Institute impact — Program is prominent part of student life at U.
Young adults lounged with laptops, iPods and textbooks on the sofa chairs arranged plentifully throughout the building. While two students discussed the war in Iraq, two others sat at a table conversing with the full-time missionaries.
Contrast that with the previous night, when three young men took the stage to perform Weezer's "Buddy Holly" with the help of the "Rock Band" video game. It was part of a fraternity- and sorority-sponsored carnival for Rush Week. Also spotted were a mechanical bull and an inflatable slide that nearly scraped the cultural hall ceiling.
Two nights later, there was a stomp. On Sunday, six stakes met throughout the institute building and the two stake centers adjacent to it, all of which constitute 31 acres on South Campus Drive.
Welcome to LDS U.
If there is one thing the student leadership and faculty at the Salt Lake University Institute are adamant in agreement upon, it's that the University of Utah can be a haven for students who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"People will tell you sometimes that the University of Utah is a place that's not really very friendly to LDS people, and that's not true," said Russel Lindsay, interchapter president for Sigma Gamma Chi, an institute-sponsored fraternity.
In fact, "friendly" is just the type of atmosphere that institute leaders have labored to create. Their hope is that the classy brick building with white trim, located just across the street from the Huntsman Center, represents a spiritual and social retreat for students. And by all indications, their efforts have been realized. From firesides in the chapel to fussball in the game room, the institute has become an integral part of the university experience for a significant number of LDS students on the hill.
The interior of the institute building is like a muscled-up version of the average LDS meetinghouse, with multiple chapels, two gyms, countless bishop's offices and hallways that seem to never end.
The program itself is also large-scale. According to the Church Educational System Web site, the Salt Lake University Institute has the largest institute enrollment in the church (7,090). Twenty-nine full-time and 30 volunteer instructors combine to teach 250 classes spread throughout 25 classrooms. Faculty meetings resemble an all-star gospel doctrine class, with instructors discussing the scriptures, applying principles to classroom situations and engaging in thoughtful discussion complete with some gentle disagreement.
The ultimate objective at the institute, however, is the same across the board.
"The mission of this institute of religion I don't think is any different than any other institute of religion, which is to provide a weekday religious class experience for students attending the University of Utah ... to give them a spiritual part to their day or week," institute director Allan Gunnerson said.
What constitutes that "spiritual part" is multi-faceted and often determined by what the individual student is looking to get out of institute, which isn't always entirely academic. Students and instructors agree that the social aspect is a significant draw, and Gunnerson acknowledged that the mission of an institute of religion is "a little different" than that of BYU, with more emphasis put on providing a "respite" for young adults.
But Gunnerson, who has worked for five years as institute director, also knows that it's the feelings generated in the classroom setting that keep students coming back.
"We socialize, but we also learn," said Gunnerson, who is in his 11th year on the faculty.
Longtime instructor Michael Wilcox, who has nearly 20 years of experience teaching at the university institute, said students have "an instinctive sense" that they need to turn to the scriptures during the formative years of college.
"These kids vote with their feet," Wilcox said. "And if they're not being fed in a class, you won't see them."
According to Wilcox, commitment characterizes the students attending the university institute.
"We'd like to have every LDS kid on campus if we could get them all here, and we work to it, but those who come by and large are very committed students," he said.
Rob Line, who specializes in teaching the parables of Jesus, agrees that students who come on their own volition want to be "fed spiritually."
"It's my feeling, as much as they want the social, I think a lot of the average students want the spiritual side of it even more," Line said.
"Spirit" is a well-used word around the institute building, and it's applied on more than one level.
Like explaining why there are nachos or ice cream provided for students on a weekday afternoon.
"The atmosphere, whether there are activities going on or food in the atrium, everybody just seems a lot happier and lively up at the institute, and it's just a fun place to be and spend your free time," said Clayton Alvey, president of the Latter-day Saints Student Association.
According to Gunnerson, each university takes on a "spirit of place," and a committee by the same name at the university institute tries to cultivate a unique atmosphere. The committee's responsibilities include providing snacks for students ("Food is the soul of a young adult," Gunnerson says) and decorating the building to help visitors feel welcome. There are bowls of candy spread throughout the institute, and two large red banners with the University of Utah drum and feather logo hang from the ceiling.
