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Brigham Young University Advancement Vice President Keith Vorkink speaks at a devotional on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at the Marriott Center in Provo.

Christi Norris, BYU photo

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A video recording of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is shown at a Brigham Young University devotional on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at the Marriott Center in Provo.

Emma Thomas, BYU Photo

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Lita Little Giddins speaks at a Brigham Young University devotional on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at the Marriott Center in Provo.

Christi Norris, BYU Photo

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A video of former Latter-day Saint President Spencer W. Kimball is shown at a Brigham Young University devotional on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at the Marriott Center in Provo.

Christi Norris, BYU Photo

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Brigham Young University football player Chase Roberts speaks at a school devotional on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at the Marriott Center in Provo.

Christi Norris, BYU Photo

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Brigham Young University's 150th anniversary is celebrated at a devotional on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at the Marriott Center in Provo.

Christi Norris, BYU Photo

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In a 1975 speech recognizing Brigham Young University’s 100th anniversary, Spencer W. Kimball shared how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ flagship university could progress into its second century.

The former church president told BYU students they needed to be “bilingual” in the language of scholarship, or secular matters, and in matters of spirituality.

Kimball’s words were revisited Tuesday in the Marriott Center at BYU’s first devotional of the fall semester, where the school kicked off the 150th anniversary of its 1875 founding.

BYU Advancement Vice President Keith Vorkink said that as the school enters the “midterm” of the century, its students need to remain literate in the two pillars Kimball established.

“Embracing that dual heritage is the way that we will come to shine the special light that characterizes this institution,” Vorkink said.

The theme of BYU’s sesquicentennial year is “celebrating gifts of light,” and thousands of students inside the arena were invited to share their light this year through spiritual and secular avenues.

Activities will occur around campus this year to support their efforts.

A service week runs from Sept. 10-13, and the university will hold eight Nights of Light events throughout the school year.

More than 100 BYU departments will contribute to a “beacons of light” exhibit to be displayed in the Wilkinson Student Center and the Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center, and the school will launch an interactive scavenger hunt app called “BYU 150 Passport.”

Students were also challenged to reflect personally on their own responsibility to strengthen the light of BYU.

“President Kimball taught that BYU would distinguish itself ‘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,'” Vorkink said.

The emphasis on being a unique light was further established through music and speeches at Tuesday’s devotional.

Students sang Happy Birthday to Latter-day Saint President Russell M. Nelson, who turned 101 Tuesday and has lived through more than two-thirds of BYU’s existence.

Actor Lisa Valentine Clark, singer Korianne Johnson and pianist Scott Holden told the story of Ida Lewis, a lighthouse keeper in Rhode Island who became known as “The Bravest Woman in America” for saving 18 people from the sea. The message was broken up by Johnson singing portions of “Lead Kindly Light.”

That was followed by Lita Little Giddins of BYU’s Office of Belonging telling students, “If you look for the light of the Lord in the things you study, you will find it.”

Prominent alumni of the school then shared how they found that light in their BYU experiences.

“There’s a credibility that comes with the tag of having been a student at BYU, and then it’s our responsibility to build that and grow that as we go forward and blossom out there in the world,” Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said in a video.

Sharon Eubank, director of Latter-day Saint Charities, said via video that she could go from her Pearl of Great Price class to the geology lab to an English literature class in one day, and that each experience braided together into a “great dish” of knowledge.

“I was really grateful for my education at BYU because it strengthened my faith in secular knowledge, my faith in the temple, my faith in the scriptures and my faith in my experiences, because they were all together,” she said.

Kimball warned in his 1975 talk that finding light in the BYU experience doesn’t only come through prayer, or without effort.

“We must take thought. We must make effort,” a student quoted Kimball as saying. “We must be patient. We must be professional. We must be spiritual. Then, in the process of time, this will become the fully anointed university of the Lord about which so much has been spoken in the past.”