PROVO, Utah — Patty Garfield of Clinton, Utah, has a 12-year-old tradition. Every year she takes a week for herself, a week to learn and to meet other people. She starts at 8:30 a.m. and doesn't stop until 9:45 p.m. for four days.

Photo by Sarah Jane Weaver

Students during Campus Education Week traverse BYU campus in setting with colorful flowers and warm summer sun. Some 22,000 attended.

And when BYU Campus Education Week is over, she makes plans for the next year.

In essence, she and thousands of others are "hooked" on the annual conference.

This year, Sister Garfield was one of 22,000 who traveled from all 50 states and a dozen countries to the BYU Provo campus Aug. 15 -19, attending classes on family and marriage relations, education, finance, religion and self-improvement.

She learned a little bit about everything, she said, including something about Joseph Smith, the conference theme. In fact, 97 of the 1,100 addresses centered on the "life and contribution" of the Church's first latter-day prophet, said Neil Carlile, Campus Education Week director.

Originally called "Leadership Week," the conference is now in its 83rd year and is believed to be the largest single-event continuing education program in the world. Campus Education Week is sponsored by BYU and the Church Educational System.

The program — attended by 72 percent women and 28 percent men — began in 1922 and was attended by just more than 2,000 people. By 1990, enrollment was 30,000 and peaked in 1994, with 36,500. Although campus attendance declined after that, the program has a larger reach now than ever before; through BYU Television alone selected broadcasts reach a potential audience of 35 million. And, as has been done over the past decade, classes are still broadcast to meetinghouses across the world via the Church satellite system.

In addition, 156 Education Week presentations have been taped since 1995 and are continually rebroadcast on BYU TV.

The program also seems to reach new people all the time. Although the number attending the conference remains constant, 10,000 people attend each year that did not attend the previous year, said Bruce Payne, coordinator of Campus Education Week.

Local community leaders say almost every hotel room in Provo is full during the annual event, which is estimated to have a local economic impact of more than $4 million.

This issue of the Church News features summaries of selected Education Week presentations. (The opening of education week was reported in the issue of Aug. 20.) In addition, 12 presentations will be translated and broadcast this year over the Church satellite system and BYU TV to the United States and Canada Sept. 13-16. Eight of those will be translated and broadcast over the Church satellite system to Europe, South Africa, Mexico, Central America, South America, Asia and the Pacific on Sept. 10 and Sept. 17. The broadcasts will also be carried on KBYU TV in Utah on Sunday mornings from Sept. 18 through Dec. 11.

E-mail to: sarah@desnews.com