Editor's note: additional coverage of BYU Campus Educational Week will be included in a later edition.
PROVO, Utah — Russ and Elaine Doutt needed a "booster shot of spirituality."
Like thousands of others, they found what they were looking for Aug. 20-24 at the 85th annual BYU Campus Education Week.
"It has been a great way to be away from the world and focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ — not the house or anything else," said Sister Doutt of the Lakeridge 4th Ward, Magna Utah East Stake.
An estimated 21,220 Church members converged on BYU's Provo campus as part of an annual tradition.
Each year BYU's Campus Education Week draws participants from across the United States and several other countries. This year the five-day conference featured 208 presenters — 20 of whom were new this year — who offered more than 1,000 classes on family and marriage relations, education, finance, self-improvement, religion and other topics.
This year's theme, "The Dawning of a Brighter Day," was intended to help participants reflect on the blessings of the restoration of the gospel in this dispensation, said Neil Carlile, director of Campus Education Week. Taken from the hymn, "The Morning Breaks," the theme communicated the prospect that each new day can be brighter with faith in Jesus Christ.
Brother Carlile said it was rewarding to watch participants on the final day show the same enthusiasm as they had earlier in the week. "Things ran very smoothly," he said. "We had some great events."
Believed to be the largest single-event continuing education program in the world, Campus Education Week is sponsored by BYU and the Church Educational System.
Now in its 85th year, the program began in 1922 and was attended by just more than 2,000 people. But over time the program grew. Classes for youth were first offered in 1958, and by 1975 the conference — by then called Education Week — was attracting more than 10,000 people annually to the BYU campus. In 1983, registration exceeded 20,000 and by 1990, enrollment was 30,000. Enrollment peaked in 1994, with 36,500.
Organizers saw a decline in campus enrollment after offering classes free via electronic means in 1995. However, because selected classes are now broadcast on BYU Television, the program reaches more participants than ever before. The presentations will be broadcast on BYUTV the evenings of Sept. 25 through Sept.
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