Benjamin Cluff

On January 4, 1892, the principalship of Brigham Young Academy was passed from Maeser to Cluff. This occurred on the same day that approximately one thousand people were gathered for the dedication of the new Academy Building. After becoming principal, there were many pressing matters that Cluff had to address. One of those matters was the proposed formation of an LDS university in Salt Lake City. Many worried that this would affect the academy by taking away some of its most prestigious teachers, including Cluff who had been offered a position there. Fortunately for the academy, Cluff did not go to the LDS College.[3]^: 224 When the Circular Number Eight, a document that restricted the right of existing LDS schools in order to centralize the new Church University, was created by the General Board of Education, Cluff and other leaders of major church schools tried to fight back against certain provisions of the document. One provision that Cluff feared was the restriction of church schools other than the new Church University to give degrees to their students.[3]^: 226

Although the leaders of the major LDS schools were apprehensive about the idea of creating a Church University, many of the most prestigious of these educators were called to be members of the committee charged with the responsibility to organize the new Church University. Along with Cluff, the committee consisted of Karl G. Maeser, and James E. Talmage from the academy, plus James Sharp, and Willard Young. The next day, the committee proposed that the new university be called "The University of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" or the "Church University". After nationwide financial issues, church leadership decided to suspend any further efforts to create the Church University and proceeded to give their support to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.[3]^{: 230–232} After continuous financial struggles, the academy was able to stay open, but because of the death of Abraham O. Smoot who was a generous benefactor of the academy, the financial struggles lasted longer than other periods of financial challenges.[3]^: 239

In 1893, Cluff went back to the University of Michigan to work on a master's degree and left George H. Brimhall as acting president.[4]^: 29

Cluff's methods as principal have been described as nearly opposite those of Maeser. Maeser was insular and conservative in his teaching methods. He kept his teachings well within the LDS world, and adhered to classical education standards. Cluff was more open to new ideas and methods. He also believed that the world outside Mormonism had a lot to offer the school.[5][3]^: 218 Cluff often referred to his time as administrator of the academy as the "New Epoch" because of his commitment to academic excellence and his motto, "learn to do by doing".[3]^: 260 At the beginning of Cluff's principalship, the administration continued to strictly enforce the rules of the academy as the Maeser administration had done, but over time Cluff helped the academy transfer that power to the students themselves. This helped to establish an atmosphere of discipline and responsibility maintained by the students through self-governance.[3]^: 279

Before Cluff's principalship, Brigham Young Academy was still more like a present-day high school than a university. Cluff, however began implementing several changes to the school according to his experiences at Michigan. He began separation of the college from the high school, giving older students access to higher level materials.[4]^: 29 The Collegiate Department of Brigham Young Academy was officially established in 1896 and was an extension of the college-level courses that Cluff had been teaching since becoming principal.[3]^: 265 He also introduced an athletics program, which included baseball, football, and track and field. The football program was quickly closed by the board of trustees because many colleges at this time frowned on athletics programs and because the sport was an "abomination to the spirit."[3]^{: 282–287} Cluff also helped implement many programs that were ahead of their time such as adding a military department, a summer school, a school song, and psychology classes. He also extended the length of class from thirty minutes to one hour blocks.[4]^: 29 The school was privately supported by members of the community, and was not absorbed and sponsored officially by the LDS Church until July 18, 1896.[6]

Around 1894, Cluff was finding it increasingly difficult to find qualified teachers who were willing to take the salary that the academy was able to offer them. Another recurring problem was the academy's teacher retention because of mission assignments from the church that required the instructors to leave their teaching jobs and dedicate all of their energies to their missionary efforts. That same year, Cluff was able to hire a handful of non-Mormon teachers after much resistance from Maeser and Brigham Young Jr.[3]^: 258 Although hiring teachers outside of the Mormon community was Cluff's doing, he also saw the importance of training high quality teachers within the Mormon community. In order to accomplish this goal, Cluff started a "Normal Training School" which gave free lessons to students who were interested in teaching. This approach proved to be successful, and the normal school supplied experienced and qualified teachers to the schools in the region.[3]^{: 263–264}

In May 1898, College Hall was built in order to provide more space for the upper division students of the academy's Collegiate Department. Even with the added space, many students at the academy were cramped because of the continuous increase in enrollment.[3]^: 267 The school continued to have success with the dedication and opening of the annual Brigham Young Academy Summer School.[3]^: 268 Another successful initiative that Cluff suggested was the implementation of a Missionary Training Program in 1899 for prospective missionaries of the LDS church.[3]^: 271

In 1899, Cluff outlined his proposal to take Academy students on an expedition to ancient Book of Mormon ruins and complete other related historical studies in Central and South America. Church leadership approved Cluff's plans, and he began preparing for the trip. He had to select the men who would accompany him, getting needed funding, and better organize the studies that would take place during the expedition.[3]^: 291 The men who were part of the expedition were set apart on 7 April 1900 and 10 days later they embarked on their expedition, leaving George Brimhall as acting principal of the academy. As they journeyed through Southern Utah, for the first 16 days of the journey they were met by feasts and celebrations in many of the cities that they entered.[3]^: 294 After leaving predominately Mormon areas, members of the expedition began to go off in pairs to act as missionaries in the cities that they passed through. The expedition stopped in Thatcher Arizona for a month while Cluff went to visit Florence Reynolds, who was a teacher at the Juarez Academy in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico and would become Cluff's second wife.[3]^: 309 The young men in the company were getting restless because of the significant delay in their journey, and after their month-long wait, they continued towards the Mexican border and began to familiarize themselves with Mexican culture.[3]^{: 304–306}

Heber J. Grant went and visited the expedition camp which had stopped in Nogales, on the border of Mexico. Once he returned to Utah to report his findings, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles decided that because the members of the expedition were not well experienced travelers and were not proving to be completely compliant with the rules that they were taught at the academy, a letter was sent to Joseph F. Smith. He met with Cluff and expressed the concern of church leadership and recommended the termination of the trip. Even as he was told to cease the venture, Cluff ignored this counsel and proceeded with the journey.[3]^: 308 Although Cluff decided to continue, some members of his expedition party decided to return to Provo, leaving only 9 members of the expedition party, including Cluff.[3]^: 311 They passed through many Mormon settlements in Mexico and had many hardships including starvation, illness, and fatigue. After nearly two years of travel, the expedition ran out of supplies, had problems with securing safe passage through Colombia, and was forced to turn back. Cluff finally returned to his position in 1902, but was accused of various improprieties, including sexual immorality by his assistant Walter Wolfe. Cluff was forced to resign.[7][3]^: 323 The charges of immorality stemmed from a post-Manifesto marriage between Cluff and twenty-five-year-old Florence Mary Reynolds conducted in Mexico. Cluff had obtained permission for the marriage from Joseph F. Smith.[8][9]

In Cluff's last official act, he proposed to the board that the academy be named "Brigham Young University". At first there was a large amount of opposition to this. Many members of the board thought that the school wasn't large enough to be a university. However, the decision ultimately passed. One opponent to the decision, Anthon H. Lund, later said, "I hope their head will grow big enough for their hat."[7]

Today, the Cluff Building on BYU's Provo campus is named for him.