Over the past five years, under the leadership of Dean Laura Padilla-Walker and in close collaboration with faculty and staff, the college has expanded internship opportunities, increased nationally recognized research, strengthened belonging initiatives, and seen more students report that their faith and testimony have grown. Padilla-Walker has been appointed to serve a second five-year term as dean of the college.

Serving as sociology department chair for the past five years, Child has demonstrated that he is a highly organized and effective administrator. He brings expertise in organizational sociology and mentored research to the colleges academic leadership team. Child hopes to build on the thoughtful and creative leadership of Mikaela Dufur, who is leaving to lead the Washington Seminar as faculty advisor for the upcoming fall and winter semesters.

Isabel Emery (Anthropology), from Riverton, Utah, completed an internship evaluating NGO programs in Malawi and wrote an undergraduate thesis on research conducted at the Provo Farmers Market. She begins a masters degree in public health this fall.

Hannah Dahl (Economics), from Provo, Utah, graduated with a double major in economics and mathematics and begins a PhD in economics this fall.

Ethan Harris (Geography), from Connell, Washington, graduated with a global studies emphasis and a secondary major in Portuguese studies. He plans to pursue a masters degree in LusoBrazilian literature at BYU.

Erik Palmer (History), from Eagle, Idaho, graduated with a minor in ancient Near Eastern studies. He contributed to Dead Sea Scrolls projects and a new Hebrew textbook during his undergraduate years and begins a masters program at Harvard Divinity School this fall.

Dallin Bundy (Political Science), from St. George, Utah, was named a 2025 Truman Scholar and completed internships in Washington, DC, and for the Office of the Governor of Utah. He begins studies at BYU Law School this fall.

Evelyn Thrasher (Psychology), from Prosper, Texas, completed a secondary major in Spanish studies and a minor in international development. She will attend divinity school this fall, pursuing a career in chaplaincy.

Anna Lemke (Family Life), from Los Alamos, New Mexico, graduated with an emphasis in human development and a minor in gerontology. She plans to pursue a masters degree in social work or occupational therapy.

Alexandra Williams (Sociology), from Fullerton, California, researched adverse childhood experiences and child maltreatment. She begins a master of social work program this fall.

History Professor Tyson Reeder was awarded the 2025 George Washington Prize for his book

(Oxford University Press, 2024). One of the nations most prestigious awards in historical scholarship, the $50,000 prize is presented annually to honor the years most outstanding book on Americas founding era. Reeder was recognized at a gala dinner in New York City on October 8, 2025. Previous prize recipients include Annette Gordon-Reed for

and Lin-Manuel Miranda for

, placing Reeder in distinguished company. Serpent in Eden also won the Book of the Year Award from the

.

To celebrate 30 years since President Gordon B. Hinckley introduced The Family: A Proclamation to the World, the School of Family Life cosponsored a conference titled Experiencing Jesus Christ Through the Family Proclamation. The two-day event brought together faculty and staff to explore research supporting the proclamations teachings. The event allowed a generation of students who werent born when the proclamation was given to engage with this seminal text. Sister Amy Wright, first counselor in the Primary General Presidency, gave the keynote message. Professors Natalie Hancock, Dana Hunter, and Larry Nelson presented Finding Joy and Confidence in Following the Proclamation. Brian Willoughby, Chelom Leavitt, Loren Marks, and Adam Rogers participated in the panel Establishing Successful Marriages and Families.

Students helped Paul Stavast rescue a collection of Near Eastern artifacts in New York. Students collaborated with Lynette Finau and Paul Stavast to host the Honoring the Principles of Tonga event. Greg Thompson led the Seoul Field School, where 19 students conducted independent ethnographic research on Korean culture and society. Becky Schulthies led students to Fez, Morocco, where they collaborated with Moroccan university students to research social and cultural issues in one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities. Zach Chase directed the archaeology field school in Hawaii and northern Utah. With the History Department, Mike Searcy cohosted BYUs first Young Historian Camp, featuring student excavations at a 1,000-year-old Fremont site in Provo. Greg Thompson received the Innovation in Mentoring Award. Paul Stavast received the Experiential Learning Award from the BYU Office of Careers and Experiential Learning.

