REXBURG, Idaho — Emphasizing that he had not sought this honor but expressing his gratitude for "your great kindness in extending it to me," President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over the dedication of a new building at BYU-Idaho that now bears his name.
"The name of this building will be a constant reminder to me to live worthy of the trust that you have placed in me and a reminder to my posterity that someone honored their forebear and in so doing brought a sacred trust to those who carry his name," the Church president said Oct. 22 during the dedicatory services of the new Gordon B. Hinckley Building on this southeastern Idaho campus.
Thousands of students attended the dedication, which was held during the regular Tuesday devotional hour. Hundreds gathered in the chapel of the new 54,000-square-foot building — which will house academic classes as well as Sunday congregations — while many more gathered in overflow facilities around campus.
Accompanying President Hinckley to Rexburg was President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, who also addressed the devotional and offered the dedicatory prayer. Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve also attended, along with members of the Idaho Area presidency, Elder C. Scott Grow, Elder D. Rex Gerratt and Elder Ronald L. Loveland of the Seventy.
Also attending with their husbands were Marjorie Hinckley, Frances Monson and Kathleen Eyring. Special mention was made of the presence of LaRae Clarke, wife of John L. Clarke, who served as president of Ricks College from 1944 to 1971. (Ricks College became BYU-Idaho in August 2001.)
In his address on this blustery fall day, President Hinckley directed most of his remarks to the students of the Church-owned institution. "Something remarkable is happening on this campus. You may not be entirely aware of it. It was a very long time in coming," he said.
The announcement made in 2000 that Ricks College would become a four-year university was "bold, and I believe prophetic," President Hinckley continued. "It came of a desire to offer to the good young people of this Church, in larger numbers, the great privilege of attending and graduating from a Church university. By moving from two years to four years this could be accomplished."
President Hinckley expressed his gratitude that the Ricks family showed no resentment over the change in the name. "It is a tribute to them and a recognition of their great faithfulness as Latter-day Saints. Well they might have wished that the school continue under the name of their worthy forebear, Thomas E. Ricks.
"But it was thought that recognition of the school might be further enhanced by carrying the BYU badge. I believe the wisdom of that has been shown."
President Hinckley also reminded the faculty and students that "it is not unique for a first-class university to get along without an intercollegiate athletic program. If you wish to regard this as a great sacrifice, then take satisfaction from the fact that you are willing to make a sacrifice," he added, bringing chuckles from the congregation.
Continuing, he expressed gratitude to the faculty. "I hope, I pray, that you are finding greater happiness and increased excitement in the new status which has come to the school."
The Church president also offered "sincere thanks" to BYU-Idaho President David A. Bednar and his wife, Susan, "in this remarkable undertaking."
"To the Board of Trustees who embraced the suggestion that we make the effort to go forward with this transition and who have wholeheartedly done everything possible to assist, I express my thanks.
"And finally, to the faithful tithe payers throughout the world whose consecrations have made this possible, I express my most sincere appreciation."
Along with BYU-Provo and BYU-Hawaii, BYU-Idaho "has become the third institution of growing strength under this unique BYU trilogy of great institutions of learning."
"I see a great future for this institution," President Hinckley continued. "It will go forward under inspired leadership. It will grow in strength under a dedicated and able faculty. It will be increasingly recognized as its graduates move out across the world to fill positions of responsibility.
"How do I know this? I know this because this is an institution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its mission is well defined. That mission is to impart secular knowledge in a first-class manner while building faith in the Eternal God and His risen Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
"This Church will never fail. Jesus Christ stands at its head. And just as it will never fail, neither will its institutions and programs."
BYU-Idaho, President Hinckley said, "will take its place among the great learning facilities of our nation as we who have some attachment to it walk and work in faith."
Then, pausing with emotion, President Hinckley expressed his love for the students here. "I want to tell you that I love you. I love you kids — you wonderful young people of this Church. I love you. I believe you are of the best generation this Church has ever had. No generation which has gone before measures up to the stature to which you measure up. You're better educated. I think you have greater faith."
