The Daily Universe celebrates 50 years

Devotionals have been a part of the BYU experience since the school began as Brigham Young Academy in 1875. At one time, students could receive college credit for attending.

According to "Brigham Young University: A School of Destiny," written by former BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson and LDS scholar W. Cleon Skousen, President Karl G. Maeser conducted daily devotionals long before the academy moved in 1892 to what is now the Provo City Library on 500 North and University Avenue.

During President Franklin S. Harris' term (1921-45) as president of the university, the student body was growing so large that students could not all attend the devotional at once, so the short daily devotional became a longer event twice a week. In the late 1950s, President Wilkinson instituted three assemblies each week: a devotional, a forum and a student-coordinated assembly. To increase attendance at the devotional, students could sign up and receive one-half credit for attending. That practice was stopped in the early 1970s.

By the time President Dallin H. Oaks took the helm in 1971, two assemblies were being conducted each week: devotional and forum. He decided to cut that to a once-a-week event with a devotional one week and forum the next.

In the early days of the academy and then the university, the devotional was conducted in various places around lower campus (now the Provo Library) and finally on what is the main campus today, including in the Maeser Building and the old Joseph Smith Building. The student body continued to outgrow each facility, however. After the completion of the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse in 1952, the devotional moved there. Since 1972, students have gathered in the Marriott Center each week during the regular school year. Students attend in the deJong Concert Hall during the Spring and Summer Terms.

President Wilkinson began televising the devotional addresses through closed-circuit television. (It's interesting to note that he got permission to broadcast the general conference priesthood session by closed circuit television to the Smith Fieldhouse in 1953, an idea that led to a worldwide broadcast of that session by 1975.)

Low devotional attendance was a concern for President Wilkinson. In order to improve the numbers, he received permission for every general authority to speak at devotionals in the late 1950s. During President Wilkinson's tenure, quizzes on the week's devotional became a regular feature in all religion classes, something many students thought wasn't fair, according to "A School of Destiny," but the policy continued for some time. It was finally replaced with the half-credit class for attending devotional.

This fall President Cecil O. Samuelson continued to encourage devotional attendance. "I invite each of you to join me in the Marriott Center for BYU's weekly devotional or forum," he wrote in a campus-wide e-mail sent in October. "These events provide an important and integrative part of our university experience. In fact, our alumni consistently report in an annual survey that devotional attendance was the 'single most important act that affected [their] spiritual development.'"

Today, classes halt and the Bookstore, Cougareat and most offices close so students can attend Devotional or Forum each Tuesday at 11 a.m. in the Marriott Center. The address continues to be broadcast around campus, including in the Wilkinson Center and the Joseph Smith Auditorium.



Copyright Brigham Young University 1 Dec 2005