At the WHOI, student Sam Lee developed machine learning models to analyze coral reef imagery and identify heat-tolerant reefs for restoration in the Marshall Islands. Student Samantha Bedell won a top award for her poster presentation at PAA. Olga Stoddard and coauthors published Who You Gonna Call? Gender Inequality in External Demands for Parental Involvement in

. Brigham Frandsen received the Martin Hickman Outstanding Scholar Award and gave the annual Hickman lecture on The Secret Life of Causal Effects. For the eighth year, Arden Pope III was named a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate, with nearly 200 publications cited over 99,000 times.

Doctoral student Luca Codec and masters student Julia Christensen coauthored Client Perspectives of Premature Discontinuation in Couple Therapy, which was later featured by Military REACH. A new FCS education minor was introduced. The BYU MOA collaborated with FCS education students to host its first-ever fashion show, inspired by art in

exhibition on loan from the Museo de Arte de Ponce. Faculty led study abroad programs across Europe. Alex Jensens Parents Favor Daughters was published in

and received national media attention. Faculty awards went to Amber Williams, UAFCS Leader Award; Natalie Hancock, Karl G. Maeser Professional Faculty Excellence Award; Adam Rogers, Early Career Teaching Award; Rick Miller, AAMFT Legacy Award; Jonathan Sandberg, ICEFT Research Fellow Award; and Daye Son, 2026 Brigham Award. Brian Willoughby began as School of Family Life director on July 1, 2026.

Valedictorian Kyle Bird (BS 25) published his honors thesis Analyzing the Relationship Between Tree Canopy Coverage and Snowpack in the Great Salt Lake Watershed, in

. Ruth Kerry collaborated with engineering and environmental science students and faculty to develop smart Bluetooth stakes for precise irrigation. Brandon Plewe was recognized for the Best Recreation/ Travel Map in the 2024 CaGIS Map Design Competition. Ryan Jensen led a study abroad to Tanzania. Sam Otterstrom led a study abroad to 10 European countries where students studied built landscapes and natural terrains. Steven Schill received the Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award.

Students Emelia Jensen, Beth Madsen, Samuel Petersen, and Eliza Jefferies worked on teams that supported the Churchs Joseph Smith biography project. Mark Christensen trained students to translate ancient Aztec and Mayan records for FamilySearch. Faculty led study abroad programs to several European locations, including the BYU London Centre. Paul Kerry took students to the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. Rebecca De Schweinitz led students in an African American Faith, Cultural Renewal, and Leadership Seminar in Georgia and Alabama. Jay Buckley and coauthors published Thomas Jefferson: Americas Flawed Founder of Freedom, in

. Jeff Hardys book

won an honorable mention book prize from the ASEEES. Cacey Farnsworth received the Thomas G. Alexander Award for Excellence in Scholarship. Andrew Johns received the Peter L. Hahn Distinguished Service Award from the SHAFR. Grant Madsens lecture on Reaganomics was selected by C-SPAN for its

series. Eric Dursteler was appointed director of Honors and associate dean of Undergraduate Education. Brian Cannon was named Lemuel H. Redd Chair in Western American History. David-James Gonzales joined the executive board of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society.

Celeste Beesley and Darin Self took students to Germany, Poland, and Hungary to study threats to democracy. Adam Brown led an immersive fieldwork experience in Moab. Students networked at Beyond BYU in Washington, DC. BYUs first mock trial teams qualified for regionals and received the Spirit of AMTA Award for professionalism and sportsmanship. The 2025 CES Conference gathered researchers to share findings from the nations largest collaborative election survey. Christopher Karpowitz received the Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Teaching Award. Ambassador Jeff Flake delivered the Honored Alumni Lecture. The Initiative for Peacemaking hosted Mitigating Polarization, drawing scholars from Stanford, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and other leading institutions, with Pulitzer Prizewinning

columnist Bret Stephens as keynote speaker.

Rebekka Matheson and Jared Nielsen led the Neuroscience in Europe study abroad, and Melissa Jones and Dawn-Marie Wood codirected a study abroad in Greece, Italy, and England. Faculty and students contributed to the APA, the SfN, and the SPR. Scott Braithwaite and Michael Larson contributed to a landmark paper published in

benchmarking replication across the social and behavioral sciences. Julianne Holt-Lundstad was named a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate for 112 publications cited over 14,000 times. She serves as a technical advisor to the WHO. Elisabeth Wilde, a leading researcher in traumatic brain injury and neuroimaging at the U of U, returned to BYU as the keynote speaker for the 2025 alumni social.

