The BYU graduating class of 2025 was encouraged to be a light to the world at the BYU Commencement exercises at the Marriott Center on April 24.
BYU President C. Shane Reese and many other speakers shared messages of faith and service. President Reese wished each member of the graduating class of 2025 the brightest of futures.
President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife were present, as well as Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife. Also present were distinguished guests, including Utah Senator Mike Lee.
President C. Shane Reese
President Reese opened up the commencement and welcomed the class of 2025.
He shared with the graduating class that in this moment of division, BYU graduates stand as examples of peacemaking by going forth and serving others in ways that emulate Jesus Christ. He quoted words from President Russell M. Nelson.
“Obtaining an education and getting knowledge are a religious responsibility," President Reese quoted. "We educate our minds so that one day we can render service of worth to somebody else.”
President Reese also shared with the BYU graduates that it is their humble responsibility to be Christ’s ambassadors to the world.
“I promise you, others will see what you’re doing and very soon more shovels will follow,” President Reese said, referring to the snow drift game model.
After his remarks, President Reese and Academic Vice President Justin M. Collings took part in the conferring of degrees. President Reese officially recognized each of the graduates’ respective degrees.
Hillary Nielsen
Hillary Nielsen, president of the BYU Alumni Association, then conferred lifelong membership in the BYU Alumni Association to the class of 2025.
Nielsen said to the graduates that each of them carries within them the light of divine guidance.
“As you move forward, embrace that light,” Nielsen said. “Trust that the Lord has a plan for you, even in the moments that feel uncertain — especially in the moments that feel uncertain. Know that He loves you.”
Amy Ortiz Sanchez
Nielsen was followed by Amy Ortiz Sanchez, a BYU student graduating in communications with an emphasis in journalism.
Ortiz Sanchez said that everyone has an underdog story. She also shared her underdog story of how her speaking to the BYU class of 2025 is a miracle, having emigrated from Mexico at the age of nine, barely able to write or speak a sentence in English.
“We have made it to this moment with proof that God works through the unlikely — the underdogs — to accomplish the impossible,” Ortiz Sanchez said.
She also told the class of 2025 that forks in the road will require them to choose where they stand and which path to follow.
"I know, as I have seen in every other underdog story, including my own, that choosing to anchor ourselves in the foundation of faith and study — this dual heritage — that we have acquired at this university and throughout our lives, will always reap the greatest victories," Ortiz Sanchez said to the class of 2025.
Judge J. Clifford Wallace
After Ortiz Sanchez’s remarks, President Reese conferred an honorary doctorate degree of law and public service to Judge J. Clifford Wallace, the longest serving federal judge in the United States.
Judge Wallace asked the class of 2025 to remember the words that Elder LeGrand Richards, formerly of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, shared with him as they go out to the world.
“Your first responsibility is to your family, the second to the Church, and if you have any time left over, you can earn a living,” Judge Wallace said, quoting Elder Richards.
He also said that ordering priorities was essential.
“I found that if I carefully and prayerfully made the most important parts of my life consistent with their eternal worth, I accomplished much more of real value in my life’s endeavors,” Judge Wallace said.
President Dallin H. Oaks
After Wallace’s remarks, President Dallin H. Oaks shared congratulatory remarks to Judge Wallace. President Oaks shared that his brief purpose was to carry out an assignment to give Wallace the congratulations of President Russell M. Nelson.
“Speaking from our commitment to the divinely inspired principles of the U.S. Constitution, which applies to all men, we believe in the rule of law,” President Oaks said. “We honor Judge Wallace as a worthy example of that rule of law and commend his example to lawyers, judges and citizens worldwide.”
Elder Clark G. Gilbert
After a musical number by the BYU Men’s Chorus, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, commissioner of the Church Educational System, addressed the class of 2025.
Elder Gilbert spoke to the BYU graduates on the need to balance an expectation for professional and academic distinction with the integrity of faith.
“We want you to be excellent in your professional and community engagement. But never let others’ agendas replace or subordinate your discipleship,” Elder Gilbert said.
Elder Gilbert also invited the BYU graduates to be a light on the hill, a reference to Matthew 5:14.
“As you leave BYU today, have the courage to stand up and be that light to the world,” Elder Gilbert said. “Maintain your spiritual integrity even as you engage as an ambassador and peacemaker.”
The students
“I thought it was a wonderful experience,” Aly Radford, a BYU student graduating in exercise science, said. She added that she “definitely felt the spirit and (it) was wonderful to be able to look back on the last years here and everything that we've learned.”
Gabriela Marquez, a BYU student graduating from the College of Nursing, thought that Amy Ortiz Sanchez did a phenomenal job.
“She was very well-spoken and she was really kind, and you could see that she was very proud of her achievements as well,” Marquez said.
Roy Park, a graduate from the College of Life Sciences, said his favorite part of commencement is the atmosphere.
"As soon as you sit down, you get to see the waves of people who went through the college courses and those who supported you from behind you, and so it's just the people that makes it awesome," Park said.
