showing. At the dinner table they would partake of their cocktails and their coffee. Oh, my heart bled for them. Oh, what a mistake if you think you have to go out into the world and partake of those things that the world partakes of -- you don't, because those very men with whom they were eating came to me afterwards and said, "Well, we thought they were Latter-day Saints," and I would have to make excuses. I have never found in all my life a greater asset than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The people throughout the United States have known where I stood and the belief which I possess, and may God bless me in this work that is now upon my shoulders, that I may carry that belief and make it a part of the Brigham Young University, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