The school hosted its 20th Annual Social Work Conference, where 410 mental health clinicians gathered to learn about how to assess and treat moral injury. Sherinah Saasa and coauthors published Efficacy of a School-Based Mental Health Intervention Among Zambian Youth: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in

. Ruth Aguirre received the Hickman Award for Innovation in Teaching. Nanci Shumpert received the Excellence in Student Mentoring Staff Award. Gordon Limb received the Hickman Belonging Award and delivered the Hickman Belonging and Diversity Lecture titled Cultivating a Community of BelongingA Native American Focus. Cole Hooley was appointed to serve as the director of the School of Social Work for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2026.

Hayley Pierce received the Early Career Scholarship Award. Jake Rugh and Mike Wood mentored students as they researched the experiences of Black American Latter-day Saints. Michael Cope and Scott Sanders codirected a community lab engaging students in hands-on research on social change and sustainability. Carol Ward ended her term as editor of

and was honored for her retirement at the RSS annual meeting. Melissa Alcaraz and John Hoffman spoke at the Disciple Scholar Lecture Series. Hayley Pierce, Melissa Alcaraz, and Jane Lopez worked on a project documenting the prevalence and experience of unaccompanied minors in US custody. Scott Sanders was appointed associate director of the Kennedy Center and received the Dedicated Service Award from the RSS. Ryan Gabriel was appointed department chair for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2026.

As I finish my time in the dean's office, I'm reminded of my first temple trip, when we drove hours to the nearest temple. No one had checked whether the temple was open. It wasn't. Knowing how far we had come, the temple president rallied a dedicated group of temple workers to open the baptistry. Ever since, I've made it a point to notice temple workers both their reverence fro their cause and calling and the joy in their countenances as they complete not only sacred but sometimes mundane work.

One of the greatest pleasures of working in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences has been gaining a deeper understanding of Brigham Young University as a temple of learning while getting to know the people who work in this temple. Like other temple workers, our faculty and staff stretch themselves to grow in ways that make them worthy of these holy spaces. They exhibit a deep commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to learning more about it through understanding the world around us. Their countenances radiate joy as they guide our students and produce scholarly breakthroughs that alleviate suffering and contribute to human flourishing. Our wonderful students are like temple patrons, devoting their time and energy to learning and serving others. I see us following the same pattern described in the Kirtland Temple dedicatory prayer seeking learning by study and faith from the best books and words of wisdom an then teaching one another.

I will be grateful to return to typical faculty duties and to spend more time with our amazing students, who push and inspire me, but I will miss regular contact with our inspiring faculty and staff laboring in all parts of the college. I invite you to reach out to a faculty of staff member who made a difference in your life, reconnect with them, and allow the Spirit to fill that connection with testimony of this special university and college. We are grateful for everything you do to help our students thrive and grow in this space, and we hope you will continue to cherish our temple of learning.

Sincerely,

Mikaela Dufur

Associate Dean

Sometimes we dont yet understand why the Lord asks us to submit to His willespecially when our plans feel rooted in righteous desires. But in time. . . , it will become clear that His plan was better than ours.

Laura Padilla-Walker

Compromise has normally been achieved by people who are willing to knock themselves into a process of debate, even when they come into that process with diametrically opposed and incompatible ideas about what the outcome should be.

Nicholas Cole

Not everyone can be a legislator. But all of us, every one of us, can be diplomats and peacemakers in our own relationships and daily interactions.

Jeff Flake (BA 86, MA 87)

I would just challenge you. . . to just take a step back and say, . . . What can I do to support you? What can I do to love you? versus try[ing] to defend whatever position it is that [you have].

Gordon Limb

Feeling fear is part of being human. It is not always an indication of weakness or a lack of faith. . . .You dont have to be perfect to move forward into unknown places and difficult times. You just have to exercise a particle of faith and have a desire to believe.

Sherami L. Jara

Jesus is not ashamed of me or of the fact that I still rely on Him to rescue me. If I keep returning to Him. . ., I can imagine myself standing with Him in the end, sanctified by Him.

Brennan C. Platt

We need people who will, from time to time, sacrifice whats in their personal best interests for whats in the interest of their core values.

Mitt Romney

The pervasive evidence of genealogy at the founding [of America] shows it at the very infrastructure of law and government, and it was a persistent practice of both great personal meaning and public consequence.

Karin Wulf

Research takes time. Pursue your passions and be stubborn.

