Albrecht tells students to be well-rounded
Combining religious studies with university studies to get the most out of an education was Utah State University President Stan Albrecht’s message to students who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during Religion in Life, a weekly event where speakers talks to students.
Albrecht mentioned the typical secular advances one can obtain with a higher-educational degree, but focused his message on the “religious values of an investment in education.” Albrecht showed data from a variety of studies showing that most students who obtained a higher education became less religious, but in 1,000 LDS students across the nation and in Canada, the results were the opposite – the more education they had, the more religious they were.
“I liked how more education didn’t do the same thing for this religion,” Mandy Lund, a junior in nursing, said.
“From its very beginnings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has placed a tremendous emphasis on education,” Albrecht said. Wherever the saints went, one of the first things they did was organize a school or a university, he said.
“I liked how [Albrecht] re-emphasized that ever since the church was founded, education importance was stressed and the glory of God is intelligence,” Eric Lund, a junior in biochemistry, said.
Stressing the importance of education, Albrecht quoted early LDS prophet Brigham Young as saying, “If you find anything that God does not know, you need not learn that thing, but strive to know what God knows and use that knowledge as God uses it and you will become like Him.”
Combining secular and religious knowledge was what Albrecht said he hoped students would do. He said, “Overall, the impact of your education on your religiosity as Latter-day Saints will be positive.”
The importance of gaining knowledge can’t be overshadowed by the importance of living, he said. “Education is about life, not about work,” Albrecht said. “Never, never fear the challenges of a lifetime of learning.”
-albaugh@cc.usu.edu