As Scott Sprenger leaves for the provost position at the American University of Paris, he shares his thoughts on what makes BYU a unique university.
PROVO, Utah (August 6, 2014)—Scott Sprenger, an associate dean in the College of Humanities and a professor of French, will soon be leaving Brigham Young University for the provost position at the American University of Paris (AUP). Sprenger leaves after serving the BYU community for 21 years. A man dedicated to his students and their future opportunities, Sprenger has been a large part of the college’s Humanities+ campaign, including its push for global internship opportunities for students.
At a recent campus forum, Sprenger thanked the BYU community and his associates in the College of Humanities for their friendship and support. He also expressed his gratitude for the influence BYU has had on his life and career. “I have a better sense of what it means to live in a real community. I have also learned an enormous amount about organization and leadership by working under some truly magnificent leaders.”
Sprenger, a non-member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has brought a unique perspective to BYU. He was impressed from the outset by the smart, energetic and curious students. “Students, as you can imagine, are always surprised to learn, sometimes deep into the semester, that their professor is not a member.” He explained that the revelation often generates a lot of questions about how he landed at BYU, which he used as a pretext to provide a “top-five list of the most awesome and memorable things about BYU for a non-Mormon.”
His list included the geographical setting, his supportive colleagues, and even BYU’s religious mission. “This would seem to be a bit of paradox for a non-Mormon, but as I’ve looked back, I have to say it’s influenced my teaching, my courses offerings, my research, and me,” Sprenger said. He explained that his graduate work focused on religion and literature at a time when religion was a taboo subject, so the religious focus of BYU’s mission became an unexpected source of academic freedom and flourishing. “I really cannot overstate how lucky and grateful I am for my employment here.” His approach of deeply caring for students, their learning, and their future became a hallmark of the Sprenger classroom experience.
The main focus of his top-five list, however, was students and their bilingualism and biculturalism. He commented on how BYU’s students, especially those with an overseas mission experience, are uniquely positioned to solve problems and find opportunity in the contemporary world.
“Most of the world’s major problems to be solved and opportunities to be had depend and will increasingly depend on innovative supple thinkers who can negotiate disciplinary, cultural and linguistic divides. From my perspective, if BYU students are not the most suited for this contemporary challenge, I really have no idea who could be,” Sprenger said.
Students and faculty have expressed gratitude for the contributions Sprenger has made to the College of Humanities and to the BYU campus over his 21 years as a professor and an associate dean.
“Professor Sprenger developed unusually acute critical skills and broad erudition in his teaching and research in French literature. He then transferred those traits with admirable energy to his administrative assignments, and as a result, made a lasting difference in the college and across the university. I have no doubt that he will be a terrific provost at AUP,” said John Rosenberg, dean of the College of Humanities.
To hear Sprenger’s recent campus forum in its entirety, watch the video through speeches.byu.edu. To learn more about his work on Humanities+, visit the Humanities+ blog.
—Stephanie Bahr Bentley BA English ’14
Photography by Mark Philbrick