The Brigham Young University Student Service Association (BYUSA) is the official student association at Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. Student government appeared at BYU as early as the 1900s. Throughout its existence, the student government took different forms. Up until 1933, the student government association was known as the student body, after which it was known as the Associated Students of Brigham Young University (ASBYU). During its early history the student body sought to provide students with campus events and forms of entertainment for its students; however, with the transition to ASBYU, the organization sought to not only provide for the social life of students but also seek to advocate for their needs. The structure of modern BYUSA includes a president and executive vice-president as well as four area vice-presidents in charge of a distinct sect of BYUSA which include Experiences, Clubs, Student Advisory Council, and Student Honor.
Throughout its history, the BYU's student government and its administration have frequently clashed. Sometimes finding themselves underneath the control of BYU administration and prominent leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving on the Board of Trustees, the student body leadership often attempted to reorganize or protest in order to assert their desire to affect policy at BYU. BYUSA was reorganized and rechartered in 1988, while Jeffrey R. Holland was the university president. Following their rechartering, BYUSA reevaluated their role at BYU, seeking to emulate their motto "students serving students" by focusing their attention as a student government on advisement and service. A prominent controversy surrounding BYUSA and BYU administration revolved around the firing of a BYUSA faculty advisor for writing a letter to the school newspaper, asking for more transparency in BYUSA elections which led to student protestation of the firing and the call for more freedom for students to express opinions. In the 1990s and the 2000s, BYUSA made university history by electing its first female president in 1991 and its first African-American president in 2002.
History
The organization of student government at BYU can be traced to the early 1900s. According to Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years, the student government organization officially began in 1909. However, according to Brigham Young University: A House of Faith, student government began in December 1902. Regardless of the discrepancy, a de facto student government existed at BYU as early as 1899 with the establishment of the first student newspaper at BYU, White and Blue. While, not an official student government, the newspaper used their influence to establish student policies. Until 1933, the student government association was known by the title the "student body", after which it was known as ASBYU. During the university presidency of Franklin S. Harris, ASBYU ran with little supervision from administration or faculty. In 1937, the Board of Control, made up of administration chosen student members, was dissolved and students were granted permission to hold primary elections, however, students continued to notice the lack of student government's power for the next 20 years. Early duties of student government included running intercollegiate athletics, managing the Student Loan Fund, operating the BYU bookstore, planning campus social activities, maintaining the paint on the "Y" on the mountainside near BYU, and overseeing freshman initiation.