West View Building dedicated by Bishop Waddell

The newly built Westview Building on campus was dedicated today by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, the first counselor in the presiding bishopric. 

The Westview building’s construction was announced in November of 2018, and completed in July 2020. It replaced the Faculty Office Building, and is now home to three departments, Economics, Statistics and the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. It has been in service since the fall of 2020. 

This building area has a long history, which economics professor Mark Showalter described in an address preceding Bishop Waddell’s remarks. He explained how the building originally housed a ticket office and restroom, and ultimately grew into the large academic structure it is today. Referencing the original building’s small surface area, Showalter said “[the new building] is not ignorable anymore.” 

After Showwalter’s remarks, Bishop Waddell provided some words before the dedicatory prayer, referencing the metaphorical “forward thinking” this new structure represents.

He described the importance of what takes place in these walls, as opposed to the brick and mortar of the building itself. 

“As welcome as this addition is, we do know that what takes place inside the building is what really matters, not the structure.”

Waddell explained the significance of BYU’s religious emphasis in such academic pursuits, quoting Neal A. Maxwell, who said that “knowledge is even more beneficial when it has a spiritual dimension added to it.”

Waddell ended his address with the invitation to involve the Lord in the process of learning. “Please teach students how to seek the influence of the spirit in both academic and professional settings,” he said.