Lee Johnson

I honestly feel like the college has helped me every day in my parenting and in my community. As I look around at those who are most vulnerable and maybe overlooked, Im able to, hopefully, lift up the hands that hang down. I really think my BYU education and degree in social work are the foundation of that. Lizzie Davis (BSW 09)

Being a principal, theres an opportunity to impact kids and teachers lives every day. . . . Probably the most important things that I learned at BYU were from the examples of professors I had that I really respected. Their examples have shaped the way that I try to approach my responsibility as a principal. Robby Meldau (BS 11)

The College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences led me to be in a spot where I could help hundreds of people get employment. Brad Taylor (BS 84)

My time at BYU helped me to have a wider lens but still care about the individual experience. Emily De Schweinitz Taylor (BA 97, PHD 24)

I went to BYU with an attitude of enter to learn; go forth to serve, which was a statement made by Stewart L. Grow, who was one of my favorite professors. I tried to have an attitude of service beyond my time at BYU, and I think having that attitude is how I got asked to do so many things that were interesting and hopefully useful in my career. Roger Madsen (MA 72)

The economics major at BYU exposed me to great ideas and empowered me with critical thinking skills. I was inspired to try to use my talents for good, make a difference, and serve others. Rachel Bagnall (BS 19)

The College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences really helped me share my light by helping me understand my faith in and relationship with the Savior by contextualizing it through the lives and experiences I was studying as a historian. Jonah Harris (BA 24)

BYU armed me with the permission to preach the good gospel of healthy relationships and boundaries. Jessica Chevrier (BS 12)

The College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences is where I first became excited about the search for academic knowledge, discovery through research processes, and sharing light in a teaching setting. Since then, I have always enjoyed seeking and understanding new light and sharing it in ways that are appropriate. Keith Erekson (BS 00, MA 02)

Ive been able to have immense professional success in my field, and I feel like that is very much built on the foundations of a very strong, solid education in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences. David Nix (BS 98)

My geography degree, and the saying that describes geography as the why of where, gave me a lens through which to view the world. I use this approach all the time in my current disaster risk and resilience research and projects. Lydia Michela (BS 10)

My degree in the School of Family Life has helped me understand and appreciate our divine design. I just had my first daughter in 2025, and it has reaffirmed everything I learned. Samantha Kyle Horne (BS 21)

The political science degree helped me to think, reason, write, and communicate better. It was an excellent move that prepared me for a 28-year career that I was very proud of. Greg Klecker (BA 88)

My major helped me to gain a real love for people. From a gospel perspective, I can see the light of Christ in them, even if theyre not members of the Churcheveryone is born with this lightespecially those who strive to learn more and be a good person. Emmalyne Berry (BS 25)

Media headlines feel urgent: partisan division, economic uncertainty, debates over identity. But do they tell the whole story? Work from scholars across the college spanning five dimensions of American lifepolitics, economics, identity, individualism, and family and faithoffers a clearer picture of where America has been, where it is now, and what it still requires of us.

History Professor Tyson Reeders research on the early American republic shows that American democracy was built amid conflict about the competing interests and values of the original 13 colonies. In his George Washington Prizewinning book Serpent in Eden, Reeder documents a political culture in the 1790s and early 1800s marked by deep distrust, partisan accusation, and fear of foreign interference. His research explores a volatile cycle in which Americans questioned one anothers loyalties, placing more trust in outside actors than in their fellow citizens at times and pushing the young nation dangerously close to collapse.

We have a few ways we can deal with the ugly facts of the past, he says. We can either become fantasists, meaning we live in a fantasy world and assume that everything is A-OK and always has been. We can become cynics and assume that nothing has ever been OK and it never will be. Or we can become improvers.

One of the most striking insights from Reeders book is how narrowly some of Americas defining elements have endured. During the War of 1812, as British forces advanced on Washington, DC, a State Department clerk gathered foundational documentsincluding the Declaration of Independence and key papers from the Revolutionary eraand removed them for safekeeping. Had those documents remained, they would likely have been destroyed when the British burned the city just days later.

The story is more than a historical anecdote. The near loss of those documents is a fitting metaphor for the instability of the era, in which internal division and external threats reinforced one another in dangerous ways. Reeder sees echoes of that moment in the present.

Theres a strong parallel between the times we live in now and the decades of the 1790s and early 1800s, Reeder says. It would be hard to say if were more or less divided today, but Americans eventually found their way out of this cycle of foreign meddling and partisan politics. We seem to be back in that cycle, and its going to take a lot of good faith from people of all different sides of the political spectrum to try to pull us out.

