A pair of student archaeology researchers recently uncovered forgotten burial sites beneath BYU. What began as an investigation in the archives has blossomed into a vital conversation about how we remember those who have passed.
Every day thousands of students walk on campus without realizing they are walking over layers of history. Long before classrooms, brick façades, and construction cranes defined the landscape of Brigham Young University, the land held homes, communities, and burial sites.
That became the focus of research conducted by senior archeology majors Jessi Olsen from Rochester, Minnesota, and Aletta Day from Cincinnati, Ohio, under the mentorship of anthropology professor Paul Stavast.
Their project, presented at the December 2025 Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference and earning fourth place in the Redd Center for Western Studies category, revealed that human remains had been uncovered during earlier campus construction, yet there is no unifying long-term policy to guide how such findings should be handled.
Piecing Together the Past
The students combed through archives of old newspaper clippings and scattered historical references. Sources were limited and sometimes contradictory, forcing them to slow down and compare accounts carefully.
“There’s not much about this topic, so it was difficult to find sources,” Day says. “We had to look at old newspaper clippings and ask: ‘How accurate are these?’”
In one instance, two newspaper articles appeared to describe the same burial but disagreed on the identity of the remains. Only after finding an additional source did the students realize there had been two separate burials.
“It was rewarding to piece together as much of the story as we could,” Olsen notes.
However, the work carried not only intellectual difficulty but also deep emotional weight, as it concerned real individuals whose remains had been uncovered during earlier construction.
“Learning how to talk about the project in a way that is respectful and keeps a sacred nature about it was one of the challenges,” Day states.
Olsen views the implications of these findings as both historical and moral, arguing that we have an ethical duty to recognize the mortuary landscapes that preceded campus life.
“Before we were here, there were other people here. That’s something to know and to be respectful of,” she says.
Mentorship That Makes Research Real
Stavast treats undergraduate researchers as active participants in the process, expecting them to make decisions about sources and to defend how they interpret them.
“If you want to be a historian, an archaeologist, or any kind of researcher, these experiences teach you what that job is actually like,” he shares.
The structure of that process shaped the students’ work week by week. Meetings were not just for updates but primarily working sessions, where language was refined, claims were tightened, and questions were revisited. Throughout the process, the project required them to think carefully about responsibility, especially given the sensitivity of the topic.
For Olsen, the most lasting part of the experience had less to do with preparing and presenting the research poster and more to do with the collaboration behind it. Weeks of working alongside faculty created a kind of academic trust that doesn’t develop overnight. Being vulnerable and having her ideas challenged or reshaped ultimately strengthened both the project and her confidence as a researcher.
“It was a really good experience to strengthen relationships with faculty and to experience sharing your research,” she notes.
From Poster to Purpose
Although the project debuted at the student research conference, it was never intended to end there. Presenting their findings publicly required Olsen and Day to articulate not only what they discovered but why it mattered. Consequently, they transitioned from being passive consumers to active contributors of knowledge.
Sharing their work has also sparked ongoing conversations. What began as a student research project now carries implications for campus planning, policy discussions, and historical awareness. This is the impact of quality research — research that aligns with the mission of the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences: it calls us to promote the dignity and divine nature of all of God’s children and encourages students, faculty, and staff to be engaged and compassionate citizens.
Plan to present your research at the Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference. Submissions are due March 31 by 2 p.m.