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Welcome to the Recent Speeches podcast presented by BYU Speeches, featuring inspiring new devotionals and forums given each week on BYU Campus. Be sure to check out our other podcasts by searching BYU Speeches wherever you get your podcasts or by visiting Speeches BYU Edu Podcasts. This commencement address, entitled Covenants and Service Shoring up youp foundation, was given on April 23, 2026 by C. Shane Reese,
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President of Brigham Young University. It never gets old being up here, seeing all of you amazing students. Class of 2026, you look absolutely am. You see, as the President of byu, I feel like God has given me eyes to see your potential and you each have brighter futures than even you can possibly imagine. When President Russell M. Nelson invited me to serve in this role, my wife Wendy and I had the privilege of visiting with him at the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As we entered President Nelson's office in Salt Lake City, we were both struck by the amazing view of the historic Salt Lake Temple. Even while undergoing intensive renovations, the temple was still magnificent. As you might know, the recent renovations to the temple have focused on creating a new foundation which will allow the nearly 200 million pound temple to remain virtually unmoved even as the earth might quake or tremor around it. During our time together in President Nelson's office, he offered treasured counsel, and just before we were set to leave, the prophet paused, gestured toward the temple and said, tether those students to Jesus Christ, he said, and shore up their foundation. Just like this temple. President Dallin H. Oak visited this very campus in February, and he stood at this very pulpit and encouraged us to focus on developing our faith in God and in the mission of His Son Jesus Christ. This, he said, would require daily trying one step at a time. As Elder Ulises Suarez of this Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught, we need to consistently and constantly reinforce our spiritual foundations. Class of 2026, your time here. During that time, you've built on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ. And as a statistician, I've seen the numbers. Now don't roll your eyes because I'm about to ready to talk about statistics? As far as I'm concerned, until this commencement ends, you're still my students. So buckle up. The ride is not yet over. Each year, BYU conducts an exit survey of our graduating senior, and each year we ask some version of this same question. Has your time at BYU strengthened your faith in Jesus Christ and His living prophets and apostles? It's been encouraging to see positive responses to this question increase, but this year Your class, the Class of 2026, reported the highest percentage I've seen since we've been tracking this metric. But it's not just in the numbers where I see it. It's in the joy of your eyes. It's in the way you teach and mentor each other in the classroom. It's in how you represent yourselves in this university, in academic conferences, athletic competition, and in performing arts. It's in how you serve on this campus and well beyond. You see under every mortar board here today is an individual story about how you have grown, overcome, and become during your time here on this campus. Like the Salt Lake Temple, you're building a foundation that can withstand the shakes and tremors of life because your foundation is sure, steady and anchored in truth. Now, as you go forth to serve the world over, let me offer just two pieces of advice while you're still under some obligation to listen to me. The first is stay true to the covenants and promises that bind you to God and center your life on Jesus. In the weeks leading up to his passing, Carl G. Maeser, the founder of Brigham Young University, visited Maeser elementary right here in Provo, Utah. He walked up to a chalkboard and left the following bits of wisdom for students. He wrote in part, this life is one great object lesson to practice on the principles of immortality and eternal life. And the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And man grows higher, grows with his higher aims. The students and teachers never erase those sayings from those chalkboards. And to this day, three three of those chalkboards remain in our university archives, preserved with the original chalk written by Karl Maeser's hands. Graduates, your covenants, your sacred promises to God are your higher aims. You will grow as you stretch toward them. Tie yourself to them, and they will pull you closer to God. They will tether you to God and your most cherished relationships on your hero's journey. They may even protect you from unsafe shores. In Homer's Odyssey, the protagonist Ulysses famously has his crew tie him to the mast of the ship so he won't be tempted to go astray. Now, if you studied film at BYU rather than literature, you may be more familiar with the image of the incomparable Bill Murray, similarly tied to the master in the 1990s classic what about Bob? Tying yourself to covenants won't just help you avoid temptation. It will pull you toward greater love, grace, virtue, goodness and mercy. It will lift you to become far greater than even you can imagine. Your growth in your studies and your character in your relationships will Transcend beyond just the here and now. I saw how this happened in a most unexpected place. You see, my wife and I were pulling into Portland, Oregon, anticipating a big BYU basketball game wasn't that big after all. Late at night, after a long flight and a long day here on campus, I was struggling, checking into our hotel well past midnight when someone said, I want to introduce you to this family. They've come here to watch the basketball game. And as this family walked up, I noticed it was a mom and she had a bunch of children in tow of varying ages. And as we started visiting with this mom, I soon found out that her husband and the father of their children had passed away only a couple of days earlier. This family was there at the basketball game to honor this father who wanted more than anything to watch BYU play in March Madness. And I couldn't for the life of me figure out why this heartbroken wife and mother, with all of her children in tow, would show up at this basketball game with a missionary who would come home early so he could be at his father's funeral with a newly born grandchild, with a 13 year old son who was so clearly heartbroken at the loss of his dad. But then I heard the answer in something she said. I know, she said, he's going