The message was bold and clear.
Brigham Young University exists for the same reason that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exists, to spread the truth of the gospel to the world.And people who find it too difficult to live up to the standards set by the university should go elsewhere, says the school's new president, Merrill J. Bateman.
Bateman, formerly the presiding bishop for the LDS Church, took over the office of university president Jan. 1. He addressed the student body and faculty Tuesday in the first devotional of the winter semester.
Calling BYU a "Zion university," Bateman said he was surprised to read a newspaper story suggesting his appointment "clearly indicates that the university is an integral part of the Kingdom, although some might have assumed prior to the announcement that the university was a secular institution distinct from but reporting to the church."
Bateman said he never had thought of Brigham Young University as an institution in any way separated from the church.
"Prophet after prophet has stated clearly that Brigham Young University is a religious institution with a divine mission even though secular education is a key part of its purpose," he said.
"Given the organizational structure by which the university is governed, it seems paradoxical that some might think that Brigham Young University is not an integral part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," he continued. "Thus, one might say that this institution is not only a university in Zion but is in the process of becoming a Zion university."
Bateman said the Prophet Joseph Smith's dream of a university that would become a "light to the world" was cut short by a mob and a bullet. But the dream burned deeply, he said, within another prophet.
Brigham Young University was consequently founded in 1875 by the prophet whose name it bears and has become, Bateman said, "the flagship of the church's educational system. It is becoming the light to the world that Joseph (Smith) foresaw."
In a Zion university, righteous scholars and students understand that "God's children are more than intellect and body," he said. "The intellect is housed in a spirit, which must also be educated."
He said, "There must be no alibi for failure to achieve a first-class rank within the parameters set by the Board of Trustees."
In a message that conveyed a clear warning to the faculty, Bateman said every subject must be taught with testimony, that testimony is not to be "encased in particular institutions on campus." He said an appointment to teach at BYU is a sacred trust with 27,000 of the youths of the LDS Church under one's stewardship.
"Brigham Young University is not a Harvard of the West," he said, "or a Stanford of the Rocky Mountains with an institute of religion on the periphery."
Bateman said administrators and teachers will be held to lofty standards of spiritual and academic excellence. Faculty members will be expected to continually improve in performance and qualifications, he said. Students and faculty are not to "mimic the research and teaching choices of colleagues at other universities."
A society in moral decline is also in intellectual decline, he cautioned.
A few may be uncomfortable and may not want to abide by the standards expected at BYU, including dress and grooming standards, he said. Those few should "depart peacefully and try another institution."
Bateman said he expects faculty turnover in the "next few years will be high" but is convinced future faculty members "with the proper credentials have been and are being prepared" to take their places.
Bateman and his wife, Marilyn, who spoke about appreciating and appropriately recording the numerous small miracles in life, addressed a crowd of more than 10,000 in the Marriott Center on campus.