Reeders work suggests that partisan conflict is not a sign that the American experiment is failingit is evidence that it is still running. He continues, We celebrate the Constitution and this American experiment because they were designed to be, and hopefully continue to be, a civil way to embrace conflict and to work together as a nation in peace with each other, even when we disagree.

The question, as he frames it, is not whether conflict exists but whether Americans can still choose to be improvers rather than fantasists or cynics.

Research by Christian vom Lehn, professor of economics, demonstrates how periods of uncertainty and transformation have repeatedly driven long-term economic growth. Going back to the mid- to late 1800s, the US economy has grown at approximately two percent per year for the past 150 years. Its a remarkably stable, steady rate of progress, even as weve gone from farming to manufacturing to services, vom Lehn says.

Steady growth across disruption is the point. Following World War II the United States moved away from a manufacturing-heavy economy toward one dominated by sectors like healthcare, education, finance, and technology. The nature of work itself changed, with fewer routine, manual tasks and more emphasis on analytical and interpersonal skills. Vom Lehns research places those shifts inside a longer pattern of adaptation, one that includes present-day concerns about automation, artificial intelligence, and globalization.

Economic progress often involves disruption, vom Lehn says. We create something while were destroying something at the same time. In the United States, theres always been uncertainty and change. Were not the first to experience rapid transformation, and yet we continue to progress and grow.

Vom Lehns research suggests that what feels unprecedented rarely is. The shift from farming to manufacturing, from manufacturing to services, from services to the digital economyeach transition looked like instability from the inside. Across 150 years of data, the pattern is evident. We shouldnt be dismal about the future but should recognize well need to be resilient and adaptable, vom Lehn says. Our history of creativity and ingenuity, coupled with broad opportunity, is reason for optimism.

In her sociology course on multicultural America, Melissa Alcaraz, professor of sociology, asks students to examine how identity and social structures shape daily life and, in turn, shape the nation.

To fully understand the actual history of America, you need to understand the lived experiences of everybody else, she says. We have to think about a story from all sides.

Instead of treating history as a set of fixed narratives, Alcarazs course asks students to consider how those narratives were constructed, whose perspectives have been centered, whose have been overlooked, and who benefits from those choices. Alcaraz connects earlier social, political, and institutional decisions to present-day outcomes, tasking students with seeing continuity rather than separation.

Alcaraz draws on a metaphor from Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Isabel Wilkersons Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, comparing American society to an inherited home. Im not saying You destroyed the living room, Alcaraz says. Im saying Hey, the living room doesnt work anymore. The floor is cracked, the paint is peeling, and the curtains have fallen down. While some might abandon the house entirely, sociology challenges us to identify what needs repair while still valuing the foundation that holds the structure together.

Daring to ask Can we do this better? isnt anti-American. Its fundamentally American, Alcaraz contends. She holds that this mindset is central to what a BYU education should foster. We should be having conversations about how complicated the world is, how messy it is. The purpose of education is leaning into discomfort as a means of better understanding a complicated world to be able to help it.

Alcarazs course sheds light on how the American story is not defined by a single narrative but by the willingness of each generation to ask whose story is missing and why. But expanding the story only works if Americans still believe they are part of the same shared national project.

How does a country built on individual freedom still function as a shared political community? In The Politics of Individualism, coauthors Christopher Karpowitz and Kelly Patterson, professors of political science, focus on a form of individualism called moral autonomy in which people see themselvesrather than external community norms, institutions, or long-standing traditionsas the final authority on right and wrong.

The language of this sort of individualism is sort of in the air we breathe and the water we drink today, Patterson says. Cultural messages constantly reinforce the idea that you need to do you and be whatever the best that you can be is. Thats defined by you.

This outlook can be empowering, but it also reshapes how people respond to shared responsibilities. When moral decisions are entirely self-defined, the sense of obligation to a larger community begins to erode. People stop feeling accountable to the government, civic institutions, or the national values that hold society together.

The higher a person scores on the moral individualism scale, the less likely they are to want to participate in civic engagement, help their neighbors, vote, attend those sorts of activities where were asked to cooperate with each other, Patterson says.

Karpowitz and Pattersons research shows that moral autonomy can cause institutions like schools, churches, and governments to feel optional or even intrusive rather than necessary. If those institutions are called into question, then the rights and liberties too are threatened, Patterson says.

