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Show f ilkDODSGD IT Kip AtpOBi) ii Jimnimun V f: V ! ; -' 1 By DAVID BRISCOE Chronicle Political Editor Ernest L. Wilkinson has been renamed president of Brigham Young University. THE SCHOOL, OWNED and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been without a permanent president pres-ident since Wilkinson resigned to run for the U.S. Senate, over six months ago. Republican Wilkinson, like his national contemporary, Barry Goldwater, soundly lost the race against Sen. Frank E. Moss. The announcement made Wednesday Wednes-day afternoon by LDS Church President Presi-dent David O. McKay, was the first indication that a permanent president would ever be named to replace Wilkinson. Wil-kinson. During the interim Wilkinson absence, Dr. Harvey L. Taylor and Dr. Earl C. Crockett served as acting chancellor of the school system and acting president of the university, respectively. WILKINSON RECEIVED word of the Church's announcement at his home in Provo. He said he was grateful for the confidence placed in him. Reports said Wilkinson would probably move back into the school's X-shaped ad ministration building shortly after the Christmas holidays. In an interview Oct. 9, at a reception recep-tion after his University debate with Moss, Wilkinson indicated to a Chronicle Chron-icle reporter that he would not be named president of BYU if he lost the election. He said he had resigned as president presi-dent and had absolved his connections with BYU, and did not know when a new president would be named. Wilkinson was at that time asked if he were risking his academic tenure by running for the Senate (which is the reason University Political Science Professor J. D. Williams did not run for Congress in 1962). Wilkinson said there is no such thing as academic tenure, and that he had turned in a resignation that had no provisions for allowing him to return re-turn after the election. Wilkinson was also renamed as head of the LDS Church Unified School System. President McKay made Wednesday's announcement as president of the Church's Board of Education and as president of BYU's board of trustees. "WE ARE PARTICULARLY grateful, President McKay said, "that Dr. Wilkinson has consented to forego other plans and to accede to our request that he resume his position of leadership in the church education educa-tion system." The church president noted that enrollment enroll-ment in the church's school system increased in-creased from 43,000 to nearly 130,000 "under "un-der his (Wilkinson's) dynamic leadership." Wilkinson was appointed president of BYU in 1951. During his term, 80 major permanent buildings were planned and constructed at the school; enrollment jumped from 5,957 to 16,462. President McKay said, "We also appreciate appre-ciate that during his tenure standards of scholarship greatly improved in every area of the church school system." WE ARE CONFIDENT that Dr. Wilkinson Wilkin-son : . . will quickly pick up the reins of his new responsibilities, and will continue his diligent efforts of the past of bringing sound progress and development to the Church Educational System in the future." Prior to his service at BYU, Wilkinson headed his own law firm in Washington, D.C. After his defeat Nov. 3 Wilkinson indicated indi-cated that he might return to private law practice. DR ERNEST L. WILKINSON . . . Back in school. |