 In 1903 , Brigham Young Academy was dissolved , and was replaced by two institutions : Brigham Young High School , and Brigham Young University . ( The BY High School class of 1907 was ultimately responsible for the famous giant " Y " that is to this day embedded on a mountain near campus . ) The Board elected George H. Brimhall as the new President of BYU . He had not received a high school education until he was forty . Nevertheless , he was an excellent orator and organizer . Under his tenure in 1904 the new Brigham Young University bought 17 acres ( 69 @,@ 000 m2 ) of land from Provo called " Temple Hill " . After some controversy among locals over BYU 's purchase of this property , construction began in 1909 on the first building on the current campus , the Karl G. Maeser Memorial . Brimhall also presided over the University during a brief crisis involving the theory of evolution . The religious nature of the school seemed at the time to collide with this scientific theory . Joseph F. Smith , LDS Church president , settled the question for a time by asking that evolution not be taught at the school . A few have described the school at this time as nothing more than a " religious seminary " . However , many of its graduates at this time would go on to great success and become well renowned in their fields . 