Courts, elections, and laws depend on a baseline level of shared commitment. When that starts to break down, maintaining shared rules becomes harder and disagreements become more volatile.

According to their research, the American experiment depends not only on laws and institutions but also on whether the people still feel bound to something larger than themselves. The Constitution does not sustain itself. It relies on citizens who believe the system is worth upholding, worth defending, and worth sharing. As that shared commitment thins, the question becomes where Americans still find the motivation to show up for one another.

In the School of Family Life, Professors David Dollahite and Loren Marks have spent three decades studying the structure and strength of families of faith. Their American Families of Faith Project draws from nearly 300 in-depth interviews, generating thousands of pages of qualitative data across families who identify as Black Christian, Asian Christian, Hispanic Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox Christian, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Christian, Latter-day Saint, unaffiliated, and interfaith.

Dollahite and Markss research indicates that long-term stability is sustained less by independence and more by interdependence rooted in family, faith, and community. Independence is a fallacy. We need other people like we need air, Marks says.

Their data reveal striking commonalities among highly religious families. Much like world-class athletes in an Olympic village, the families are diverse in practice but united in discipline, devotion, and pursuit of excellence. By focusing on shared devotion to an all-knowing, all-loving God who they believe can intervene in their lives, these families build stronger marriages, happier parent-child bonds, and a deeper sense of purpose. That commitment becomes a stabilizing force in a time marked by rising loneliness, delayed family formation, and weakening social ties.

The research is clear. More religious people are more civically involved, Dollahite says. Theyre more generous. They serve in the communities. They vote.

When individuals voluntarily choose faith, the effects ripple outward. Dollahite says religious participation is associated with lower rates of substance abuse, stronger social support systems, and higher levels of community engagement, including congregations organizing food drives, volunteering in shelters, or supporting families in crisis.

When you weaken religious commitments and practices, it weakens communities and it weakens the country because religious groups are more likely to watch out for their neighbors, Dollahite says.

Marks adds, In the long run, sacrifice, unity, and orientation to home and family bring people much more happiness.

Dollahite and Markss research suggests the American experiment depends on the everyday choices of individuals who show up for one another in marriages, families, congregations, and communities. The nation is not just a political project. It is a human one, sustained less by what is written in documents than by what is practiced in daily life.

College scholars study very different dimensions of American life, but their research points toward the same conclusion: The American experiment has always been defined by the willingness of imperfect people to keep working on an imperfect project.

Two hundred and fifty years of compromise, conflict, disruption, and reform have not weakened that projectthey are the project. The nation has never been finished. It has only ever been in progress. What the next 250 years look like depends less on whether America gets everything right and more on whether its people still believe it is worth continuing to build together.

Women who take active roles in government bring important perspectives and lived experiences that help create a better world. Their participation benefits society by improving representation and opening opportunities. Meet three women who once studied in the classrooms of the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences and now offer examples of hope through their service to US citizens on city, county, and state levels.

Margaret Busse (BA 96, MA 96) has always been passionate about public policy. During her time at BYU, she worked as a research assistant for a professor who was writing a paper on international development. Both her work as an assistant and what she learned in her public policy classes sparked her interest in helping individuals internationally. She followed her passion to a job at the US Department of Treasury, where she used methodologies similar to those she learned as a research assistant.

Busse later spent time away from the workforce to care for her children full-time. At one point, she and her family took a trip to Washington, DC. While there, Busse says, I had this strong feeling that its so important to be helping people worldwide, but its [also] important to make sure that America remains the hope and beacon for the rest of the world.

Because of this experience, Busse found her calling in helping our own country to be the best it can be. She became involved in local government, and now state government. As the commissioner of the Utah Department of Commerce as part of Governor Spencer Coxs cabinet, Busse works with the Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, which makes regulatory policy recommendations. She also spent several years as a member of the colleges National Advisory Council.

Karen McCandless (BS 86) began her term as mayor of Orem, Utah this January. She has lived in the city since 1991 and raised her children there. Her geography degree in community and regional planning led her to serve on city councils, boards, and commissions, culminating in her run for mayor.

McCandlesss time at BYU placed her in a learning environment that emphasized service, with her professors teaching how to think and listen to both sides. McCandless also held leadership roles in the BYU marching band. All these different things gave me a solid life foundation that I was able to build upon, she says.

