By RUTHANN WRIGHT and TAMARA NATASHA SPENCE
Commenting on the issue of international growth, President Bateman said in a speech given Feb. 12, in 20 to 30 years international students will make up 25 percent of the BYU population.
Danilo Garcia is among the influx of international students who have come to BYU to further their education. Failing the TOEFL by one point in his homeland of Lagunillas, Venezuela, Garcia came to Utah and took an ESL course.
After finishing the ESL course, Garcia was accepted into LDS Business College; putting him one step closer to his dream of attending BYU.
“I wanted to come to BYU because of the spiritual environment as well as to further my education,” Garcia said.
After graduating from LDS Business College, Garcia’s dream of attending BYU was finally realized. In December 1997, Garcia will graduate with his master’s degree in accounting.
The path to BYU has become increasingly worn with a new infusion of international students. Since 1965 BYU has experienced an exponential growth in its international student population.
Among these Venezuelan students increased from 1 in 1972 to 14 in 1997; South Africa students, 1 in 1972 to 32 in 1996; Italian students, 5 in 1972 to 28 in 1997; Brazilian students, 10 in 1965 to 69 in 1997 and Mexican students, 29 in 1965 to 142 in 1997.
Audrey Spear, a 24-year-old history major from Capetown, South Africa, credits the increase of South African students at BYU partly to the precarious political situation in her homeland.
“South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world right now. Parents are more willing now to send their children to BYU,” Spear said.
In addition to the unstable political situation, Spear said the social turmoil and deterioration of the educational system has also contributed to the new influx of South African students to BYU.
Dan Galbraith, an instructor at BYU who specializes in South African history, agrees with Spear’s evaluation. “I don’t believe many LDS South Africans are happy with the political situation there. Coming to BYU is a way out for them,” Galbraith said.
While the number of international students at BYU has increased over the past 32 years, some claim the growth is small and insignificant at best.
Myriam Ramsey, an associate professor of Portuguese at BYU and a native of Brazil, doesn’t believe the international student population at BYU is representative of the church worldwide.
“There are a half million members of the church in Brazil, but when you compare that to only the 69 Brazilians who attend BYU, it’s not a very impressive number.”
Madison U. Sowell, chair of the French and Italian Department, recognizes the church’s responsibility in promoting international growth among the student population at BYU.
“BYU forms an integral part of the church and must sustain the church’s mission — not only nationally but internationally. As the church becomes increasingly international, so must BYU,” he said.
Sowell predicts the international student population at BYU will continue to increase. “Members … want a quality education for their children in a climate where faith supplements reason.”
