Bott was no extremist. A tenured faculty member at the flagship Church-sponsored university, Bott taught classes enrolling several hundred students each semester, from whom he received sterling evaluations. He taught courses designed to prepare prospective missionaries for service. His tenured position at Brigham Young University gave him access and authority to shape the views of tens of thousands of future LDS Church lay leaders and members, as did his service as a lay clerical leader. He used this authority to perpetuate speculation and racist folklore
