Dear Friends: We’re thrilled to celebrate with more than 6,800 new BYU grads this year! We welcome you to our ever-enlarging family of alumni and look forward to hearing about your adventures as we all go forth to serve. —Hillary Nielsen, BYU Alumni President

As BYU graduates received degrees during BYU commencement ceremonies on April 27, 2023, President Kevin J Worthen delivered his final address as BYU president. “We joyfully celebrate and admire your accomplishments with the assurance that because of Christ, the best is yet to come. May that truth resonate with and elevate your spirit on this day of exclamation,” he said. Other commencement speakers included Elder D. Todd Christofferson, honorary doctorate recipient Reverend Dr. Andrew Teal, alumni president Hillary Nielsen, and student speaker Samuel Benson. Read a recap or browse the lineup of speakers at speeches.byu.edu.

What’s the probability that the 14th president of BYU would love faculty basketball and family pickleball, turn down a job with the Philadelphia Eagles, and prefer a PB&J over most other foods? Sounds like a question for former stats professor Shane Reese. In Y Magazine’s latest podcast, President Reese chats with host Whitney Archibald about his time at BYU, his interests, and his family.

From a Palestinian stats grad (pictured) to a brain-tumor survivor and champion dancer to a mother of four who researched ADHD with her freshman daughter, read stories of a few of this year’s graduates and how studying at BYU transformed their lives.

With a “Whoosh Kevin” thumbs-up and a cheeky smile from the outgoing and incoming BYU presidents, the graduation processional began on a sunny spring morning in Provo. Take a look at the dozens of images in this photo essay of BYU’s 2023 commencement exercises.

Hillary Nielsen, president of the BYU Alumni Association, asked the 2023 graduates to become influencers for good. “With ‘BYU alumni’ added to your list of identifiers, you will be a representative of BYU wherever you go and in whatever you do,” she said. “It is my hope that you generously contribute your time, talent, and—whenever possible—treasure, as you actively seek opportunities to utilize your BYU education to benefit others.” Watch the complete address here.

In 2011 Elder M. Russell Ballard challenged BYU alumni couple Bill and Sidney Price to implement a website that could fulfill ongoing community-service needs all over the world. It started small, but now the JustServe website and app have led to a wave of Church and interfaith groups serving in their neighborhoods (with more than 770,000 projects so far), including LDS missionaries laboring at an evangelical church’s charity.

“I joke that my neighbors finally care about what I do,” says BYU civil-engineering professor Jim Nelson, a hydrologist with decades of experience. Hear insights and answers on Utah’s massive snowpack and potential for flooding. Nelson has traveled the world, consulting with federal agencies, nonprofits, and engineering consortiums and sharing how to better predict streamflows and plan for flooding.

Not too long ago, Kedon Slovis played a game in Provo as the quarterback for USC. After the overtime loss to the Cougars, Clovis joked that sober BYU fans were intimidating hecklers. Now a part of the BYU football team, Clovis shares a recent Friday in this entertaining vlog.

BYU alumna Brittany Burton likes to test her improvisational limits, and her artistry has received acclaim, including an award for her piece Madonna (above). “[Quilting has] long been marginalized as women’s work,” Burton says. “But today quilts are being recognized as works of art and great skill.” Learn more about Burton and see another meaningful artwork: With These Stripes: Black and White America.

Take a quick Instagram tour of the Centennial Carillon Tower. Or get a rare look inside the University Guest House and learn where each room gets its name. While you’re there, follow BYU Alumni and make a request for where on campus the cameras should go next.

Moving to the music like black and white keys, the Cougarettes performed to Billy Joel’s Piano Man. This artful routine won the jazz title in the D1A division of the 2023 NDA College Cheer and Dance Championships.