to ask us if we made his wish come true when we see him again. As I got to my room, still thinking about this family, it struck me more fully that this wife and mother had a perfect knowledge that she was in fact going to see her husband again. She knew that she was eternally tied to that relationship, her relationship with her husband and her relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ, forever. She knew that the sting of death was truly overcome and that the victory of the grave was completely obliterated because of Christ's miraculous infinite resurrection. And she knew her covenants would lift her, along with her loved ones, heavenward. So, my young friends, please stay true to your covenants which lift you heavenward to God and to Jesus Christ and to your loved ones forever. My second piece of advice, serve and love others every day. And be willing and humble enough to to have others serve you back. Now, I imagine there's some of you who are already thinking, president, I have no problem being humble enough to let my mom and dad serve me. If you're thinking this, then maybe we should keep you here for a few more classes. And yes, I can see some of the parents out there nodding their heads in agreement. In all sincerity, I'm amazed by how you, so many of you serve and care for one another here at BYU and for those beyond the boundaries of this campus. Several weeks ago, I received a letter from a local Provo pastor. He wrote, I often think of a mantra my grandmother used to say, the second greatest thing you can do in your life is to serve others. But the number one thing you can do is to provide opportunities for others to serve. With that goal in mind, our church puts out a weekly call for volunteers to assist with the cleaning. Almost without fail, we are joined by a group of dedicated, hardworking BYU students who give up a significant portion of their Saturday to help clean a church building that is not part of their own denomination. I have been meaning to write you for a long time to express my gratitude. These students are incredible young people. They are always inquisitive, asking thoughtful questions about the history of our building as well as our doctrine and beliefs. Though we do have some repeat volunteers, the groups do change every single week. No matter who they are, they consistently give those of us in the congregation great hope for the future. It is truly inspiring. Now this is what it looks like to go forth and serve. Prophets of God have repeatedly taught on this campus that we gain an education so that we might serve others more effectively. You've entered to learn, and now is your time to use that precious knowledge for the benefit of others. And as you do so, you will sense God's love for his children and God's love for you. Acts of service need not be grand. Indeed, the most profound acts of kindness are often those which seem simplest. Brother Sean R. Dixon of the General Young Men's Presidency recently highlighted this memorable counsel from Professor James q. Wilson of UCLA, the commencement speaker in this very venue in 1994, during that same year that I graduated from BYU. Yes, it was a long time ago. His words changed our paradigm, he said. Commencement speakers are supposed to urge you to rise to the highest challenge, pursue the impossible dream, excel at the loftiest ambitions. I will not do that, he said. It is too easy. It is too empty. The easiest thing to do is to support great causes, sign stirring petitions, endorse grand philosophies. The hardest thing to do, and it is getting harder all the time, is to be a good husband, a good wife, a strong father, a strong mother, an honorable friend and neighbor. The truly good deeds are the small, everyday actions of ordinary life. The employee who gives an honest day's work, the stranger who stops to help someone in need, the craftsman who builds each house as if he were going to live in it himself, the father who wants the respect of his children more than admission to the executive suite. The mother who knows that to care for an infant is not an admission of professional failure. The hiker who carries his own trash out of the park. These are the heroes of everyday life. May you join their ranks now. To you, the class, the graduates of 2026. You are the salt of the earth, jesus said. You are the light of the world, a city on the hill and cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Earlier this month at General Conference, Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a special moment from President Dallin H. Oaks Devotional here at byu. The Marriott center appeared completely full prior to President Oaks Devotional. Every section and every row looked packed with students. Some students were even being turned away at the door. But there were, in fact, scattered seats still open. But the ushers were struggling to identify in this vast space how to guide students to the right spots. Then something truly beautiful occurred. Students who had already found a seat began turning on their phone flashlights to indicate that there was a vacant seat next to them. Students were literally shining lights, guiding others to hear the words of a prophet, words that would inspire and lift and direct them to Jesus christ. Class of 2026, go let your light so shine. This year, as part of our 150th celebration as a university, we've been celebrating gifts of light. As the president of this university, I've seen your light. As a faculty member, I've seen your light. And most tenderly of all, as a father of a son in this graduating class today I see your light. Forgive me as I speak a bit as a parent and on behalf of all of the parents in saying we love you, we are so proud of you. We see your light shining and we pray that it never dims. As you stay true to your covenants, keep your foundation on Christ, and serve in ways big and small, your light will shine brighter and brighter in a world that so desperately needs illumination. I pray the Lord's choicest blessings on each one of you. Congratulations, class of 2026 and Go Cougs.
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You've been listening to the recent Speeches podcast presented by BYU Speeches. Please check out our other podcasts, including classic speeches taken from our Video Vast Audio Library, as well as other BYU Speeches compilations on love and overcoming adversity by study and by faith. Come follow me. The Prophet Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ Our Savior and Redeemer go to Speeches byu Edu and click on Podcasts for more information. You can also find all BYU Speeches podcasts at your preferred podcast provider.