McKay School of Education > EDLF > Archives > Prophets > Dedicatory Address and Prayer of the David O. McKay Building

Dedicatory Address and Prayer of the David O. McKay Building

Mr. Chairman, President McKay, President Clark, members of the Board of Trustees, the faculty, the student-body, and other friends of the University. This day we give our salutations to a noble profession and to an able and distinguished representative of that profession.

The underlying educational concept at Brigham Young University is twofold; first, the orderly development of the mind, the intelligence with which God has endowed his children, and secondly, the acquisition of knowledge and skills devoted to the blessing of humanity and the building of our Father's Kingdom in the earth. For the accomplishment of these high purposes the University has provided many facilities, buildings and establishments, perhaps none with more significance and promise than that on which we center our attention on this occasion.

Of course the whole University program is built upon the teaching process. On the campus today stands an education building just completed, devoted to the specific purpose of teaching teachers how to teach, and equipping them with an understanding of human and social behavior that they may rise to meet the overwhelming challenge which the responsibilities of their profession impose upon them.

In this University the teaching profession is impressed with a special trust. Not only must they who follow it be devoted to the cultivation of the mind and the impartation of knowledge, but they must be largely, if not chiefly, concerned with the things of the spirit, with the prime purpose of preparing the student for the acceptance of divine revelation. This latter objective may be realized only through inter-communion of soul with soul, and the sharing of testimony and spiritual influence.

History tells us that other universities in the land have had their founding laid in high spiritual principles such as we proclaim for our won school. We now know that some institutions so founded have in large measure at least abandoned the concepts cherished by their founders, and have so subordinated everything spiritual contemplated in their original charters that their devout founders must look with dismay on the failure to carry out initial intentions.

This must not and will not happen in the Brigham Young University of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is almost inconceivable that anyone, either within or without the institution, would put forth any effort to swerve the University from the achievements of its fundamental purposes as laid down by its founders. If any such movement should ever be attempted I am sure it will be futile. Such efforts might retard our progress, but they will never change our course. The revelations of God will always be taught and fostered in this University.

Does that sound reactionary and narrow-minded to you, patrons and friends of this school? I hope it does not. I think I have as much respect and as deep a regard for men and women of outstanding intelligence whose learning and achievements have brought such inestimable contributions to the welfare of human society as my own limited education and intelligence will permit. I love education. I stand in awe in the presence of a great mind, and in veneration under the influence of a great heart. Here we are seeking all truth with willing hearts and minds to receive and employ it. When it comes to us, from science or whatever source, we thank God, the author of all truth for it, and in any discovery, however much we may owe to the patient researchers and students for their disclosures, we never fail to recognize the Lord as the author of creation, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and the Giver of every good and perfect gift.

I think it is fortunate that we lay this emphasis on teaching--perhaps the major emphasis--in all our University work. I think the president of the University will concede that this is so. I am sure that he will not contend that the major emphasis is placed on competitive athletics.

It is also fortunate, for the sponsor and the patrons of the University that in our estimate and concept of the great art of teaching there is available to us an outstanding living exemplar in this noble profession. It is in recognition of his distinctive contribution to this profession that the newly erected educational building by action of the board of trustees honoring this man, his capable and charming wife and family.

Here is a great teacher, one of whose fundamental concepts in pedagogy is that there can be no adequate teaching of youth without personality, without making every truth and principle taught a motivating factor in the life and living of the individual. The very naming of this building will bring personality to it, if that is possible with inanimate things. The name will connote high principles and effective methods which will characterize the teaching process carried forward in the structure. It will be a constant reminder to both instructors and students.

And the name will serve these purposes because of the man who bears the name. Here is a teacher distinctive, set apart from other teachers of the world. In his younger days he carried on his profession in the classroom and in the administration of a school. Through native endowment, industry, and study, he acquired great proficiency in the educational processes. Those who were in his classes, in his school, a half century ago remember him with great affection and gratitude and their children have been told of the influence of his personality on the lives of their parents. But, after all, the lives of those touched immediately by his classroom work are relatively few in number. In his young manhood he was called from his principalship of an academy to be a teacher in the Kingdom of our Lord. He never deserted his profession. He expanded it. He dignified it, and he glorified it.

