Students, faculty and members of the community gathered on Tuesday for the inauguration of Alvin F. Meredith III, the 18th president of BYU-Idaho.
After the inauguration, student reporters from BYU-Idaho Radio and Scroll spoke to students and people on campus to get their reactions to the historic event.
“Immediately I could see President Meredith’s light,” said Dallin Scott, a senior studying computer information technology. “That is by far one of his most distinguishing characteristics, his light and his smile. And so it was amazing to me just to see that enthusiasm for life and that vibrance in his eyes and in his smile.”
Scott also shared his admiration for President Meredith’s demonstration of love for his wife, Sister Jennifer Meredith, during the event.
“One of my favorite parts was when he gave his wife a kiss, and then, because it wasn’t good enough, he went back and he did it right,” Scott said.
In The Crossroads, Jared Austin, a sophomore studying business and communication, shared his favorite part of President Meredith’s address during the inauguration.
“I thought it was awesome the way that he ended his remarks when he pledged to honor the charge that he’d been given,” Austin said, “to make sure that he followed through on helping us to become better, helping us to be more aligned with Christ.”
The musical numbers for the inaugural event were performed by the BYU-I combined choirs and members of the symphony orchestra. Brianna Schmidt was a member of the symphony orchestra at the event and shared what her experience was like in an interview with Scroll.
“It was super fun,” Schmidt said. “It was a really cool experience to be super close to the apostles … to have them just right there. And it’s really amazing music, too. I love that we played the piece by Mack Wilberg, (because) the Tabernacle played it before.”
In addition to hearing from President Meredith, Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Ronald A. Rasband from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delivered addresses to the audience.
Scroll also spoke with Parker Steed, an usher for BYU-I who worked at the event, about his thoughts on the remarks shared at the inauguration.
“I think it was (Elder) Christofferson who talked about how … we’re more than just our degree,” Steed said. “We’re here to do something more. We’re here to be disciples of Christ.”
President Meredith addressed students at the inauguration. Photo credit: Mario Miguel
In addition to students, faculty members also widely attended President Meredith’s inauguration. In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, Nathan Watson, a first-year experience coordinator for BYU-I, shared his thoughts on the historic event.
“What a special opportunity,” Watson said, “one, for current students at BYU-Idaho to be a part of something like that, but two, to see the light and the energy that President and Sister Meredith will be able to bring to BYU-Idaho is awesome. To continue what the past presidents have done … to live out that prophetic prophecy from Elder Eyring is just an awesome thing to experience today.”
Read more about the inauguration and the speaker’s remarks here.
View Scroll‘s video with student reactions to the inauguration here.