Today McCandless continues to make time for service, helping in her church congregation and volunteering with Meals on Wheels. In her mayoral duties, she focuses on strengthening neighborhoods and helping community members feel like they belong, are connected, and are supported. She collaborates with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the My Hometown initiative, which partners with local churches and businesses to revitalize neighborhoods in various ways, including by providing more educational opportunities to residents. She also works with and supports several new school districts in the community.

Candace Andersen (BA 82) currently serves as the supervisor of District 2 on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. The Bay Area county serves over 1.1 million residents. As a lawyer, mother, and former mayor of Danville, California, Andersen believes her BYU public policy training gave her a way to look at issues and to recognize theres always more than one side to every story.

As an undergraduate, Andersen recalls writing her senior paper on hunger in America. As she researched and wrote, she found it eye-opening that there were people going to bed hungry every night and that such a wealthy country was not able to meet the needs of the community.

Now, as a member of the county board, Andersen oversees health clinics, homeless programs, a county hospital, and more. She also collaborates closely with local food banks and coordinates programs like CalFresh, which helps families afford healthy foods.

I cant control federal policy, Andersen says. But I can make sure that people in my county dont go to bed hungry.

The world benefits from BYU alumni who shine their light by serving their communities, whether in everyday ways or in civic or political capacities.

You dont have to hold public office to make a difference. Meaningful change can begin with something as simple as getting involved in your local community. McCandless says, Theres always more to learn, different ways to serve, and someone who needs help. Theres always a cause.

During the April 2023 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson urged peacemaking and dignified dialogue in his address Peacemakers Needed. For many people, this provided the encouragement they needed to act on thoughts already simmering in their minds or to pursue personal efforts in a more formal way. Take Kirk Hawkins, a political science professor. Hawkins realized his research on populism was focused on what undermines democracy and a productive, peaceful community. As a result, he turned his research agenda toward reducing polarization, one of the consequences of populism. This led him to organizations that teach techniques for constructive conversations across differences of opinion.

At the same time, Mirabella Keogh, a student from Australia studying Arabic and the Middle East, and her husband, Alexander Keogh, a psychology major from Arkansas, were frustrated by how quickly conversations with peers could shut down or turn tense. President Nelsons call for peacemakers gave language to that frustration. Alex describes it as a shared recognition that many students wanted better conversations but did not know how to create them. Finally, Jay Goodliffe, Political Science Department chair, was working to secure a grant from the Presidents Innovation Fund at the university for an initiative on peacemaking. Hed been inspired by both President Nelsons talk and BYU President C. Shane Reeses inaugural response identifying peacemaking as a natural strength of the university. Goodliffe saw the Political Science Department as a natural fit for supporting research on peacemaking and civil discourse across the wider academic discipline; many political science faculty study conflict from a variety of perspectivesinternationally, within nation-states, and in group dynamics. Goodliffe approached Hawkins for feedback on the proposal, and the first collaboration was born.

When the Keoghs approached Hawkins with the idea of an academic association to help students practice staying in difficult conversations instead of avoiding them, he quickly recognized potential for a student arm of the initiative. That arm could expand the initiatives scope from researching peacemaking to also promoting it across campus. The Initiative for Peacemaking received seed funding from the university, and the Peacemaker Project student association found a home in the Political Science Department. Both began formal efforts in fall 2024.

I really keenly felt the need to do more to be a peacemaker and to try to contribute to that effort in some way, says Hawkins. And what more natural and meaningful way to do that than by not only helping with research but also helping other students and faculty at the university to collaborate and make this a part of our campus life?

During that first year, the initiative and student association stayed busy. The Peacemaker Project hosted the Debate Like a Peacemaker event, where a sizable room filled wall to wall with students eager to hear and share perspectives on the issue of immigration. But the topic of debate was secondary to the rules guiding engagement. Mirabella recalls that after the event, one student remarked how they had failed to be a peacemakers at a few points. That was discouraging for Mirabella to hear. However, she soon realized the win in how the student was thinking about the event.

Framing their success by whether or not they are a peacemakerthat is really going to be the thing that helps change the world like President Nelson inspired us to do, says Mirabella. Student participation grew quickly, and Peacemaker Project members visited 15 universities to study how other campuses were approaching civil discourse. They used that research to organize a National Student Conference for Peacemaking, where about 25 students from across the country met in August 2025 to discuss social issues and draft a shared declaration on peacemaking.

