Brigham Young is perhaps best remembered for his namesake institution – Brigham Young University (BYU). But first, he helped found the University of Utah. As the Utah Territory grew, Young formed a board of regents to expand higher education and train teachers for the growing population of children. Thus, in 1850, the University of Deseret was born.
The university was initially a bit underwhelming. It had one professor, who taught all courses at a local woman’s home. By 1851, it opened a small campus at the 13th Ward Schoolhouse with three professors, but an economic downturn forced it to close in 1852. When it reopened in 1868, demographic, political, and religious changes in Utah cut the Latter-day Saints Church out of any say in school affairs.
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Young got his chance to create an explicitly LDS university when financial problems at the University of Deseret – Timpanogos in Provo nearly led to professors, who “had grown tired of seeking payment in ‘turnips, molasses, and pumpkins,'” to quit. Young offered a generous trust to fund the new, explicitly LDS Brigham Young Academy in 1876, per BYU. This school eventually became Brigham Young University. Thanks to his role in creating both universities, Brigham Young can be considered the progenitor of Utah’s greatest sports rivalry, between heavyweights the Utah Utes and the BYU Cougars – a national rivalry, too, as of 2024, thanks to BYU’s entry into the Big 12.
