President Oaks Quote Added to BYU Carillon Bell Tower

At a special presentation following his devotional address at Brigham Young University (BYU) on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, a plaque was unveiled honoring President Dallin H. Oaks of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with an inscription from his talk.

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“I firmly believe,” the quote says, “that it is the destiny of Brigham Young University to become what past and present prophets knew it could become. With the consecration and leadership of this community, BYU will become the great university of the Lord — not in the world’s way but in the Lord’s way.”

This plaque will be placed at the Carillon Bell Tower and will accompany a separate one from former Church President Spencer W. Kimball’s dedication of the musical landmark on BYU’s campus on October 10, 1975.

“Just as these bells will lift the hearts of the hearers when they hear the hymns and anthems played to Thy glory,” President Kimball said during the university’s centennial year, “let the morality of the graduates of this university provide the music of hope for the inhabitants of this planet.”

The 97-foot-tall tower was erected in 1975 as a centennial gift donated by students, faculty, and alumni. President Oaks was president of BYU when the tower was installed. During the academic semesters and spring and summer terms, a carillonneur plays a 30-minute recital on most weekdays beginning at noon. The “Come, Come, Ye Saints” theme is played automatically on the hour.

Designed to endure, the tower has 53 bells, all of which were cast in Holland. The largest bell weighs 3 tons, or 6,000 pounds. The smallest bell weighs about 21½ pounds.

At the tower’s dedication in 1975, President Oaks called it a “landmark to signal the completion of our first century and to remind us of lofty hopes with which we inaugurate our second century.”

More than 50 years after the bells first rang, the addition of President Oaks’ words ensures that BYU’s mission remains anchored to its “lofty hopes” and its identity as the “great university of the Lord.”

Watch President Oaks’ February 10 address at BYU, “Coming Closer to Jesus Christ.”