At the first Initiative for Peacemaking Conference, hosted on campus in May 2025, academics from a variety of universities, practitioners representing US nonprofits, and BYU faculty and students gathered for several discussion sessions on civil discourse. A second conference in May 2026 with elites (an academic term referring to those who influence public opinion) hosted 24 guests, including Bret Stephens, opinion columnist for The New York Times, who delivered the keynote Mitigating Polarization: Understanding and Shaping Elite Behavior. At the conferences, we got to share our light with people outside of BYU who are also concerned about polarization, says Hawkins, who directs the Initiative for Peacemaking. They sometimes worry there arent enough allies out there, and they are grateful to have an opportunity to work on something in common. Theyve expressed that its inspiring to them and theyre glad to see BYU leading out.

On the research side, political science Professors Lisa Argyle (now at Purdue University), Ethan Busby, and Josh Gubler collaborated with Thomas Howe and David Wingate from the BYU Computer Science Department, a researcher at Duke University, and former BYU graduate students to see how artificial intelligence can be used to improve online interactions. In an experiment where participants with opposing viewpoints on a specific topic chatted online, AI offered rephrasing suggestions to make messages more friendly or polite without changing the content. Participants could adopt, modify, or ignore the suggestions.

We found the more often the [AI-recommended] rephrasings were used, the more likely participants were to feel like the conversation wasnt divisive and that they felt heard and understood, said Wingate in a BYU news release.

Gubler, Busby, and Wingate have dubbed their research lab for ongoing projects SAILSocial Science and AI Laband are focusing on the application of large language models in everyday contexts to examine how these technologies can foster development of democratic skills and deliberative capacities.

President Reese shared in his January 13, 2026, BYU devotional that President Oakss guidance to him at his inaugural dinner was that students today need models of civil dialogue and disagreement. As Reese put it, There are too few examples of this in the public square, [President Oaks] observed, and it is incumbent upon BYU and other campuses to model it in our classrooms and throughout university life.

BYU faculty and students are indeed making a deliberate effort to approach disagreement differently and share what they find works best. The goal is not to eliminate or avoid disagreement. Instead the focus is on how people engage with each other and what happens in the moment when conversation can either break down or move forward. Rather than treating civil discourse as a side topic, campus groups are continually connecting their efforts to actively design, test, implement, and share research-based interventions. That approach is positioning BYU as a leader in a broader national effort to address polarization.

The universitys endeavors recently received a thumbs-up from the US Department of Education in the form of a $3.7 million grant. This significant funding supports campus collaborations to build on the momentum that formally began with the Initiative for Peacemaking.

Having the initiative in place as a foundation was instrumental in being able to submit a highly competitive application for the grant in record time. The opportunity appeared unexpectedly on November 10, 2025, just days before Thanksgiving, with a deadline set for December 3.

We were trying to do a six-month process in two weeks, Brittany Roueche, research development specialist for the college, explains. We gathered everyone togetherinstead of having separate applicationsto build something stronger and more impactful as a team.

Faculty, staff, and administrators worked through the Thanksgiving break, refining ideas and aligning their goals under significant time pressure. Not every idea could be included. Individuals had to put their own peacemaking skills to the test as they willingly set aside proposals they valued to prioritize a unified direction that could move forward. Unity won out as BYUs proposal received a score of 118 out of 120.

Seeing the collaboration across campus was amazing because all of these departments were already doing meaningful work, and now they could build something even bigger as they worked together, Roueche shares.

With the US Department of Education grant, the Initiative for Peacemaking now pulls together faculty and students from different corners of campusvarious colleges, leadership and research centers, student associations, and more. Each group funded by the grant is involved in building courses and workshops where students can practice communication skills designed to depolarize conversations and find common ground.

Goodliffe, who was the founding director of the Initiative for Peacemaking and lead investigator on the grant proposal, describes the initiatives work in practical terms: studying civil discourse, trying ideas to identify what works, and then teaching those ideas.

Instead of walking away when a conversation gets uncomfortable, students learn to stay in the room. They focus on the mechanics of the exchangehow to state a position without causing a shutdown, ask questions that invite answers, and listen to those answers.

The grant also supports efforts to share those tools beyond BYU and make resources publicly available so that other institutions can adopt similar approaches.

More and more, Hawkins can see that BYU isnt alone. You begin to realize just how many people there are who, even if they still have important disagreements about real policy issues, dont like the tenor of our political conversation today, says Hawkins. And they want to see that improve in a way that makes our country better and also better reflects what we should be doing as disciples of Jesus Christ.