An Educational Center with Incidental Ecclesiastical use :)

Tonight we had a forum on the history of the Jerusalem Center. I don't exactly LOVE the forums here, but this one kept my attention the entire time! Except of course when Annie drew the adidas logo, which I recognized, or when she opened her computer and couldn't get the music to mute in the middle of the presentation... That must have been embarrassing for her :)
But really, the forum speaker was our new academic director: Brother Brown. Our forum speakers are usually local experts on political issues, but this week we learned about how the Jerusalem Center came to be, and the opposition they faced in building it.
Brother and Sister Brown have 5 kids and 35 grandkids. They are sacrificing a lot to come here for a 3 year term and organize the academics of the center. He taught religion at BYU-Provo for 37 years before retiring last fall. (Side note FUNNY story: This morning at breakfast I was telling a senior couple here about my contact with my parents. Not recognizing that it was "Academic director" Brother Brown, I revealed that my mom consistently reminds me not to get too anxious about school, and to enjoy the cultural and spiritual things the city has to offer. Once realizing exactly who I was talking to, I tried to back-pedal by explaining how, "I get so enthralled in my studies that my mom is simply encouraging me to better balance my time and energies since she knows how stressed I get about earning straight A's!" That didn't work so well- my breakfast was postponed at least 10 minutes as I listened to how "anxiety over rigorous academics drives us to learn more effectively and remember more completely." Oh baby. I got told.)
The first BYU students in Israel were approved by President McKay in 1968 to stay/live in the "city hotel." Over time, it became clear that hotels could not provide for the needs of the students and faculty, and an establishment of our own was in order. Through years of planning and intense protest, the church finally gained the ability to lease the land our Center is built upon today. There were several conditions on the line as they built the center. A few include: Providing educational scholarships for Palestinians to study in Provo, compensating a family that "claimed" the land before, giving back to the community (which we do through community concerts), committing not to proselyte, and the one that could have easily stopped the progress of the building: We promised to stop building if we found sacred graves as we dug the foundation. The center was undergoing much protest even as it was built. About 100 students (priorly living in a KIBBUTZ) snuck/moved into the center in the early morning hours in order to officially "claim the building" and hopefully not get bombed. But don't worry, we have 2 bomb shelters and Mt. Scopus is too near the Dome of the Rock (holiest site for all 3 religions) for anyone to risk bombing. We also have LARGE women's restrooms (due to the 1 woman on the architecture committee) and a few secret passageways (you may hear more about later :)
Those of you who have been to, or even see pictures of the Jerusalem center know that it is of temple-quality. Calling it a temple is going too far, but this building is built with all the finest materials and is immaculately kept. There is such a reverence here, it seems impossible to have a mean thought or make a poor choice within these walls. The grounds are maintained perfectly, and people here respect the building in the way they behave and dress.

The countless miracles preceding the building of the center prove that this site has been saved for literally thousands of years. I really believe that Heavenly Father keeps a special watch on the Jerusalem center and that the students, faculty and staff who live, study and worship here really do receive divine revelation and guidance.
The current stance is that the Center is an "educational center" with "incidental ecclesiastical use." That is code for, 3 hour church service on Shabbat (Saturday/Sunday/Holy Day). So when a student asked if the center will ever become a temple, the director answered, "Maybe later" with a little smile :)