PROVO, Utah — After paying tribute to Ernest L. Wilkinson, President Gordon B. Hinckley on Oct. 5 dedicated BYU's renovated student center which bears the late university president's name — calling it a place for fun, for laughter, and for happiness; a place for quiet thinking and for deep personal meditation.
"Standing as the hub on this campus, with great buildings all around, [the Ernest L. Wilkinson Student Center] has been a center-point for student activities," said President Hinckley. "They have played here, they have relaxed here, they have studied here, they have courted here."
The student center, originally completed in 1965, was part of the vision then-BYU president Wilkinson had for the campus, said President Hinckley. Pres. Wilkinson saw this building, once the largest student center in the country, as "a tabernacle of student activity."
President Hinckley explained that after years of intense activity the structure had been "worn down with the marching of hundreds of thousands of feet through its halls.
"Now it has been reworked from basement to roof. It has become a new and shining emblem of the spirit of this great institution. . . . Those who grind away at their studies need an occasional respite. They need a place of refuge. They need a place where they can enjoy the spirit of BYU. And this they will find within the walls of this great structure."
Thousands of current BYU students waited hours in the hot sun on the building's front courtyard, recently named Brigham Square, for the outdoor dedication services, which were attended by numerous Wilkinson family members.
President Hinckley was accompanied to the event by Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve and commissioner of Church Education, Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the Seventy and BYU President Merrill J. Bateman of the Seventy.
Once described as the "campus living room," the Wilkinson student center was designed to be a central area for students to convene socially and to access student services. A movie theater, bowling alley, game room and dining area are still part of the center. The building also houses 14 BYU student wards.
The renovated building is now 100,000 square feet larger than the original structure. The renovation, for which ground was broken in November 1995, allowed most student services to be brought together from various parts of the campus under one roof.
President Hinckley called the student center, which covers almost 7 acres, an important facility on the campus, "named appropriately for the tremendous man who presided here for a period of 20 years."
"I am absolutely sure that Ernest L. Wilkinson will [be remembered]," President Hinckley said. "He has left his imprint on this great institution and we are all the better for it."
Reflecting on the past, President Hinckley noted that during Pres. Wilkinson's administration as many students could attend BYU as wanted to. "This was an open university and now it has become a rather tightly closed university."
He praised Pres. Wilkinson for his tenacity in going after the things he felt were best for the university.
"I think that I can honestly say that he brought scholarship to Brigham Young University with his constant insistence on the updating of the faculty and the strength of the student body. What we have today here is really an extension of that great shadow of Ernest L. Wilkinson which began back in those days. He had a great vision of the future."
Pres. Bateman also paid tribute to Ernest L. Wilkinson, noting that "he had a vision that this place would become a great Church laboratory for learning. A place where many young people could come, and would develop not only their academic insights into life but also their spiritual skills and their spiritual insights."
He noted that 50 buildings on BYU's campus were constructed during Pres. Wilkinson's tenure.
"Most see him as a builder of physical buildings. I would like to pay tribute to him in a different way. From the beginning his heart was with the students. He loved the students. . . . He was a great builder not only of buildings, but also of men and women."