President Hinckley counseled: "Don't ever do a cheap or a tawdry or a mean or evil thing, my dear young friends. You don't have to engage in these things. The world is on a slippery slide. It's going downhill and it's going fast. And you are as a beacon on a hill, young people of rectitude and virtue and decency and goodness. Remain that way."
If the world continues going in the direction in which it is going, President Hinckley continued, "the disparity between the world and this Church will grow and lengthen and we will become more and more of a peculiar people.
"Now, be faithful, be true, go forward, be ambitious. Don't short-circuit yourself . . . . Never lose sight of the fact that you're a child of God with a divine destiny and capable of doing great and good and wonderful things. Don't sell yourself short.
"You are of the fiber of this Church and this Church will grow as its young people, young people of this generation, magnify their callings and go forward and serve the Lord and live in loyalty toward Him. God bless you."
In his remarks before offering the dedicatory prayer, President Monson spoke of the Savior's frequent references to house building recorded in the scriptures. He spoke of the revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith at Kirtland, Ohio, in 1832, counseling, "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing: and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." (Doctrine and Covenants 132:8.)
"Well could it be said today that this house, this structure in which we meet, has been completed following such a blueprint which outlines its very purpose," President Monson said.
"All that has gone into the planning and completion of this structure is guided by this very purpose — the acquiring of a firm testimony of the gospel and living the teachings of our Lord and Savior. It was said of Him that He 'increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.' (1 Corinthians 3:16.) Another passage gives us a never-failing guide: He 'went about doing good, . . . for God was with him.' (Luke 2:52.)
"With these thoughts coursing through our minds, it is fitting that the structure will now bear the name, 'Gordon B. Hinckley Building.' It is a comfortable fit — for President Hinckley is a man of prayer, a man of fasting, a man of faith, a man of learning, a man of glory, a man of order, a man of God. He, too, has devoted his long and fruitful life to doing good, and God is surely with him."
President Monson spoke of Sir Thomas More, an English statesman and author who was steadfast in cleaving unto his beliefs. The book and play, "A Man for All Seasons," tell the story of his life.
"Our Heavenly Father, knowing our need, has provided for us 'a man for all seasons.' His name is President Gordon B. Hinckley. He is our prophet, seer and revelator. He is an island in a sea of storm. He is as a lighthouse to the mariner who is lost. He is your friend and my friend."
Further, President Monson said, "This campus, this faculty, this student body, this community, and this Church are blessed to have this building and the name it bears. Fitting is its location, on an eminence seen from a distance. It beckons, 'Come and learn. Come and learn to serve. Come and learn and serve and to love the Lord our God and our neighbor as ourselves.' "
President Monson then offered a "capsule view" of the presidency of President Hinckley: "A worldwide expansion of Church membership; temples which dot the lands and bless the people; the magnificent Conference Center; humanitarian efforts which relieve hunger, poverty, and suffering; and the Perpetual Education Fund, which enables young people to break the cycle of poverty from whence they come."
And the best is yet to come, he added, "for under President Hinckley's direction, the technology of our age will be utilized to permit millions throughout the world to hear his words, see his countenance, receive his teachings and feel his spirit."
President Monson concluded, before offering the dedicatory prayer: "Long years ago I read and remembered a line which appealed to me and which I share with you today: 'What the world needs are fewer critics and more models to follow.' Such a model God has provided us for our day and for our time — even President Gordon B. Hinckley."
During a luncheon before the dedicatory service, Elder Eyring called the transition of Ricks College to BYU-Idaho the "handiwork of the Lord through His prophet."
He added that "a miracle was produced in less than a year" from the time in 2000 when President Hinckley announced the transition to the fall of 2001 when the transition occurred.
BYU-Idaho, Elder Eyring explained, will be "a place that will be continually evolving."
Also during the luncheon, a portrait by LDS artist Leon Parson of President Hinckley was unveiled by Sister Hinckley. In the background of this portrait is a painting of Brigham Young and a bronze statute of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Under President Hinckley's hands are blueprints of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.
Providing music for the luncheon was the University Women's Choir. The University Men's Choir performed for the dedicatory program.
E-mail: julied@desnews.com
