Overview

• President C. Shane Reese urged students to answer “darkness” with Christ-centered peacemaking as BYU launched its 150th anniversary at a campus devotional.
• He referenced the killing of political activist Charlie Kirk at nearby Utah Valley University, condemned political violence, and affirmed the importance of free speech.
• Reese reported that 87% of recent graduates say BYU strengthened their faith in Christ and highlighted the school’s growing influence.
• He noted BYU’s scale, citing 32,823 undergraduates last fall and a global network of about 466,000 alumni, and described this fall’s freshman class as one of the largest.
• Teaching on “gifts of light,” Reese drew on Henry B. Eyring’s parables about empathetic, freely given, and sacrificial gifts, while Wendy Reese spotlighted women exemplars including Patricia Holland.