BYU Student Body President Robert Foster: A Leader to be Used by the Lord
by Melanie Bridge
Assistant Editor, Meridian Magazine

Robert Foster and Eisha Tengelsen giving their acceptance speeches during the John Schmidt Concert on BYU campus on Friday Feb. 8.
Photo Credit: Jack R. Peterson/Daily Universe

Brigham Young University Student Association president-elect Robert Foster, the first African American to hold that position, wants to make a difference, not only to the BYU community, but church wide. He hopes to use his BYUSA position to be a missionary for the church and draw people to Christ.

Childhood
When he was younger his favorite person in the Bible was Moses, his mother Sally Marks said. She sees him as a Moses-type person today.

He overcame challenges in his youth, she explained. He had a speech impediment, just like Moses struggled with his tongue, and now he is a leader to be used by the Lord.

Foster, the first African American to be elected BYUSA president, was born in Camden, N.J., the middle child of three, one girl and two boys. The street where he lived is now practically condemned because of drugs and crime, although at the time he lived there the houses were just nice brownstones, Foster said.

His father was barely a part of his life; he met him just twice, at the age of five and 11. When Foster was 13 his father died of a heroin overdose. His mother, however, was one of the keys to his overcoming what was a challenging background.

When Foster was very young his mother and extended family were very involved in the nation of Islam. One night as his mother sat in a car being pistol whipped because of her involvement, she decided she needed to get him out of that environment, Foster said. So he was sent to live with his great aunt and uncle in a small town in North Carolina called Warrenton.

"She put me into a situation where I could be successful," Foster said of his mother's decision. "She is my earthly example of one who has overcome challenges."

Finding the Gospel
From the very beginning Foster showed that he was a different person. He was very close to his great aunt and the day she died, at 6 in the morning, he was in school by 8 a.m. He showed that he is just different, Sally Mark's said. Somehow he's always been closer to the Lord and had a better understanding of life's plan.

Marks herself joined the church when Foster was 8-years-old, but he did not join until he was 14 when he moved to Raleigh, N.C. to live with her again.

Foster said he had always struggled with the knowledge of Jesus Christ because the nation of Islam viewed Christ as a prophet, but not as the Savior.

"The Bible didn't really do it for me, but when I discovered the Book of Mormon it really helped me feel the spirit and I knew it was true," Foster said.

Throughout his teenage years while his mother went in and out of activity in the Church, Foster remained active. He credits that to his home teachers and the Raleigh members who made sure he got to church and mutual so he could reach his potential.

Behind the scenes his mother did just as much to help him reach his potential. She taught him that he needed to be better than the other men in his family because he had the Church and they were involved in the world, Marks said.

Struggling with a Stutter
Just like his mother, Foster stuttered as a child. The habit began when he was very young and he walked into his grandparent's house where he saw his grandfather sitting in a chair that had caught on fire, Marks said.

For several years Foster was a quiet child and struggled with his problem. One day, Marks said, she told him he was too quiet and he needed to start talking.

"He began crying as he tried and said I can't do it," Marks said. "I just kept saying yes you can and then he began to talk without stuttering and that was the breakthrough."

Ricks College and A Mission
Now Foster seems to have no problem talking to others and being in the limelight. BYUSA vice-president-elect Eisha Tengelsen said that while she likes to talk she prefers to have Foster in the spotlight, while she stays in the background to make sure things get done.

Foster was recruited by BYU to play basketball for the '94-'95 season. Instead he chose to play for Ricks College because as he said, "his grades weren't that good and his game wasn't as good as they (BYU) thought it was."

In the fall of '94 Foster tore his ACL playing basketball and had to leave school for rehabilitation in North Carolina. In February of the following year however, he decided to return to Ricks for rehab because through the team he could get better help. It was then that he decided to serve a mission, although he didn't know why, Foster said.

While he was in the MTC in 1996 preparing to go to the California Arcadia mission, Foster listened to the Mike Wallace 60 minutes interview with President Gordon B. Hinckley, and it was then he said, that his testimony began to grow in leaps and bounds.

His mother however, doesn't believe he's ever had problems with a testimony. "He is a very strong-minded young man and very much focused on Christ," Marks said. "He has an almost abnormal need to draw people to Christ."

As a missionary, Foster said, a black man once invited them into his house just because Foster himself was also black and he wanted to know what Foster was doing in the "Mormon" church.

Through his position as BYUSA president, Foster hopes to help out with the missionary aspects and some of the misconceptions about minorities in the church. He doesn't want to be an advocate for black members, but he does want to overcome misconceptions.

"I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for me and how I feel," Foster said.

When he returned to Ricks and began playing basketball again, Foster knew that something needed to change.

His mother said that he has always been very focused on the fact that he had a purpose on earth.

"Basketball had been good to me my whole life, it got me into college, but I felt like there was something else I needed to do," Foster said.

That something else meant getting involved with campus activities. At Ricks, Foster helped start the Multicultural Festival, which has since become an annual event.

Robert Foster answering student's questions in front of the Wilkinson Center on BYU campus during election week last week.
Photo Credit: Adam Charles/Daily Universe

BYU
When he transferred to BYU he got involved with BYUSA and the homecoming dances for the year 2000. He calls that one of the greatest experiences of his life because he got to help students have fun and enjoy themselves, but also because that year BYUSA was able to attract a larger crowd to the dances through their dance themes which featured different cultures.

Last year Foster served as the Vice President over the University Student Council under current BYUSA president Matt Blackner. His goal was to help all the schools on campus work together under the commission that Elder Henry B. Eyring, Commissioner of Education, gave in 1997: to build a Zion University.

Now he says of his upcoming tenure as president, "I feel like it's going to be a lot of work, more work than I've ever done in my life, but a lot of fun also."

Some of Foster and Tengelsen's goals include implementing a stronger mentoring program and increasing diversity at BYU. Tengelsen said to increase diversity they need to focus on igniting the majority and not just on the minority or else nothing will be accomplished.

Foster, who got married last November, will graduate from BYU in 2003 as a Psychology major, but he hopes to go on and study optometry. When asked if it bothers him that he is receiving a great deal of attention from the media because he is the first black president at BYU, he responded "yes, but also no."

Yes, Foster said, because it is upsetting to hear the rumors that he was elected based on his race and not his ideas, but no because he believes it is an opportunity to educate others.

One of Foster's favorite sayings is a quote from Secretary of State Colin Powell, which states, "If you think you can't make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito."

Foster hopes to be that mosquito, making a difference in small ways and said, "As long as we as LDS members reach out to others, our potential is tremendous."

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