The 97-foot-tall Carillon Bell Tower at BYU was built on the north part of the university’s campus in 1975 as a centennial gift donated by students, faculty and alumni.
More than 50 years later, as the school is commemorating its 150th anniversary year, a plaque displaying President Dallin H. Oaks’ vision for the university as the new prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be mounted on the tower.
“I firmly believe that it is the destiny of Brigham Young University to become what past and present prophets knew it could become,” the plaque reads, quoting President Oaks. “With the consecration and leadership of this community, BYU will become the great university of the Lord — not in the world’s way but in the Lord’s way.”
The quote on the plaque comes from President Oaks’ first devotional address as prophet, which he delivered Tuesday at the Marriott Center on the BYU campus.
The plaque was unveiled at a special presentation held following his devotional address, along with a second plaque quoting the late church President Spencer W. Kimball, who dedicated the tower during the university’s centennial year.
His quote, pulled from what he said as he dedicated the tower, reads: “Just as these bells will lift the hearts of the hearers when they hear the hymns and anthems played to Thy glory, let the morality of the graduates of this university provide the music of hope for the inhabitants of this planet.”
President Oaks was BYU president when the university celebrated 100 years and the landmark tower was installed.
Designed to last, the tower has 53 bells that were cast in Holland, according to a church news release published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Of these bells, the largest weighs 3 tons, or 6,000 pounds, while the smallest weighs about 21½ pounds.
A carillonneur plays a 30-minute recital on most weekdays beginning at noon during the school’s semesters and two-month spring and summer terms, the church’s news release further states. A brief musical theme taken from the Latter-day Saint hymn “Come, Come, Ye Saints” plays automatically on the hour.
The tower is a “landmark to signal the completion of our first century and to remind us of lofty hopes with which we inaugurate our second century,” President Oaks said at the tower’s dedication in 1975, according to the release.
“More than 50 years after the bells first rang, the addition of President Oaks’ words ensures that BYU’s mission remains anchored to its ‘lofty hopes’ and its identity as the ‘great university of the Lord,’” the release states.