The environment is unmistakably Utah.
Gunnerson, who acknowledges that atmosphere is a "big deal" for him personally, said the ideal is to create a place where students of all faiths can feel accepted, socialize with those who have similar standards and supplement their university education with a spiritual education. He wants the institute to be one of the locations where students choose to be when not in class.
"I'm trying to create an atmosphere here where this is kind of the Union Building No. 2," said Gunnerson, referring to the student building on the university campus.
Inviting elements are everywhere, from wireless Internet to racks of basketballs in the cultural hall. There's a game room and even a deli that operates during lunch hours.
Jillian Olsen, the interchapter president of the Lambda Delta Sigma sorority, suggested that for a commuter school like the University of Utah, the institute building can help promote unity.
"They feel like they're a part of an actual campus and feel like they have a place," said Olsen, who is from Murray and graduated in May with a degree in nursing. "It's easy to feel lost in 20,000 people."
Gunnerson said he's spoken with parents who were devastated by their child not being accepted into BYU, wondering if the U. will provide a positive environment for an LDS student. His reaction? He simply smiles, knowing that the institute will provide a "safe place" for their son or daughter.
"I think at times, people don't know that, even within our own community," he said.
The positive impact of the institute appears to extend onto campus and subsequently into the lives of students.
Gunnerson said he's never known of a time when there was a closer relationship between the institute of religion and the university.
"Even though we are not the university, we feel part of the university community," said Gunnerson, who also attended the U. as a student. "We, of course, must maintain our autonomy as a separate organization, but we want a close relationship."
Said Wilcox, whose son is a student at Utah: "The university is very supportive, and we try to be very supportive of them. There is no animosity between the university and the institute. We feel we're both in our own ways trying to make the college experience for these students as fine an experience as can be."
University spokesman Fred Esplin said the two institutions have a "very close and warm relationship." According to Esplin, the institute has made contributions toward student government, the Muss student fan club and the Greek system. The Lambda Delta Sigma sorority has 17 chapters and around 800 members, while the Sigma Gamma Chi fraternity has 10 chapters and about 500 members.
"The institute and its programs are the single largest way that our students get involved in extracurricular activities," Esplin said.
The institute also helps facilitate student involvement in community service.
"They're good citizens, so there's a very good reciprocal relationship that the university values greatly," Esplin said.
Two individuals who serve in prominent leadership positions at the institute, Lindsay and Alvey, both waited until their junior years before getting extensively involved in the program. Alvey, a senior from Bountiful majoring in international studies, said he regrets not having that experience his first two years.
"When people put the effort into the institute and the programs offered through here, I think it opens the window to opportunity to having one of the best college experiences you can have that perhaps wouldn't be possible without that," he said.
Lindsay, who graduated last May with a degree in electrical engineering, said his calling to a leadership position in the fraternity coincided with his most difficult semester of school. His institute responsibilities required him to attend activities three nights a week, all while balancing studies and a part-time job.
"I've never gotten better grades," he said. "Institute has done more for me than I ever expected it to do, and I think I've given it more than I expected to."
According to Olsen, the student determines what type of experience he or she will have in institute.
"You're going to get out whatever you put into it," she said. "You just need to want to do it. And then you'll find that it's very rewarding."
Fast facts
SALT LAKE UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF RELIGION
• The institute building itself includes two identical wings with a connecting atrium and is 115,000 square feet. There are four chapels, two cultural halls, five serving areas, a large choir room, 25 classrooms, and multiple offices for bishops, stake presidents and student leaders.
• The institute-sponsored Lambda Delta Sigma sorority has 17 chapters and about 800 members. The institute-sponsored Sigma Gamma Chi fraternity has 10 chapters and about 500 members. Fraternity and sorority advisers are called to their positions.
• Twenty-nine full-time instructors, 30 volunteer instructors, 14 secretaries and 10 service missionaries are assigned to the university institute.
• Six stakes (four single, two married) meet at the institute building and its two adjacent stake centers, which cover 31 acres.
• Student leaders are called and set apart by leaders of one of the university stakes.
E-mail: ashill@desnews.com
Recent comments
It's true. You do get out of it what you put into it. I would...
Peter B | Jan. 21, 2008 at 9:57 a.m.
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