Newly inaugurated president speaks of goal to see university ‘become BYU’
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- C. Shane Reese speaks to the audience about his plans for Brigham Young University’s future after his inauguration as the 14th president of BYU is made complete at the Marriott Center on Tuesday Sept. 19, 2023.
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- C. Shane Reese and his wife, Wendy Wood Reese, hold hands as they walk into the Marriott Center behind Brigham Young University faculty and administration on Tuesday Sept. 19, 2023, for his inauguration as BYU’s 14th president.
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- Wendy Wood Reese places the medallion of office around the neck of her husband, C. Shane Reese, to signify his formal inauguration as the 14th president of Brigham Young University on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, at the Marriott Center.
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- A choir and orchestra perform the opening hymn for C. Shane Reese’s inauguration as the 14th president of Brigham Young University at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.
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- C. Shane Reese has tears in his eyes as the audience stands to cheer and applaud him after he is inaugurated as the 14th president of Brigham Young University on Tuesday Sept. 19, 2023 at the Marriott Center.
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- C. Shane Reese gives Elder Dallin H. Oaks a hug after his formal inauguration as the 14th president of Brigham Young University is completed Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, at the Marriott Center.
As Wendy Wood Reese placed the medallion of office around the neck of her husband, C. Shane Reese, to complete his formal inauguration as the 14th president of Brigham Young University on Tuesday afternoon, applause grew as students and faculty hollered and cheered. Tears filled Reese’s eyes as he watched each person in the audience stand in support.
Nearly every seat in the Marriott Center at BYU was filled, and attending the inauguration were representatives for each of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Church Educational System schools as well as President Dallin H. Oaks to represent the First Presidency and Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Rasband also is vice chairman of the Executive Committee of the BYU board of trustees.
Often throughout the inauguration, a smile was seen on Reese’s face as faculty and students gave short speeches welcoming him as their new president.
Reese shared his plan for the future of BYU is to claim in this day the prophecies that have been foretold by prophets for the university, which is to “become the world’s ‘greatest institution of learning,'” he said.
With this charge to reach BYU’s full potential, Reese said, “This, then, is the challenge of our generation and the burden of my administration: becoming BYU.”
He named seven things that must be accomplished to “become BYU”: strengthening the student experience; retaining a focus on undergraduate teaching; double heritage, meaning to embrace BYU’s religious mission and academic credibility; the courage to be different; building a covenant community; mission-inspired scholarship; and mission-aligned hiring.
He challenged students to understand, embrace and strengthen their religious identity as children of God and disciples of Jesus Christ. He told students to ponder if they are trying to change the mission of BYU or if they are letting the mission of BYU change them. He added that becoming BYU will require for all at BYU to look within themselves with humility and ask what needs to change. He said as students do this, they will become empowered to be peacemakers in an increasingly divisive society.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, chairman of the Executive Committee of the BYU board of trustees, agreed with Reese that society is no longer unified. During the ceremony, he spoke of society and how at one point, after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, it was united and showed love and care for one another. He said that society also realized “Even more than career success, what truly matters in life is close personal relationships.”
Part of becoming BYU, Reese said, is hiring faculty who are faithful disciples, examples of mentoring and “model the successful integration of the life of the mind and the life of faith.” Echoing previous BYU presidents, he said, “The most important decisions that will be made during my tenure as president of this institution regard the people we hire.”
Sagelyn Shoell, a freshman who started this semester at BYU said, “I’m excited to see what type of faculty he’ll be hiring, because he talked about how that is a priority, and I know that faculty makes a whole difference. So I’m hoping that with that will come a better understanding for (students), with better faculty, better teaching, better understanding, better learning.”
Reese said, “As the president of BYU, I pledge my whole soul to helping us to become BYU. But this personal investment will come from the entire campus community as we lean in together to recruit, hire and develop faculty who can lead this institution to its prophetic potential.”
The Deseret News reported in March that, at age 52, Reese is the youngest BYU president since Elder Jeffery R. Holland took office in 1980 at age 39.
Shoell said Reese “seems young and full of energy, so it was exciting to see that and exciting to see that he is excited for this calling. You can tell that he’ll put a lot of energy and love into it.”
She said as a freshman just starting, it is exciting to start off with a fresh president and see how he will move BYU forward and how that will affect the rest of her college experience.
“I love BYU and its mission,” Reese said. “I love our students. They warm the world with their faith and brighten it with their light.”
