Courtesy Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

It was back to normal for Brigham Young University students Monday as fall semester 2021 began with old fashioned on-campus learning.

While there is still a small percentage of classes being taught online, most are in-person, according to Todd Hollingshead, BYU spokesman.

Students coming back to school or starting freshman classes are in for interesting days ahead. From COVID-19 to current events like LGBTQ+ acceptance and diversity on campus, this semester is starting off with looming concerns for some.

Leading the charge to get vaccinated for COVID, BYU students, faculty and staff are more than 70% there, according to university statistics. Face masks still must be worn inside buildings, particularly when social distancing is not possible.

As for issues of diversity and acceptance, President Kevin J Worthen’s announcement of a new cabinet-level vice president to oversee the new Office of Belonging is under a microscope of scrutiny and curiosity.

Courtesy Rebeca Fuentes, BYU Photo

Posted to the University’s Instagram account on Monday was a welcome message and video. The message said, “Welcome back, Cougars! As you begin the semester, take heart at the charge you have as a member of the BYU community.”

Students were invited to put messages and photos of their first day on the Instagram page.

One person wrote, “We are here, we are queer. Love wins!”

Another post said, “Happy first day, students! We’re rooting for ALL of you!”

The comments seemingly refer to discussions and protests that have come after an Aug. 23 talk to faculty and staff by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and former president of BYU.

Courtesy Rebeca Fuentes, BYU Photo

The talk called on faculty and staff to remember why they are at the university and how they should teach. They should also be vigilant in upholding the rules of the university as set down by the Board of Trustees, Holland said.

Prior to Holland’s talk, given at the Annual University Conference, Worthen announced the formulation of the new Office of Belonging, to be led by an official who will sit on the President’s Council.

The new office will focus on helping campus members achieve the community of belonging outlined in a newly created statement on belonging. The office will focus primarily on coordinating and enhancing belonging services and efforts on campus, according to Worthen’s statement.

The announcement of the new Office of Belonging follows an in-depth report from BYU’s Committee on Race, Equity and Belonging (CoREB), completed in February.

Worthen expressed appreciation to the members of CoREB who gave “their time, their talents and their hearts” in responding to the joint call of LDS President Russell M. Nelson and leaders of the NAACP for “educational leaders … to review processes, laws, and organizational attitudes regarding racism and root them out once and for all.”

Courtesy Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

Worthen described how the President’s Council has “carefully and thoroughly” considered this information.

“We determined that a necessary first step was to establish a framework within which — and by which — we would evaluate the various recommendations,” he said. “The framework would not only provide guiding principles for evaluating the recommendations and measuring our progress, but also set forth a vision of our end goal — what we hoped our campus community would become.”

Worthen’s statement on belonging says the following:

“We are united by our common primary identity as children of God (Acts 17:29; Psalm 82:6) and our commitment to the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ (BYU Mission Statement). We strive to create a community of belonging composed of students, faculty, and staff whose hearts are knit together in love (Mosiah 18:21) where:

• All relationships reflect devout love of God and a loving, genuine concern for the welfare of our neighbor (BYU Mission Statement).
• We value and embrace the variety of individual characteristics, life experiences and circumstances, perspectives, talents, and gifts of each member of the community and the richness and strength they bring to our community (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
• Our interactions create and support an environment of belonging (Ephesians 2:19).
• The full realization of each student’s divine potential is our central focus (BYU Mission Statement).”

Worthen emphasized that the Office of Belonging will not only be core to BYU’s efforts to root out racism, but also to combat “prejudice of any kind, including that based on race, ethnicity, nationality, tribe, gender, age, disability, socioeconomic status, religious belief and sexual orientation.”

“This is a unique time to start over because of COVID,” Hollinghead noted. “We believe there will be continued challenges with the pandemic.”

There will most likely be other challenges as the Office of Belonging, leaders, faculty, staff and students all work together to make the university a place where all can seek higher learning and feel a sense of belonging and safety at the same time. For now, students are celebrating a return to campus and college life.

Worthen and his wife, Peggy S. Worthen, will deliver the president’s annual “Welcome Back” devotional address Tuesday, Sept. 7. Their remarks will be broadcast live on BYUtv, BYUtv.org (and archived for on-demand streaming), KBYU-TV 11, Classical 89 FM, BYU Radio and will be archived on speeches.byu.edu.

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