New BYU-Idaho president charged to align university with prophetically inspired direction
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Charging him with preserving Brigham Young University-Idaho’s “student-centered, teaching-focused culture,” Latter-day Saint leaders formally installed Elder Alvin F. “Trip” Meredith III on Tuesday as the university’s 18th president.
The event combined the academic dressing of a presidential inauguration with the guidance of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a hallmark of BYU-Idaho since its founding in 1888 and its decades as Ricks College.
“I charge you,” Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said to President Meredith, “with the responsibility to be the university’s chief moral and spiritual officer, this being the most important and most demanding of all your duties as president of the university, and charge you to align Brigham Young University-Idaho with its prophetically inspired direction.”
Elder Christofferson, who is also chairman of the executive committee of BYU-Idaho’s board of trustees, announced President Meredith’s appointment on May 16. President Meredith, 53, began his tenure on Aug. 1.
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“BYU-Idaho is a unique and sacred and set-apart place, with a prophetically inspired heritage,” President Meredith said. “By remaining Christ-centered and prophetically directed, continuing to strengthen our teaching focus, preserving the spirit of Ricks and amplifying our message and extending our reach, we will preserve our birthright and continue on the steady, upward course that the Lord established for this university.”
Elder Christofferson and Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles represented the officers of the board of trustees — the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ, which founded, sponsors and guides the university through the Church Educational System.
The BYU-Idaho Center in Rexburg, Idaho, was packed for the inauguration. The audience included three past presidents of BYU-Idaho and the presidents of the other Church Educational System universities and colleges.
“You have been brought by divine design to this wonderful institution at this season of your lives,” Elder Rasband said to President Meredith and his wife, Jennifer.
“In coming to this role, your name, President Meredith, along with Jennifer’s, was approved by the First Presidency and the full board of trustees of BYU-Idaho,” he said. “We love and trust you both and know your service here will amplify BYU-Idaho’s mission to build disciples of Jesus Christ, who will become leaders in their homes, the church and their communities.”
Elder Christofferson’s charge to President Meredith
Elder Christofferson noted that he had known President Meredith since the new president was a teenager. He charged President Meredith with preserving BYU-Idaho’s unique culture and the spirit of Ricks, and to as the university’s chief executive officer, institutional spokesman and overseer of its assets.
“I charge you to exemplify the foundational modesty and frugality that are a hallmark of this institution, which cultivates the spirit of innovation and revelation,” he said.
Elder Christofferson said the board of trustees is led by President Russell M. Nelson, the prophet-president of the church, and “will safeguard you through an increasingly challenging landscape and point the way to academic and spiritual success.
“I charge you to preserve Brigham Young University-Idaho’s student-centered, teaching-focused culture. Help students to develop the whole person, even the eternal person, both in and out of the classroom. Help students and employees to realize and magnify their divine identity as sons and daughters of God and as disciples of Jesus Christ who can lead in their families, the church and their communities.”
After President Meredith responded to the charge, Elder Christofferson spoke again.
“My prayer for everyone associated with Brigham Young University-Idaho is that you may attain true and lasting conversion to Jesus Christ and his gospel,” he said. “May he and your Heavenly Father be your first loyalty, and their commandments your highest priority. May you model your life after the Master’s life.
“As President Nelson recently said, in all your decisions, ‘think celestial,’ so that in eternity you may live in God’s celestial kingdom with a celestial, resurrected body and with those you love most.”
Elder Rasband called both the charge and BYU-Idaho’s governance structure a tremendous advantage for the school, for President Meredith and its faculty, staff and students.
“The distinctive characteristics of being student-centered and teaching-focused, coupled with its innovative roots will continue to direct this institution in accomplishing its design, destiny and purpose,” Elder Rasband said.
The inauguration was conducted by one of BYU-Idaho’s past presidents, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, now a General Authority Seventy and commissioner of the Church Educational System.
“This is this institution with a sacred and set-apart purpose to be a university in Zion, where the Lord is pouring out his blessings on this educational community and through it across the entire church,” Elder Gilbert said.
Elder Gilbert and President Meredith worked together in student government while students at Brigham Young University in Provo.
The other past presidents who attended were the man President Meredith replaced, Henry J. Eyring, who has returned to work at BYU in Provo, Utah, and Elder Kim B. Clark, an emeritus General Authority Seventy.
President Meredith’s response
“Henry Jr. Eyring, my immediate predecessor, led this university with honor and compassion,” President Meredith said. “He was a guardian of the spirit of Ricks. Thank you, President Eyring.”
President Meredith said Eyring recently encouraged him to take BYU-Idaho to higher places.
“His words were an echo of his father, President Henry B. Eyring, who promised ‘we can follow a steady, upward course in a world of change without fear, welcoming the opportunities.’”
President Henry B. Eyring was a president of Ricks College and is now a member of the First Presidency and second vice chair of the board of trustees.
President Meredith shared four ways he wants BYU-Idaho to maintain a steady, upward course.
One, intentionally resolve to remain a Christ-centered, prophetically directed university.
“The board sets the direction and strategy for this university,” he said. “They also have a great love and concern for the rising generation. We must fortify our efforts to stay perfectly aligned with the teachings of living prophets and apostles. We must be purposeful and diligent about maintaining doctrinal purity in every nook and cranny of this university.”
Two, continue to strengthen BYU-Idaho’s core-teaching mission.
Three, focus on preserving BYU-Idaho’s unique culture and the spirit of Ricks.
Four, teach and amplify BYU-Idaho’s message so “students, parents and church members understand BYU-Idaho’s value and impact on the students and the church.”
“As we move forward, we must vigilantly preserve the timeless values and quest for discipleship that characterize BYU-Idaho. This is a unique place and we must keep it that way,” President Meredith said.
The inauguration was attended by BYU President Shane Reese, BYU-Hawaii President John “Keoni” Kauwe, BYU-Pathway Worldwide President Brian Ashton, Ensign College President Bruce Kusch and Chad Webb, administrator of the church’s Seminaries and Institutes of Religion.
Other members of the executive committee of the board of trustees who attended were Elder Paul V. Johnson of the presidency of the Seventy; President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society general president; and Brother Steven J. Lund, Young Men general president.
Who is Elder Alvin F. Meredith III?
President Meredith is a former business executive. In 2018, he had been named internally as the new CEO of Asurion’s Asia business. The day before his role was to be announced publicly, President Henry B. Eyring extended a call to for him to serve as a mission president for the church.
Elder Meredith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 22, 1970, to Alvin Frazier Meredith Jr. and Mary Smart Meredith. He married Jennifer Denise Edgin on June 6, 1998, in the Salt Lake Temple. They have six children.
His nickname, “Trip,” is for triple, because he is the third Alvin Frazier Meredith.
He served in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission as a young man. He was president of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission when he was called as a General Authority Seventy on April 3, 2021.
During his business career, he worked for GE Capital, Boston Consulting Group and Asurion in Tennessee, Hong Kong and Singapore
He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brigham Young University in 1994 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 2001.
Elder Meredith and Sister Meredith kissed at the podium between their remarks on May 16, and he promised the students they would see much more of that. On Tuesday, they kissed twice after she placed the university medallion around his neck at the podium.
“That wasn’t in the notes,” Elder Christofferson said to laughter.
“This office comes with a few privileges,” President Meredith said. “One is to kiss my wife in front of all of you.”
