By Janae Wilson
This year, the annual George H. Brimhall Essay Contest and Scholarship competition invites Brigham Young University students to research and learn about Alice Louise Reynolds, a former BYU English professor and the first woman to teach college-level courses at BYU.
Essay participants will research Reynolds” passion for English literature perpetuated the growth and substantiation of BYU”s nationally acclaimed library, according to the Alumni Association Web site.
Many Church and university leaders, including President George Albert Smith, have recognized Reynolds as a driving force for the advancement of BYU and its precepts.
“Her loyal devotion was nowhere better shown than in her relations with Brigham Young University,” said Parley A. Christensen, then chairman of the BYU English Department, in a statement at the time of Reynolds” death. “For more than 40 years the life of this school was her life; its problems, her problems; its triumphs, her triumphs.”
President, then apostle, George Albert Smith, spoke on what he felt were her prominent attributes.
“You may look over the annals of this church and check over the names of the women who have majored in blessing mankind. I think you will find no one who has contributed more unselfishly than Alice Louise Reynolds. To my mind, that was her dominant trait – unselfishness.”
Entries should focus on the 2006 Homecoming theme, “Lighter of Lamps,” a theme inspired by the title of Reynolds” biography, and contain thoughtful insights reflecting personal applications and in-depth studies of the founder.
Visit alumni.byu.edu/saa/brimhall for information and cover sheets. Submit two copies to the ASB or KMB by Sept. 29, 2006, at 3 p.m.
There is also an information workshop on Sept. 21, 2006, at 11 a.m. in B152 JFSB.
