 Bateman was responsible for the building of 36 new buildings for the university both on and off campus , including the expansion of the Harold B. Lee Library . He was also one of several key college leaders who brought about the creation of the Mountain West Conference , which BYU 's athletics program joined — BYU previously participated in the Western Athletic Conference . A BYU satellite TV network also opened in 2000 under his leadership . Bateman was also president during the September 11th attacks in 2001 . The planes crashed on a Tuesday , hours before the weekly devotional normally held at BYU . Previous plans for the devotional were altered , as Bateman led the student body in a prayer for peace . Bateman was followed by Cecil O. Samuelson in 2003 . Samuelson was succeeded by Kevin J Worthen in 2014 . 
