Elder Clark G. Gilbert stood in front of a Washington, D.C., audience on Monday and issued an urgent plea: Proclaim and enhance the life-changing work happening on faith-based higher education campuses across America.

Monday’s audience — seated together at The Catholic University of America — was an atypical audience.

Counted among the participants at Monday’s 2026 Convening of the American Council on Education (ACE) Commission on Faith-Based College and Universities were the presidents of some of the nation’s most renowned religious universities — including Notre Dame, Baylor, Yeshiva University and Brigham Young University.

Also in attendance was Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who delivered the keynote address on learning to disagree better.

A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Elder Gilbert said faith-based institutions remain forums of inquiry that not only bless their students — but are also blessing the entire country.

“It’s my plea that we will continue to elevate the work of faith-based colleges and universities in America,” said Elder Gilbert, who prior to being called to the Twelve served as the church’s Commissioner of Education and was previously the president of Brigham Young University-Idaho.

“It’s also my plea to my colleagues here, who are tremendous leaders of faith-based colleges and universities to form the kind of bridges we need to lift and be a light to others and to learn from others.

“And I think the spirit of this conference today should be a call for all of us to come out of the isolation in the woods; to have and articulate reasons for the hope that is in us,” he said.

Elder Gilbert: Spread the word on the good that’s happening at faith-based colleges

The theme of this year’s annual convening focused on “Learning to Disagree Better” — and what faith-based colleges such as Notre Dame, Baylor and BYU can do to ensure their voices are heard in the national dialogue.

Offering the event’s closing message, Elder Gilbert echoed a point emphasized by multiple participants Monday: It’s possible to “disagree better” without compromising one’s beliefs or convictions.

Followers of Christ, he said, are taught to live “peaceably and lovingly” with all — regardless of whether they share their values. But today, that lesson is proving challenging for many.

Elder Gilbert challenged those at Monday’s gathering to “come out,” “articulate,” and “engage” with the world. Let others know the good works happening at America’s faith-based colleges.

Not all will listen, he said, but it’s essential that the message be shared.

At a moment when many colleges and universities are feeling financial strain, faith-based schools in the United States are outpacing public universities, he added.

That’s a story that’s not being widely told — and faith-based colleges share the task of alerting the media and others to that fact.

“We’ve got to be willing to get out and tell it,” Elder Gilbert said.

Remedies to unhappiness & loneliness: Faith & religious affiliation

Many of today’s young people are adrift, observed Elder Gilbert. They are lonely. They want a different kind of education. And many students with a particular religious identity need a place where they feel supported.

“Faith-based schools are growing almost everywhere you look across the country,” said Elder Gilbert. “We have had record applicants at BYU and BYU-Idaho this year.”

Elder Gilbert recalled growing up in a non-Latter-day Saint community in Arizona. He sometimes felt the sting of discrimination.

But a faith-based school such as BYU offered him a welcoming home during his freshman year. “For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged. It was an incredible feeling.

“And students of faith backgrounds feel this at faith-based universities across the country.”

Higher education across the nation is facing a crisis, Elder Gilbert said. Studies show that fewer than half of Americans still feel confidence in colleges and universities. And a sizable number of people report not feeling safe or welcome in most of today’s higher education institutions.

“Two-thirds of U.S. college students feel they’re facing a crisis of purpose,” said Elder Gilbert, adding that “their university doesn’t have any curriculum or leadership talking about purpose and meaning in life.

“We have failed these young people — and they’re wanting this.”

Elder Gilbert spoke about a sizable number of young Americans who self-identify their religion as “none.” Many in that category have been told that religious faith does not matter — or that religious faith is, in fact, harmful to one’s well-being.

But studies reveal that those in the “none” category are also the least likely to be happy, compared to others who identify with a faith.

“They’re not happy. They’re the most lonely generation ever. They’re the least happy generation ever,” he said.

There’s a prescription for such ailments, assured Elder Gilbert: faith and church affiliation and attendance.

But even if religious affiliation is a reliable predictive factor for happiness and purpose, it’s hard to have faith conversations at many college campuses.

“And,” he added, “most people with faith don’t feel safe on those campuses.”

It’s not essential that all students of religious faith attend faith-based universities, noted Elder Gilbert, pointing to secular and public schools across the country that are welcoming places for students of faith.

“Smart university presidents are creating safe places on their campuses — even when they don’t have a religious mission — to provide safe gathering and meaningful discussion for people of faith on their campuses,” he said.

Elder Gilbert added some in academia perpetuate the argument that university campuses offer a “face off” between reason versus faith — or truth versus virtue.

“This is a false dichotomy,” he said.

