MOSCOW, Idaho — A historic pulpit presented May 6 to Elder Henry B. Eyring during a weekend commemorating the 75th anniversary of Institute of Religion at the University of Idaho is an appropriate symbol of early religious education here.

Photo by Geoff Crimmins

Institute students participate in open house during 75th anniversary celebration May 5.

"The day we are celebrating is the arrival of a teacher," said Elder Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve and Commissioner of Church Education. "There was no building. There was no curriculum. It was a teacher. What a better symbol of a commemoration of a teacher than a pulpit."

The pulpit was part of the Church's first institute building in Moscow, Idaho, constructed in 1928 adjacent to the University of Idaho — two years after J. Wyley Sessions became the Church's first institute director. That building housed the institute program until the mid-1960s, when it was replaced by a new building on the same site in 1968.

Since then the pulpit used by Brother Sessions, and other early institute directors, was kept in storage. However, for the commemoration, university volunteers refurbished the heirloom, and awarded it as a joint gift with the institute to Elder Eyring. For now, the pulpit will remain in Moscow on display at the institute.

"Today I have been treated so warmly and this gift is an extension of the warmth and hospitality the University of Idaho has always shown to our institute program," Elder Eyring said. "From this place a program started — a program that because of its great success here has gone across the earth to bless the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people. We are appreciative of the hospitality shown by the gift of this refurbished pulpit."

Other events during the two-day commemoration May 5-6 also illustrated the good relationship shared by University of Idaho officials and the institute.

• More than 60 University of Idaho students and alumni participated in a tree planting on campus May 5. The Royal Red Maple tree is a gift from the LDS Student Association to the university. LDSSA president Peter Leman conducted the service, attended by university President Robert Hoover.

• That evening more than 300 Church members attended an institute reunion banquet, followed by an open house. Many early institute graduates participated in the events, during which President Hoover spoke about his goals for the University of Idaho.

• Before presenting the pulpit to Elder Eyring May 6, University of Idaho administrators showed a video they made retracing the history of the school and the institute. Among other things, the video praised the institute for starting cooperative living groups in the institute dormitory during the Great Depression. The university picked up on the idea of cooperative living — a movement that eventually spread to other college campuses across the nation.

• University officials attended Elder Eyring's CES fireside address, held that evening in the school's Kibbie Activity Center and broadcast by satellite to college-age young adults worldwide.