In 1875 Brigham Young purchased the financially troubled Timpanogos branch of the University of Deseret and changed its name to the Brigham Young Academy. He asked Maeser in 1876 to go to Provo to establish a church school, explaining, "Brother Maeser, I want you to remember that you ought not to teach even the alphabet or the multiplication tables without the Spirit of God." During the next sixteen years, Maeser struggled to build a school. Initially, he was not only the principal, but also the teacher, chorister, organist, janitor, recruiter, fund-raiser, and fan club. He took the school from a small student body of only twenty-nine students who academically were only at the fifth reader level to an enrollment of more than 400 students in several departments including a normal school. Under his direction, Brigham Young Academy became one of the principal schools in the Utah Territory. Maeser was able to combine academic concerns, religious beliefs, and character development as part of the students' education.