Fall 2007

President Stephen K. and Sister Sytske Woodhouse

Date:
Title:

"6 Cultural Beliefs to Live By"

6 Cultural Beliefs to Live By

Welcome, students. I wanted to tell you, as we started this new school year, the President had a fall workshop for all the faculty and staff—basically, everyone that works within these walls. And he titled it “Cultural Transitions—from Good to Great.” We had a facilitator come and help us define our cultural beliefs. After much soul searching, tough questions were asked and answered, opinions given and debated, and there was a consensus, a coming together of these cultural beliefs. Not an easy task, you might say, with all of the diverse minds and backgrounds of all those of us who work within these walls. But surprisingly, it was wonderful to see how similar our thoughts, our feelings about the College were.

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Elder W. Rolfe Kerr

Date:
Title:

"Mine Eyes Are Upon You"

Mine Eyes Are Upon You

This is a very, very special place for very, very special people. I hope that each and every one of you feels the meaning of those words and feels it personally. Yes, this is a special place, but more importantly, this is a special place for special people. You students and the faculty and staff who serve you are known by the leaders of the Church to be very special; and I certainly have those feelings about you. One of the realities that come with being a special people is that there is a Heavenly awareness of you, as well. The Lord said, “But behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and you cannot see me” (D&C 38:7).

I testify that His eyes are upon you, that He knows you, and that He loves you. I will say much more about that later. 

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David M. Berrett

Date:
Title:

"Our Relationship and Responsibility to Government"

Our Relationship and Responsibility to Government

I’m delighted to be here. I should tell you all that I was concerned that nobody would come. When I was a newly called stake president, I was asked to speak to the young single adults in our stake. It is my recollection that only three or four people showed up, and that included me and the people who organized the event. Had I known that there was going to be a choir bringing at least 40 or 50 of you, I would have slept much better last night. I would not have worried at all. Although had only three or four of you showed up, we would conduct this discussion in a small circle, and it would be a little bit more like a symposia than a lecture, which we’ll do our best to keep it from being that.

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M. Richard & Kathleen Walker

Date:
Title:

"Ye Must Build a Firm Foundation"

Ye Must Build a Firm Foundation

Brother Walker:
 
We’re really thrilled to be here with you today, brothers and sisters.  We have looked forward to this.  And most of what Marki has said is very accurate.  There are a couple of things that my wife would always like to add, and I would also.  And we might even chat about that for a moment today.  But we’re thrilled to be here.  We just left the temple—we’ve been there since 4:30 this morning, so if we look a little bleary-eyed, you’ll understand.  We also brought with us our granddaughter, Brinly Boyce, sitting here on the front row.  Raise your hand, Brin.  Get acquainted with her.  We’ve told her this is where she needs to be.  So you can maybe help convince her of that.
 
Y
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Rodney K. Smith

Date:
Title:

"Becoming Scholar Disciples"

Becoming Scholar Disciples

I am deeply grateful for the warmth of the welcome, President Woodhouse. I am grateful for your introduction, but most particularly for the gift of your friendship. As President Woodhouse and I both know, presidents are not always the most popular person on campus. A single story, my favorite, seems to capture this sentiment. A faculty member comes in to the president’s office with a parking ticket, puts the parking ticket on the desk in front of the president’s assistant and says, “I want the president to take care of this parking ticket.” He doesn’t even notice that the assistant has been crying. The assistant then says, “Well, the president died this morning. He had a heart attack.”
 
“Hmph,” he takes the ticket and walks off with it.
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L. Whitney Clayton

Date:
Title:

"A Lesson on Memory"

A Lesson on Memory

Good afternoon to all of you. We’re so thankful to see you today. You’re a wonderful looking group, and we’ve heard some very flattering things about you as we’ve been walking around this building and getting acquainted with you, and acquainted with your campus.

I am grateful for the assignment that brings me here, and grateful for the privilege of becoming acquainted with you. I pray that the Spirit of the Lord will be with us and that the feelings and observations I express to you may be of benefit to you. I have earnestly sought the direction of the Lord with respect to these comments.

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Brother Ben E. Banks

Date:
Title:

"How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?"

How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?

Well, my young friends, it’s a pleasure to be with you today. My wife would normally accompany me on these types of occasions, but she got called into jury duty this morning, and she’s mad…not because she’s missing this, but she’s planning on leaving tomorrow with her three daughters to go to Chicago to see Wicked and a few other things, and if she’s in jury duty, I’m afraid some guys going to get a verdict he’s not going to be happy with. 

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R. Brent Cherrington

Date:
Title:

"Do Right: Honoring Our Commitments"

Do Right: Honoring Our Commitments

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today. It’s a little bit intimidating, however, and I pray for the Spirit to be with me as our opening prayer asked as well.

Just before beginning this semester, the College completed a process of defining our cultural beliefs. Those cultural beliefs were presented to the faculty and staff, and then some changes were made to them. Additional modifications were made to reflect the changes necessary to adapt them to students. Hopefully, all of you have had copies of those cultural beliefs, and if not, Troy has been handing them out today. So we hope you will take them.

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