Humble Obedience Leads to BYU-Idaho’s First Signature Scholarship

January 2026

When Dennis and JoAnn Christensen  began giving to BYU-Idaho, it wasn’t a grand gesture. “We started donating around five dollars a month,” JoAnn says. “It was some very small amount.” Years later, the quiet consistency of that habit blossomed into the university’s first Signature Scholarship—a gift they hope will lift students who need just a little help to take the next step.

JoAnn’s connection to Rexburg runs deep. “I went to BYU-Idaho when it was Ricks College many, many years ago,” she says. “I’m from Rexburg—that’s my hometown. And we’ve always just had a very fond feeling for Ricks College.” It runs in her blood—her great-grandfather was Thomas E. Ricks, the school’s founder.

Dennis’s love for the campus developed over time. Raised in Denmark, he moved to the US during high school. After serving a mission, he studied accounting at Pierce College in Southern California. In his career as a regional director for a CPA firm, he often traveled through eastern Idaho. “I would travel up to Rexburg . . . and I’ve always been interested in education, so I would go up and visit the campus when I was up there,” he says. Over the years, he kept walking the campus because “there is a special spirit there.”

As the couple began planning their family trust, their hearts turned toward this university they both loved. “We wanted to donate a portion of that to scholarships for BYU-Idaho,” JoAnn says.

I was so grateful for the opportunity to meet the Christensens; it was so special for me to be able to meet the people who generously made my BYUI scholarship possible! I had a wonderful time getting to know them. I am immensely grateful for my education at BYUI and the opportunity that receiving this scholarship has given me to progress in my studies. I will always remember their kindness and will seek the chance to pay it forward in the future! - Marissa Kolacz

Then came a special invitation. “Somebody started talking about Signature Scholarships. We were sitting there at the table, and we got home, and Dennis said . . . ‘What would you think about doing a Signature Scholarship?’” They prayed, considered, and decided on an amount to give. JoAnn says, “I didn’t realize it, but we could give it in memory or in honor of somebody. And so we decided that since my mother was a granddaughter of Thomas E. Ricks, that we would donate the scholarship in her honor”—the Emma Ricks Williams Signature Scholarship. “As we were looking at this year, we thought, ‘Let’s do it again.’”

For JoAnn, scholarships have personal meaning. “When I went to Ricks College in 1963, my mother was a widow and money was really hard to come by—she had five children,” she says. “And I received two scholarships to Ricks College, each of them for $125, and that paid the tuition. . . . That’s how I got my start at going to college—through scholarships.” JoAnn continues, “Those scholarships . . . were such a blessing in my life.” Now the Christensens are extending that blessing—quietly, courageously—to the next generation.

The Christensens’ preparation to give began early on in their relationship. Dennis and JoAnn first met on Temple Square. Dennis says, “I was a supervising usher at the Tabernacle for the Sunday morning broadcast. And she used to sing in the choir.” One morning—“the morning that the Teton Dam broke,” he remembers—he told her they were singing one of his favorite songs.

JoAnn immediately replied, “How can that be your favorite song? Don’t you know that the Teton Dam broke up in Idaho and my family are being flooded out of there?” That took the wind right out of his sails. “Three months later . . . I got up the courage to talk to her again,” says Dennis.

After they were married, the couple prioritized living by financial principles taught by Church leaders, such as paying tithing and living within a budget. Dennis says, “When we first got married . . . we decided to live on [my income] and bank hers. And so that’s why, I think, we’re able to give.” JoAnn adds, “We’re not big spenders. We don’t have a lot of needs and we don’t have any wants.” And, Dennis concludes with a smile, “We don’t have anybody to leave it to.”

Although Dennis and JoAnn have no children,  they’ve built a legacy through service. JoAnn says, “We’re very involved in the lives of a lot of children. It’s been a blessing to us.” For example, she spent 40 years in education, including supervising BYU-Idaho student teachers—teaching seminars and completing their evaluations. “I had about 17 that I was responsible for.” The Emma Ricks Williams Signature Scholarship is yet another way the Christensens are supporting the rising generation.

For Dennis and JoAnn, giving isn’t a transaction—it’s discipleship. Quoting a beloved hymn, she explains, “‘Because I have been given much, I too must give.’ We just both feel deeply that way. . . . We both are in harmony with giving.” In fact, she says, “It’s a blessing to us to be able to help.”