For instance, let me tell you about Candi, a former student and friend. Candi came to BYU as a transfer student in 1982 and auditioned for the major of Music Dance Theater. She was accepted into this rigorous major and became involved in performing groups, musicals, Homecoming activities, and church and civic duties while at the university. In 1986, Candi decided to leave in order to pursue a career on Broadway. Though she only had five classes to complete, a professional career seemed more easily obtainable than a degree at that time.

Between 1986 and 1992, Candi performed in New York and San Francisco with the Broadway musical Les Miserables, in which she played Cosette and Eponine. She performed in more than two thousand performances during this period. Because we had never required Candi to file a graduation plan, we lost track of her.

On July 20, 1992, I went to the Les Miserables performance in Salt Lake City, where Candi was performing as Eponine. I looked in the program and saw where it mentioned that Candi had attended BYU and had been very active in performing groups at the university. I recognized Candi because I had been her advisor when she was a student, and I knew her quite well. After the performance I went to the stage door and asked the stage manager if I could visit with Candi. When she came out of her dressing room, she saw me and gave me a hug. I told her how much I had enjoyed her performance and how proud we were of her accomplishments. But I also asked her, “Candi, what about graduation? It would be nice if you could put in the program that you were an alumnus of BYU.” I told her I would work out her senior project and scene study courses with the department chair, but she would have to take her last three general education classes through Independent Study or transfer pre-approved courses from another institution. Candi decided to finish the nine credits Independent Study and also decided to take a year off from performing to finish her degree.

Our projected date of graduation was August 1993 and upon completion of these courses, Candi was invited to perform at the college convocation where she performed “I Dreamed a Dream” and “On My Own” from Les Miserables. To Candi this was one of her most thrilling performances, because it represented for her the completion of a long-standing goal: graduation from Brigham Young University. It only takes a few minutes to make a difference in someone else’s life. Candi had fulfilled her professional dreams, but it took her eleven years to close the chapter of her college career. If anyone has the opportunity to go to New York within the next year, please purchase tickets to a performance of Miss Saigon, where you will see Candi performing as Ellen. And it had better say in the program that she graduated from BYU.

I share President Rex E. Lee’s belief that bringing students to graduation is our primary goal. In a recent address to BYU administrators and faculty, Rex E. Lee, the president of BYU, said that shortening our matriculation time leading to graduation should be our number one priority. He said, “If our efforts are successful, the rewards will include the improved quality of our total undergraduate program; significant financial and other benefits to our students as we move up the time they enter their chosen professions and settle into permanent, lifetime circumstances; and an increase in the number of students who can profit from a BYU education without changing our 27,000 student enrollment limit. I can think of no other initiative that, if successful, can do quite as much good for as many people, all of whom are very important to us.”

Thank you.