No doubt, BYU Pathway has been an enormous blessing to so many people all over the world. Still, people can only talk about the History of BYU Pathway after first mentioning the inspiration behind such break through in education. Lets start from the beginning.
There has been lots of Prophesies about the blessings of education moving from the historic Ricks College campus, or what is know now as the Brigham Young University Idaho, one of such prophesies is the one made by President Henry B. Eyring, the then President of Ricks College in December of 1971. While speaking to a group of students and board of trustees of the church education system, he said, “We must also find ways for this college to serve young people whose needs are shaped by a great variety of cultures and situations and who may not be able to come to this campus. We will find direct ways to move the blessing of education … from this campus into the lives of men and women everywhere.”
Anyone living in Idaho at this time would ask how this statement would be possible before internet, cell phones, and computers. But, 40 years later, this vision was fulfilled when pathway connect opened its first international location in Ghana and Mexico to truly get the blessings and ‘spirit of Ricks‘ to everyone no matter where they live.
Another notable prophecy to this regard is the one made by President David A. Bednar while he was serving as the president of Ricks College, he said “It will be necessary for us … to serve ever better the thousands of students we have on campus while simultaneously reaching out to bless the lives of tens of thousands of young Latter-day Saints throughout the world… We must learn to assist and bless institute students and other youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rhode Island and Rome while effectively serving our students on campus in Rexburg.”
This prophecy was also made without an idea of how it would be possible to serve the ten thousand people it would want to reach. Still, nearly 20 years later, BYU Pathway has campuses dotting every continent of the world and nearly all the countries. David A. Bednar’s vision of getting the blessing of education to everyone is made possible through the BYU Pathway program.
A pronouncement worth mentioning also is the most recent pronouncement by Elder Kim B. Clark, in October of 2005; he said, “I’m convinced that we will find new ways to use information technology, new ways to reach more students and to deepen the learning experiences of those we touch … In these experiences students will teach one another in new and powerful ways. The capacity to educate effectively across time and space will allow us to leverage the university's capacity and reach many more young people.” I see this as the clowning of the previous prophecies by two living Apostles of Jesus Christ.
Five years after his pronouncement, Elder Clark directed the launch of the first ever Pathway Connect location in Idaho. Still, this step is the first in what will become an educational revolution that will spread like wild fire, reaching almost all the nooks and crannies of the world, touching and changing many lives.
In 2015 the current BYU Pathway module as we have it today was officially launched and integrated as part of church education system whose mission is “To provide educational opportunities to help Church members throughout the world become true disciples of Jesus Christ, with His gospel embedded deep in their hearts.” You can read more about it here
For a more detailed breakdown on the milestone of the BYU Pathway program, you can read it here
I spoke with one of the BYU Pathway students in Africa. He has to say, “I believe in the power of education to transform lives, and what sets the BYU Pathway program, and of course the church schools apart, is its spiritual education. BYU Pathway is practical in that you see it transform people. I have seen that happen to so many people.”
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