Growth is inherent in a good idea.
When the BYU football team figuratively locked arms with BYU Pathway students in Africa last summer, they helped change the game for thousands of people who have received access to an affordable education — and the program is growing.
“It’s going great!” Brian K. Ashton, president of BYU Pathway Worldwide, told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “Chase Roberts, Tanner Wall, Connor Pay (and others) have been mentors to these students. Kalani (Sitake) says, “When you are involved in something bigger than yourself, it really makes a difference, and it helps keep you grounded.’ For those (BYU Pathway) students, it makes a huge difference.”
There is something special about a BYU football player. Fans, young and old, line up outside Cougar Canyon before each home game just to catch a glimpse of their favorites as the team arrives at LaVell Edwards Stadium or they stay long after the game is over to hopefully secure an autograph. The same thing happens when the Cougars are on the road.
There is power in the connection.
BYU Pathway students, which are dispersed in 192 countries, can connect with players over Zoom calls and follow them on Deseret.com, BYUtv — even “Y’s Guys.” Whether near or far, access to Sitake’s players is priceless, the influence is real, and their impact is lasting.
“I used to tell my team, I wished we had a football team then everyone would know what BYU Pathway does,” Ashton said with a laugh. “Kalani has been great to include us and to say, ‘They are the football team for everyone.’ BYU Pathway started as the pathway program to get into BYU-Idaho. It has grown significantly beyond that. Now it’s a way to get a bachelor’s degree anywhere in the world.”
Ty Detmer was the influential BYU quarterback when Ashton was a student in Provo. He remembers every detail from the Cougars’ upset of No. 1 Miami in 1990 (35 years ago this week), including where he watched it — sitting five rows up at the 40-yard line.
For BYU Pathway, tapping into the football program to support their program is the equivalent of Detmer dodging two Hurricane defenders to throw a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone. It’s exciting, enlightening and energizing. Teaming up together is also a unique way to get the word out that BYU Pathway offers a three-year bachelor’s degree for $6,500 in the United States and it costs even less for those living outside the country.
“Anywhere you go in the world, there is BYU Pathway and there is access to a spiritually based, low-cost education through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Ashton said. “Each institution in the Church educational system has a role. Our role is to be the access provider. We take the programs (from) these other institutions, mostly BYU-Idaho and Ensign College, and make them accessible to people.”
Fans at LES watched Faith Kisakye, a BYU Pathway student from Uganda, offer the prayer before the Cougars game against Kansas State on Sept. 21, 2024. At the end of her recorded message on the massive video board, Kisakey opened her eyes and with a big smile said a heartfelt, ‘Go BYU!’
Kisakye’s prayer was impactful to the home audience, which responded with a thunderous roar. It was also felt by another BYU Pathway student living far from Provo.
“We got a letter from a football player in Nigeria (where there are 20,000 BYU Pathway students). He wrote us and said, ‘I’m a football player and I’d like to try out for the BYU football team,” Ashton said. “He sent us a tape and of course, he was a soccer player. We explained the different kinds of football and had a great talk. But he ended up joining the church because he was so excited about this partnership.”
“We are here to receive light and truth. Education is one of the ways you can do it. In fact, Doctrine and Covenants (Section) 88 says that ‘You are to learn by study and by faith.’ Study is one of those key things and we help you do both. There is a religious component and an academic component. We’ve seen people (domestic and international) go from being told their whole lives, ‘You are not college material’ to then coming into BYU Pathway, gaining confidence and growing in their lives.”
Growth is inherent in a good idea. Combining BYU Pathway with BYU football is as game changing for education as it is for the Cougars — when Sitake sends Will Ferrin out to kick a game-winning field goal.
Some things just work well together.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.