PROVO, Utah — On Brigham Young University Founder’s Day, Thursday, Oct. 16 — exactly 150 years after the deed of trust was signed for the founding of Brigham Young Academy — administrators, alumni, faculty and students gathered at Brigham Square on the Provo, Utah, campus to catch a glimpse of the university of yesteryear.
In conjunction with the school’s ongoing sesquicentennial celebrations, BYU President C. Shane Reese and BYU librarian Rick Anderson revealed the contents of a time capsule made during the school’s centennial anniversary in 1975 and buried in a corner of the Harold B. Lee Library during construction in 1976.
Items ranged from a centennial flag designed under then-BYU President Dallin H. Oaks, now President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to a jar of cinnamon bears, freeze dried for storage purposes.
The items offered a snapshot of life on campus in 1975. For Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, whose No. 14 football jersey was placed in the capsule, the unboxing elicited acute feelings of nostalgia mixed with gratitude and awe.
“I mean, look what can happen in 50 years,” Elder Nielsen told the Church News.
Elder Nielsen was an All-American BYU quarterback and a student from 1974 to 1979 and has several memories with then-university President Oaks. Since then, Elder Nielsen played in the NFL and worked as a sports news director, and was made a General Authority Seventy in 2013 and was granted emeritus status in 2024. President Oaks, meanwhile, became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a counselor in the First Presidency and, as of Tuesday, Oct. 14, the Prophet.
“It’s just an honor to be a part of Brigham Young University, especially when you’ve served and gone around the world and you see the influence of the university,” said Elder Nielsen.
One of Elder Nielsen’s last assignments before being granted emeritus status was serving as president of the Church’s Africa West Area, where he saw firsthand how an education can change lives and provide hope. “My appreciation for being here at BYU, being a student at BYU, what I learned here, has grown immensely because of what I have been called to do,” said Elder Nielsen.
What’s changed at BYU in 50 years
One of the first items President Reese and Anderson pulled from the time capsule was a $5 bill with a list of items it could buy — two movie theater tickets, 10 gallons of gasoline, 165 kilowatt hours of electricity, 20 loaves of bread or 4 pounds of beef steak.
The only thing $5 could buy today is a hot dog from the student section at a football game, President Reese quipped.
Vance Campbell, a student in 1975, participated in Thursday’s event by returning to campus to read the letter he wrote 50 years ago about the student experience that was included in the time capsule. Among other things, Campbell noted the university was beginning to use computers, the ongoing construction of the library to double its size and the growing renown of the newly created J. Reuben Clark Law School, as well as the activities surrounding the university’s centennial.
“The celebration and events which are taking place merely add to the joy of our lives,” he wrote.
Many in the audience chuckled at the inclusion of a tape measure in the time capsule. President Reese explained that the student body in the mid-’70s was convinced that by 2025 the United States would have done away with the imperial measurement system of inches, feet and pounds in favor of the metric system.
“They left us a measuring tape, just so we’d have a sense of what life was like back in 1975,” said President Reese.
Many alumni in the audience nodded their heads as President Reese pulled a Sony cassette player and cassette tape from the time capsule. On the cassette was a recording of Tom Griffith, director of electronic media relations at BYU, who explained that broadcasting was one of the key influences of society in 1975. He introduced comments recorded of Harvey Fletcher, who at 92 years old was then the oldest living BYU graduate and the inventor of stereophonic sound.
“Harvey Fletcher is an absolutely legendary figure on Brigham Young University’s campus,” said President Reese. Fletcher was the first dean of the College of Engineering and started the stats and math departments.
“A little secret that very few people know about Harvey Fletcher is that the placement and design of the ‘Y’ on the mountain is Harvey Fletcher’s brainchild. So we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Harvey,” said President Reese.
Also in the time capsule was a gavel presented by Utah Technical College of Provo to President Oaks, who was a lawyer prior to being a university administrator.
Accompanying the jar of freeze-dried cinnamon bears was a card explaining: “Everyone loves cinnamon bears. We eat them in the theaters, between classes, in classes and while studying. We send them to little brothers and sisters and give them to friends.”
What will never change at BYU
One thing that hasn’t changed in 50 years is the affection and appreciation of the school’s faculty, students and alumni for their alma mater, as evidenced by a letter in the time capsule written by Muriel Thole, known as “The BYU Knitting Lady.” For 36 years, Thole worked as the school’s head cashier and could be seen at every basketball and football home game — and even some road games — for more than 55 years, yarn and knitting needles in hand.
“I love the Cougars,” she explained in a Y Magazine article in 2011, “but think I should do something while watching the team.”
Born in Wales, Thole immigrated to Utah after joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1954. One of her first acquaintances was BYU basketball coach Stan Watts, who taught the Brit about the game.
As a donor to the construction of the Marriott Center, Thole had her choice of chairs when it opened in 1971. She selected the seat right behind the university president, which made her knitting needles and bouffant hairdo easy to spot.
“You know when a game is particularly tense because she begins to knit furiously,” Michael W. Middleton, executive director of the Cougar Club, told Y Magazine.
In her letter included in the time capsule, Thole wrote that seeing the growth of the university over many years has been the joy of her life.
To the students and faculty of 2025, Thole wrote, “I trust that you will feel the deep love and appreciation that I have for BYU and that you will enjoy this campus and all that goes with it as much as I have and do.”
In comments following the event, Elder Nielsen noted that buildings and technology will change, but one thing that will never change is the mission and impact of BYU.
“We’re here to learn and grow, then to leave here to make a major impact on the world. We ‘Enter to learn, go forth to serve.’ You learn lessons, and then we’re asked to go out and build the [kingdom of God] throughout the world and take the influence that we’ve had at BYU to lighten and brighten the lives of people everywhere. That mission will never change,” said Elder Nielsen.
The items from the time capsule will be on display in a BYU 150 exhibit on the first floor of the Harold B. Lee Library. The university is also inviting individuals to submit ideas for the sesquicentennial time capsule to be installed in April 2026 and opened at the university’s 200th anniversary. Those wanting to make a submission can fill out the form found at 150.byu.edu/time-capsule.
