BYU faculty, staff and non-student employees gathered on Sept. 19 for the inaugural One by One Conference in an effort to cultivate belonging on campus through covenant relationships with Jesus Christ.
Scott Goodwin, the director of belonging experiential and clinical learning initiatives, said the conference was created after Julianne Grose, associate vice president of belonging, saw a need for faculty and staff to get to know each other better and collaborate in fostering belonging.
President C. Shane Reese spoke along with Grose in the introduction to the conference.
“We have not yet arrived at a community of covenant belonging,” President Reese said. “I want to repeat that. We have not yet arrived at a community of covenant belonging. We know that we have much work to do.”
President Reese mentioned statistical evidence indicating that although there is work to do, BYU has made progress. He mentioned that 93% of students agree that BYU has helped them achieve their fullest potential. However, President Reese encouraged listeners not to forget about the other 7% who do not feel the same sentiment.
President Reese shared his personal experience with overcoming loneliness as an undergraduate student at BYU. He suggested that the way to increase belonging on campus is by avoiding an excessive focus on one’s own needs and instead reach outward to those who may feel lonely or without purpose.
“We do that as we bind ourselves, not only to one another,” President Reese said, “but even more importantly, we bind ourselves to the Savior, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. By so doing, we act as He would act, we say what He would say, we love as He would love because we’re bound to do so by the covenants that we’ve made with Him.”
Ben Haacke, an administrator visiting from BYU-Idaho, was at the conference and received greater insights about how a covenantal relationship with Jesus Christ can help him reach out to other people.
“We have more strength to be able to do what He would do,” he said.
Goodwin said the conference helped him feel connected to the faculty and staff.
“I’ve just become aware of lots of wonderful things that people are doing throughout campus and it’s helping me to think about the work that I’m doing,” he said.
BYU’s Rhythm N’ Soul Collective performed the song “Total Praise” at the conference and Robert Brandt sang “One by One,” accompanied by Jared Pierce on the piano.
Following the opening address by President Reese, participants broke off into various classes to learn from fellow faculty and staff about their efforts to create a community of covenant belonging.
The conference was the first of its kind, and Goodwin expressed that it was a success.
“There were people saying, 'this is great,' and I would have liked to have heard from even more people and hope that we can do this again,” he said.