As I have written and re-written this post I have had to consider what I should say and not say, so though this post is very long I have erred on the side of brevity when quoting or paraphrasing what leadership has said and done. Not that anything I would say should be construed as secret or necessarily private, heaven knows that if you dig deep enough all of what I know is public in some form or another, but I need to be careful not to put words in our leader’s mouths. Even misquoting slightly can bring a different meaning to what was originally intended. With that said, I wish to convey that what has formed my knowledge and belief of how and why things went down the way they did and what has happened since has been first hand. Everything I say that President Bednar said I heard directly from his mouth with my own ears. All that I believe about Ricks and BYU-Idaho I have seen with my own eyes and felt with my own heart. None of it is from any rumor-mill.

Yes, I do work at BYU-Idaho. I’m really nobody there except for my little stewardship in an obscure corner office on campus. I have little if any input on decisions at the university or CES-wide level, yet my position has allowed me to be in the presence and to listen and talk to all of the university presidents since the early 2000's on a fairly consistent basis, and several of the apostles from time to time. This stewardship has allowed me the opportunity to talk about and hear things that often are not written or recorded. Once again, none of which are private or secret. In this light I will briefly summarize what President Bednar has said about the transition and what I have myself witnessed.

In the years and months leading up to the announcement, the board had been wrestling with poignant problem that so many worthy and prepared LDS youth were being turned away from having a CES educational experience because the capacity was not there. There were discussions about expanding Provo, LDS BC, even taking over Southern Virginia University. Logic might indicate that creating more universities in large cities or internationally might be the answer, but nothing of the kind felt right upon any deeper review. It had gotten to a point where this was weighing heavily on the minds of President Hinckley and the rest of the board. All of the CES Presidents were considering the problem as well. Though there were many difficult issues going on with the church at the time, nothing weighed down more on church leadership. I want to restate that because it is critical to the context. NOTHING was weighing more on the minds of church leadership. So many members from all over the world were supporting the CES system with sacred tithes, people that would never, ever have the opportunity to attend a CES school. This did not sit well with the board and President Eyring spoke of it often in terms of using the resources of so many to bless so few.

It was in this season and circumstance that the change came. I may have the exact timeframe wrong, but it is within a day or two. President Hinckley called President Bednar and said, “David, I’ve been thinking.” He then layed out to President Bednar, over the phone, what would be announced to the world at large a day or two later. That is the first that President Bednar had heard of it or even considered it.

That announcement can be found in the link below. I would challenge you to read it carefully and from the perspective I have discussed above, rather than from the perspective of losing a feeder football program. I promise if you do with an open mind, you might see a glimpse of what was truly intended here.

http://www.byui.edu/foundational-addresses/announcement-ricks-college-to-become-byu-idaho

Some time after the announcement President Bednar told a group of us that he literally would have been less surprised if President Hinckley had told him they had decided to shut the school down. He then asked us, “Why would I feel that way?” He then asked further, “Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a university? Think of a number, and I promise you it will be lower than the actual cost.” On several occasions I heard Elder Bednar state that moving to a 4 year institution and eliminating the sports programs were literally the furthest things from his mind before President Hinckley made the call. He also stated that getting rid of the sports program at Ricks had nothing to do with the sports themselves, just that BYU-Idaho was to take on a different role, and having two 4 year sports programs didn’t make sense longterm.

I worked with President Bednar enough to know two things:
1. He is not a liar nor one that would shade true intent.
2. He is a confident man that pulls no punches. If there was a desire to eliminate sports solely because he or the board didn’t support it, he would have had no bones in saying so.

I have been pressed by CB a bit on the “inspired” issue. How can I say that? I would challenge you to read this address given by President Gilbert in 2015. Please do. The growth and impact that has transpired with BYU-Idaho and now BYU Pathway worldwide, which was initiated at BYU-Idaho, is astounding and miraculous.



It is now 2019 and I have watched BYU-Idaho grow and expand each and every day since the early 2000’s. It is breathtaking. I have been to multiple remote BYU Pathway sites where wonderful, beautiful sons and daughters of God now have the opportunity to get a higher education, most of which would never have had the opportunity otherwise. Over 44,000 students worldwide are now enrolled in Pathway Worldwide and BYU-Idaho Online, everyone of them having the opportunity to finish a BYU-Idaho degree if they choose to do so. In a not too distant future the number will be hundreds of thousands. And it won’t be just online, hundreds and even thousands of buildings worldwide that for years have been filled to capacity on Sunday but empty during the week can now be filled to capacity Sunday through Friday. Ward buildings. Stake centers. Institute buildings, etc. Think of that. It is incredible. All of this stemming from the advent of technology and in part the creation of BYU-Idaho and one of its main imperatives of getting access to as many students possible at a lower relative cost.

I feel I must say that I am not trying to put BYU-Idaho on a pedestal, just trying to show what it has become as a direct result of the change that was made. Each CES university has its place, BYU being the flagship and beacon to the world, and the other universities filling their particular role. If it wasn’t for BYU taking on the leadership role in world class expertise in teaching, research, graduate programs, sports, and many other areas, BYU-Idaho and BYU Pathway Worldwide could never exist as they do.

Inspired? Without a doubt in my mind. But I’ll never be able to convince you if you only see all of this through the lens of what might get the football program an extra win or two. You may ask, “Why couldn’t the university run two sports programs?” I don’t have the answer to that other than BYU-Idaho and Pathway are laser focused on what they do well. Let BYU be the expert at what it does. These last few years might indicate that football is not an expertise of BYU, and that having Ricks as a feeder program would change that, but I would heartily disagree. All programs have their ups and downs. I for one see great things on the horizon of the football program and couldn’t be more excited about it.

Have I changed anyone’s mind here? I doubt it. But I was asked to try and have done so the best I can. The problem was never about sports, just the desire to lift more of God’s children, and do so in a focused and efficient way. And that is exactly what is happening. I see it every day.