Friday Forum Rundown: Dr. W. Paul Reeve
By Jex Mecham
This past weekend the SVU campus experienced an uplifting and jam-packed forum. The event’s main speaker, Dr. W. Paul Reeve, delivered an excellent talk on the history of African-Americans members within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Through stories from early members of the LDS Church, Dr. Reeve helped to shed light on the policy changes and opinions that led to the restrictions placed on African-American Latter-Day Saints, and eventual removal of those restrictions in the famous 1978 announcement by former Prophet and LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball.
The history discussed was difficult, but as Dr. Reeve asked, “How do we root out racism [in the Church] if we are unwilling to examine its roots?”
Following the presentation, a special announcement was made to the SVU students from the Board of Trustees regarding the search for a new university president. Bonnie H. Cordon was announced as SVU’s new President, succeeding former University President Reed Wilcox, and Acting President Eric Denna. The announcement came following a months-long search by a committee made up of faculty and board members.
Overall, the weekend was one that will be long remembered by those in attendance, and will have an impact for many years to come. The stories shared by Dr. Reeve brings us to reflect on our past as a Church, and help us to change our future, much as President Cordon will help to shape the future of SVU. It cannot be understated that this is an exciting time to be a Knight.
If you would like to hear more about Bonnie Cordon’s announcement as SVU’s President as well as student reactions, read this article by Abby Hansen here https://medium.com/theherald/bonnie-h-cordon-named-svu-president-announcement-and-student-reactions-c92b613ed11e.