The Sunday Schools of the Church were the first beneficiaries of his art. He did much to bring order into their teaching. Uniform courses of study were established. The aims and objectives of lessons were clarified, and immeasurable inspiration given to the teachers of this great organization for the application of Gospel principles in making Latter-day Saints. The procedures fostered by him had influence in all the organizations of the Church. He brought untold improvement in their teaching procedure. His constant advocacy of personality as a potent factor in education has proved to be of inestimable value throughout the years.

His attitude toward teaching has come about naturally from his abiding interest and faith in the individual. Every little boy or girl, and grown ones too, who has heard him speak to them has been made to feel that his or her individual welfare was the intimate concern of this great teacher. I am thinking of the hosts of boys who have been touched and impressed by his simple illustration of ejecting a drop of ink from his fountain pen into a glass of clear water to indicate the pollution of sin on the innate virtue of the human soul. So all who have come within the radiation of his teaching have been made to feel, not only that they have been enlightened by his exposition of truth, but they have a friend deeply concerned in their individual welfare. May this not be--I direct the question to members of the profession far better equipped to answer better than I--may this not be the very epitome of the teaching art--to enlighten and befriend?

The activities and influence of the great teacher whom we honor today have not been confined to narrow limits. Since coming to the Apostleship the whole Church, with all its organizations, including particularly the Department of Education, the Colleges, Schools, Institutes, and Seminaries, have all been the immediate beneficiaries of his outstanding accomplishments and contributions in the field of education. In latter years his influence and service have been extended and expanded far beyond the areas where the major congregations and establishments of the Church are located. He has visited many countries and contacted important personalities in many sections of the world. The press has accorded to him and his labors wide publicity. I am sure that it is not going beyond the realm of factual statement to say that he has become a world figure. Only recently, as all present will know, he has been accorded honors of unusual distinction by a great eastern university, an international medical organization and the King of Greece. Throughout all these expressions of high acclaim, he has ever maintained the humility of spirit inherent in his Apostolic calling. He is a true servant and divinely chosen representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose beautiful doctrine of service has ever characterized his life. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matt. 25:40)

And now my brethren and sisters, if you could be elevated to a proper angle of vision, turning your eyes to the east, you would behold a beautiful structure, capacious and symmetrical, erected on a commanding site. In the background are the lofty, inspiring peaks of the Wasatch Mountains. Looking out to the west across the valley, with shimmering lake between are the mountains of the Uinta Range. A panorama of fertile fields, industrial development, and cities and villages of homes, meets your view, all of which represents but a small segment of the society which this great building is to serve.

With such visualization in mind, will you now join with me in the discharge of my assignment in offering the dedicatory prayer for this splendid acquisition to the campus of the University named after our Prophet-Teacher, President David O. McKay.

O God, our Eternal Father, we assemble before Thee this day as students, faculty, officers, and friends of the Brigham Young University. We invoke Thy Spirit upon us as we approach Thee in prayer. May each heart be touched with its influence, and may our supplications ascend to Thee in unity of desire and thanksgiving.

Our Father, we thank Thee for the University which bears the name of Thy chosen Prophet who was called to lead Thy Saints and establish them in this region of the Rocky Mountains. We thank Thee for the inspiration which brought about its founding, and for the simple but lofty principles embodied in its charter. We thank Thee for the support given to the University through the successful administrations of Thy servants, the presidents of the Church. We thank Thee for the great and good men who have presided over the school, for the inspiring teachers, and for the growth as an instrumentality of service in Thy Kingdom. We are grateful for the present administration of the school, and for the outstanding progress it has made in recent years.

We thank Thee for the beneficent influences it has brought into the lives of youth, into the homes and communities of the people, and for the contribution it has made in spreading the truths of the Restored Gospel, and in inculcating higher ideals of service and living among all men.

We give special thanks to Thee for the faith and devotion of the members of Thy Church and Kingdom in the earth, for the evidence of their worship and loyalty to the cause in the payment of their tithes and offerings, which have made possible the accelerated development of this and other institutions in the Church.

O God, bless every faithful man and woman and child in Thy Church with the enduring peace and satisfaction of assurance that his or her compliance with the principles of the Gospel and the laws of the Lord has made possible the marvelous expansion of the Kingdom in these latter days.

