The phrase has been parodied, of course. "Enter to learn; go forth to earn" is the most repeated.

Motto magazine played on the idea in its press release: "Mitt Romney got his BA from this renowned Mormon university, where he was valedictorian. He learned, then he went forth to make boatloads of money. Now he wants to serve in the White House."

The reason the motto is a worldwide smash is that it is a philosophy that resonates with educators and students.

In 1966, Wilkinson sent Grow a memo: "Once again may I thank you for the slogan, 'Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve.' (Wilkinson used a comma; the BYU style guide now calls for a semicolon. Thought you'd want to know.) This is going to be all the more impressive as the years go by."

Wilkinson was right.

LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley has urged every student to make it his or her personal motto. (Yes, he said motto.)

"Walk the high road of charity, respect, and love for others and particularly those who are less fortunate," he said on campus in 2003.

Former NFL star Vai Sikahema told students to remember it as a solemn covenant.

"Over the years as I return to Provo," he said, "I always find myself looking at that sign and ... wondering if my life reflects that model."

Speaking for his graduating class in 2006, Andrew Maxfield went even further, referring to what he said was the Lord's investment in the students and perhaps to the tithing of LDS Church members who subsidize BYU's operation to the tune of tens of millions of dollars a year.

"By attending BYU we have received something of a divine investiture. What is required of us now is to exhaust ourselves in service. And thanks to our BYU education, we are uniquely equipped to do so."

In his commencement address in 2004, Elder Henry B. Eyring of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve said, "We welcomed you, I hope warmly, when you came in the door to learn, and this is the day we show you the door, with a smile, on your way out to serve."

It was just another way to say what Halifax Grammar School in Nova Scotia has made a part of its mission statement.

"Inito ad discendum, exito ad serviendum."

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com