BYU-I president recaps legacy

Brigham Young University-Idaho’s president looked back on what his administration calls a successful legacy Friday.

“We were called here to lead this institution for a period of time, and we tried to do that. We leave feeling really good,” said President Kim Clark.

During Clark’s 10 years as the university’s president, the institution has worked to improve the quality of its education, increase enrollment numbers, and lower the cost of education. Clark said many of these objectives were accomplished through programs like the Three-Track System and Pathway.

“There is a tremendous unmet need for affordable, high quality education,” said Clark.

The Pathway program has connected thousands of online students from institutions within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints faith to higher education. The one-year track has allowed many people who are without high school diplomas to qualify for admission into BYU-Idaho’s online degree programs.

Clark said his success must be credited to prophetic leadership. When looking to expand on the universities infrastructure, Clark recalled a conversation with former church President Gordon B. Hinckley about the BYU-Idaho Center.

“President Hinckley called me on the phone; this did not happen often. He said, ‘I’ve been thinking about your building. You need to make it bigger and you need to build it now.'”

But while noting accomplishment, Clark said he couldn’t overlook the challenges of overcrowding that come with any institution of higher education.

“We have over 16,000 students. During the fall semester, we expect it to be over 17,000,” said Clark. “In that situation, the big issue we face is how do we grow, serving more and more students, but not lose the sense of intimacy and personal feeling that has categorized this school for decades.”

These is just one of the issues the new president, Clark Gilbert, will be faced with. But this isn’t the end of the line for President Kim Clark. He will take on the responsibility of general authority within the First Quorum of the Seventy within the LDS church.