Now, our Father, we bring before Thee a new structure erected on the campus of the University named after Thy chosen servant, the President of Thy Church, the David O. McKay Building of Brigham Young University, a building whose facilities are designed to be utilized by the Department of Education and the College of the Humanities and Social Sciences. We thank Thee, our Father, for the concept of this building and the high purposes it is to subserve coming from President Wilkinson and his associates in the administration of the University. We thank Thee for the architects who have prepared the plans, and for the contractors, the artisans and the workmen who executed the plans, and for everyone who has made contribution to bring about the completion of this notable project.

In humility of spirit, with thanksgiving in our hearts, in the authority of the Holy Priesthood, under appointment of the Presidency of Thy Church, we now present the David O. McKay Building unto Thee our Father, and dedicate it and consecrate it that it may fully subserve the plans and lofty purposes designed for it as a part of the establishments of the Brigham Young University. We include within this dedication the grounds on which the build stands, its foundations, walls, roof, halls, rooms, offices, and every part and parcel thereof, all to be devoted to Thy work and the blessing of Thy children.

O Lord, we pray Thee to accept this offering and this dedication. Manifest to us and to all who shall instruct or be instructed in this beautiful structure Thine acceptance and Thine approval. Let Thy Holy Spirit dwell within the building, that all who come may know that it typifies education in its higher and nobler aspects. Let it ever stand for the worth of souls in Thy sight.

May all the teachings projected within it be calculated to increase love of God and fellowman. Let virtue "garnish" the thinking of all who study therein. Rebuke the spirit of rebellion against Thy word. Frustrate apostasy and denial of divine providence and Thy Lordship. Temper all teachings with wisdom, tolerance, love and consideration. Give strength to teacher and student alike to stand firmly for right and truth, unwavering in testimony and devotion.

O Lord, Thou knowest the compelling need for truth, for righteousness, and peace in a distracted and turbulent world. May there go forth from this noble structure year after year those prepared, fortified in the truth, to carry to the youth and children of men Thy solution to perplexing problems. Herein let the great profession of teaching be exalted to the lofty goals of preparing men for service to their fellowmen, in preparing them also to come back into the presence of Thee, our Eternal Father.

We pray Thee, our Heavenly Father, to cause that the noble example of him whose name the building bears in faithfulness, in devotion, in integrity, and in capacity to teach the true lessons of life, may ever stimulate the aspirations of teachers and students within this great building.

We, his associates, his friends, and admirers join in a prayer this day that these services may bring a measure of satisfaction and comfort to him. We pray for continuing health and strength and inspiration to be his portion, that we, the whole Church and the world, may continue to be blessed by his example and his teaching.

With grateful hearts we commend this great Institution and our lives to Thy keeping, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

President David O. McKay---Response

(After expressing his gratitude at "the most significant" hour in the life of his educational career.)

...Every university is founded to seek truth. That is its mission. Here in this University you may feel perfectly free to kneel down and to ask God to guide you in that search for truth and to give you power to live it.

These are but a few of the thoughts that have stirred my soul and your this day.

And now, what about the sense of responsibility?
No living, normal person can escape responsibility. To exist is to radiate. From the time of birth until he passes from the mortal stage every individual exerts some influence upon somebody else.

No stream from its source
Flows seaward, however lonely its course,
But what some land is gladden'd. No star ever rose
And set without influence somewhere. Who knows
What earth needs from earth's lowest creatures? No life
Can be pure in its purpose and stronger in its strife
And all life not be purer and stronger thereby.

To instill in to the hearts of students a love for truth is one of the prime purposes of this building we dedicate today, and all other buildings, and is the moving motive of the instructors who meet the yearning students who reach out for truth and to know the truth. I repeat, that is the purpose of all universities, and here you have the obligation of teaching revealed Truth in addition to that which is discovered by man's intellect. The best way for a man to advance truth in this old world, to quote Jordan is, "To live it himself in thought, word, and deed,--to make himself a sun of personal radiation of truth, and to let his silent influence speak for truth and his direct acts glorify it so far as he can in his sphere of life and action."

Today you place that responsibility not only upon me, but upon me, but upon those who bear the McKay name. Thousands of students will enter this building seeking truth, and the name that that building connotes carries the responsibility of exemplifying, radiating truth in their lives. That is my responsibility to the thousands of students who will study in this building dedicated today.

Thank you, God bless you, my dear fellow students, and may He direct the thousands who will yet come to this greatest of church universities, I humbly pray.