Leadership Week Unique

Leadership Week Unique By Professor Harrison R. Merrill Seventy-four stakes, including three in California, were represented by registrants at Brigham Young Univer- sity during the Eighth Annual Leader- ship Week, which was held January 21-26, inclusive. This registration indicates that interest in adult educa- tion is growing. This year, in addition to the Leader- ship Week, a number of state-wide or- ganizations held their annual conven- tions at Brigham Young University during the same week. These began with the convention of the State Hor- ticultural Society, January 21, 22 and 23. On January 23. the Poultry Producers Cooperative Association held its convention, and on January 24, 25, and 26, the Utah State Farm Bureau held its annual meeting. These ses- sions closed with the meeting of the Beet Growers Association during the afternoon of Saturday, January 26. Though the lower plant of the In- stitution was utilized mainly by Lead- ership Week activities and these state conventions, the (class work of the school, in the main, went on as usual. In fact, those classes which are held on University Hill felt no interrup- tion whatever. Though students were used for registering the visitors, these served in relays in such a way as to cause none of them to miss their classes. Theology was not taught as it usually is, but through special de- votionals at which four special speak- ers, Dr. Joseph F. Merrill, commis- sioner of education of the Church; and Elders Joseph Fielding Smith, Stephen L. Richards and Melvin J. Ballard, members of the Council of the Twelve, gave inspirational talks. Fifteen departments of instruction were organized for the adult students. Of these, two — Scouting and Recrea- tion— had programs which ran throughout every hour of every day, except the two hours devoted to the General Assembly. These depart- ments offered regular instruction under the direction of professors of Brigham Young University assisted by visiting lecturers. The general authorities and general boards of the Church cooper- ated in all of the work by furnishing lecturers and by assisting in outlining the programs for the various depart- ments. The Recreational Department tried an experiment this year consisting of a number of demonstrations, a different one each day. On Monday, Miss Wilma Jeppson. physical director ot girls at Brigham Young University, staged a family reunion. This demon- stration was followed on Tuesday by social culture demonstrations, on Wednesday by a picnic demonstration, on Thursday by a ward reunion, and on Friday by a Spanish fiesta. All of these demonstrations proved to be in- teresting and helpful and attracted a great deal of attention. Though the fifteen departments each had a separate subject, each one was built around the theme: "Education for the enrichment of rural life," which gave the week some unity. The state conventions, of course, followed splendidly along the same lines. The departments which offered in- struction were Scouting, Recreation, Man and His Biological Environment, Health, The Family in Relation to Social Welfare, the Interpretive Point of View in Teaching Standard Church Works, Journalism, Genealogy, Mu- sic, Psychology, The Rural Home. Reading in the Home, Standard Red Cross First Aid, Child Care and Train- ing, Literature, and Drama for Re- lief Society Class Leaders. These de- partments, in the main, held but one session daily. Each of the first three days a gen-

400 IMPROVEMENT ERA Mar., 1929 eral assembly was held for all visitors, under the direction of Brigham Young University. The assemblies on Thurs- day, Friday, and Saturday were con- ducted by the Utah State Farm Bureau. On Monday, Dr. Franklin Stewart Harris, president of Brigham Young University, was the first speaker. He outlined the purpose of Leadership Week, which, he said, was to furnish an opportunity for adults to know the delights of learning within the gates of a university. He was followed on the same program by Dr. Joseph F. Merrill, commissioner of education of the Church, who emphasized the need of religious training along with secu- lar learning. Elders Joseph Fielding Smith and Melvin J. Ballard, members of the Council of the Twelve, were the spe- cial speakers Tuesday. On Wednesday, Dr. George H. Brimhall, president emeritus of Brigham Young Univer- sity, and Dr. Thomas L. Martin, were the principal speakers. Sam H. Thompson, president of the American Farm Bureau, and C. S. "Farmer" Brown, former president of the Ari- zona Farm Bureau, were the chief speakers at the Farm Bureau sessions. All advocated organization and bet- ter-business methods on the farm in order that the farmer might be able more fully to enjoy the labor of his hands. Ephraim Bergeson, president of the Utah State Farm Bureau, made a plea for tax reform. On Friday afternoon, the Junior Farm Bureau and the 4H Clubs had charge of the program under the super- vision of L. R. Humphries, D. R. Murray and Mrs. Rena B. Maycock. President Franklin Stewart Harris, was the closing speaker of the Farm Bureau Convention. In his talk he emphasized the need of study of what he called the Three T's — Tariff, Transportation, and Taxes, declaring that farmers must find a solution of these problems if they are to maintain the high standard of living they should maintain. The free evening entertainments were especially attractive. They be- gan with the Get-Acquainted Ball on Monday evening, at which fully 500 couples were present and partici- pated. Perhaps the crowning entertain- ment feature of the week was the Brig- ham Young University Symphony Orchestra Male Glee Club concert, which was held in the Utah stake tabernacle on Tuesday evening. The orchestra of forty-five instruments was directed by Prof. LeRoy J. Robertson, whose interpretations of the numbers his musicians played were exquisite. The male chorus contained ninety voices, as the Mendelsohn Male Chorus and the Brigham Young Uni- versity Male Glee Club came together, under the direction of Professor Wil- liam F. Hanson, for the occasion. The tabernacle was filled to capacity by those eager to hear the artistic triumph. On Wednesday evening the Utah stake tabernacle choir, under the direc- tion of Dean Gerrit de Jong, sang "The Vision," Evan Stephen's well- known composition. The Brigham Young University string quartette and Professor Alfred Osmond, reader, as- sisted on the program. After the con- cert, the Poultry Producers Associa- tion entertained at a free dance in the Ladies' Gymnasium. For the first time in the history of Farm Bureau banquets, a group of farm folk served the dinner, when Timpanogos ward of Utah stake pre- pared and served a country-style chicken dinner with all the "trim- min's" on Thursday evening in the Fourth ward amusement hall. More than 300 guests sat down to the re- past and were entertained between and during courses by numbers furnished by various Farm Bureau organizations. At the same hour, Brigham Young University debaters were debating the tax question with debaters represent- ing the University of Utah before a splendid audience in College Hall.