By HELENA HAR
Marilyn Scholes Bateman spoke in the Wilkinson Center Wednesday in honor of Women’s Month.
“We want the students and faculty to get to know Sister Bateman better and have a closer relationship with her,” saidJean Taylor Scott, director of the Women’s Services and Resources center.
Sister Bateman said the church has made her who she is today and quoted Joan of Arc saying:
“Every woman gives her life to what she believes. Some people believe in little or nothing and yet they give their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have and we live it as we believe it should be lived and then it is gone. To surrender what you are and live with that belief is more terrible than dying — even dying now.”
Sister Bateman said she tries to live by this quote and make sure she is being her own person with her own beliefs.
Sister Bateman said her main goals as first lady of BYU are to support and sustain her husband and communicate her beliefs of the gospel and her family to students and faculty.
“I am proud to be a homemaker and a mother. I never got my college degree and I am not embarrassed by it. I want people to look beyond what people expect me to be and know that I am proud to share the gospel and support my husband,” Sister Bateman said.
Sister Bateman was born in Logan and grew up in American Fork. She and her husband have seven children and 18 grandchildren.
“She is the first lady of the university and a very worthy role model,” said David Sorenson, director of the Counseling and Development Center.