“For me, as a person of faith and as a scholar, those two things were never in conflict. They were always unified as part of a holistic process of growth, intellectual and spiritual development. They weren’t in conflict.

“That is one of the great contributions that people of faith and faith-based universities are making in America right now.”

Gov. Cox: ‘I lament greatly that we brought politics into our churches’

Cox’s keynote message focused on learning to disagree better — a concept he’s been identified with through his ongoing efforts to help others work together despite political, religious, cultural or social differences.

The governor noted that the nation’s 250th birthday is being celebrated this year. It’s the anniversary of a historic “experiment in self-government.”

America’s founders, Cox said, believed self-government would only work if a nation’s people were both educated and moral. “You needed smart people,” he said, “and you needed good people.”

The nation’s system of checks and balances requires building coalitions, compromise and learning to work together to get things done, he added. Such unity does not mean all people think alike. It means learning to act and work together, despite differences, for the common good.

Many of the organizations that have helped build the nation have been religious-based. Such associations allow people to serve, give back and strengthen their communities. Such affiliations also boost mental health, said Cox.

Now, in 2026, people are stepping away from such associations.

“People are leaving. People are lonely,” said Cox. “They don’t have that religious community to connect with. And they’re feeling a little lost and adrift. But we’re wired for connection — and so they’re finding it in unhealthy places.”

For many, he added, one’s politics have become their religion.

“And, of course, if politics is your religion, then people that disagree with you are heretics, and it can be a little dicey,” said Cox. “We start to treat people a little differently.”

It’s even more troubling when religion turns into politics.

“I lament greatly that we brought politics into our churches, because I think that that has brought the profane into where the sacred exists, and we don’t have any sacred spots left,” he said.

A pandemic, the slaying of George Floyd and contentious presidential elections were just a few of the divisive moments that prompted Cox to begin formulating his “Disagree Better” initiative that includes his new book entitled “Off Ramp: How to be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt.”

“The whole concept behind ‘disagree better’ was not that we should all agree — we chose ‘disagree’ very intentionally as the first word,” he said.

“Our nation only works if people are passionate about their beliefs. We’re not asking anyone to give up their long and maybe eternally held beliefs. What we’re asking people to do is to engage in healthy conflict.”

The murder of Charlie Kirk in a corner of Utah known as “Happy Valley” was a staggering reminder of the dangers of unchecked, unhealthy divisiveness, added Cox.

The governor again called for moving beyond “dangerous contempt” for others we might not agree with.

“We have to start building character again,” said Cox. “We need a moral people again.

“I don’t believe that religion has cornered the market on morality … But I believe for most of us — for me — it’s the place where I find that sense of morality.

“It’s why I treat my opponents with dignity and respect. Not because I agree with them and not because I don’t want to beat them in the next election, but because I believe they are a child of God.”

Insights from faith-based higher education leaders on working across differences

Monday’s convening also included a panel discussion with presidents representing Baptist, Catholic, Jewish and Latter-day Saint-sponsored universities to examine how they have worked across differences to find commonalities.

A few panel highlights:

From The Catholic University of America President Peter Kilpatrick: “I think what’s working on our campuses is our students willfully and enthusiastically engaging in the things of the Spirit.

“Spending time together in prayer; they’re worshipping together; they’re in small Christian communities; they’re discussing important topics with a Christian heart.

“I think this is making a big difference. They’re in adoration — so they’re doing the things of the Spirit, and that seems to be working.”

BYU President Shane Reese: “We do view each other as children of God … and that brings with it a healthy sense of respect and dignity for all who enter (our) doors, and for all who exist on this earth.

“That changes the nature of the conversation. It changes the commitments and covenants that we have with one another. And our students have this desire.”

Baylor University President Linda Livingstone: “Civil discourse is woven throughout our strategic plan.

“We believe that if those of us at faith-based universities do not help our students learn how to engage in respectful dialogue with others who are different from them and think differently than they are, that we will not have done our job to put them out to be the citizens of the world.”

Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University: “There’s one commonality, which is the godliness of every single person.

“And believing in that and showing our students that we believe in them is the first core principle for success in university.

“The second thing is that when we teach them about our values, it’s not because we’re looking for them to become Jewish. What we’re showing them are models where they can go deeper on their values.”

The Rev. Robert A. Dowd, president of the University of Notre Dame, spoke of meeting with Pope Leo XIV, who Dowd calls a humble “great listener.”

“For us at Notre Dame, it’s just incredibly important that we’re forming young people who are humble, who are great listeners, and who are also courageous.

“They’re willing to defend the most vulnerable among us. They’re willing to take their events, talents, and all the skills they develop out into the world in ways that serve society in a special way.

“That’s the special role of faith-based institutions.”