Transfer fund for LGBTQ BYU students surpasses $35,000 after honor code "bait-and-switch"

Braley Dodson

Daily Herald

March 10, 2020

A fundraising campaign to provide funds from LGBTQ students transferring from Brigham Young University has topped $35,000, as of Monday afternoon.

“We have been blown away by the amount of response and reception that we have gotten,” said John Valdez, the executive director of the OUT Foundation, a group of LGBTQ BYU alumni.

The OUT Foundation launched a GoFundMe campaign Wednesday evening to help LGBTQ BYU students with costs associated with transferring from the university after the Church Educational System announced earlier that day that the removal of the “homosexual behavior” section from its honor code did not mean that a ban on same-sex relationships and signs of affection was eliminated.

The honor code, which students at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-owned university agree to abide by in order to attend, bans behavior such as the consumption of alcohol, premarital sex and beards for male students.

The code was updated last month and the section on “homosexual behavior” removed, which was widely interpreted to mean that LGBTQ students could date, hold hands and show other signs of physical affection.

That interpretation is incorrect, according to a letter released Wednesday by Paul Johnson, the commissioner of the Church Educational System, which oversees BYU.

“Same-sex behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage and is therefore not compatible with the principles included in the Honor Code,” the letter reads.

Kevin Utt, the director of the BYU Honor Code Office, references the letter on a question and answer page about the change on BYU’s website. Utt wrote in the post that the honor code was changed and the “homosexual behavior” section removed in order to create a standard for all Church Educational System schools and to be consistent with the church’s updated handbook, which was released last month on the same day as the honor code changes.

“We realize that emotions over the last two weeks cover the spectrum and that some have and will continue to feel isolation and pain,” Utt wrote. “We encourage all members of our campus community to reach out to those who are personally affected with sensitivity, love and respect.”

According to the post, same-sex romantic behavior, including dating, holding hands or kissing, remains an honor code violation.

Wednesday’s announcement sparked protests in Provo, Salt Lake City and New York City as LGBTQ students said they felt betrayed by what they believed was a reversal in policy.

Valdez said the OUT Foundation held back on issuing a statement on the appearance of the policy’s removal last month because they were cautious about the change. He said word spread among LGBTQ BYU students that the changes meant that they could date, and many came out as LGBTQ to their friends and family as a result.

“It was unfortunate, what we felt was a bait-and-switch,” Valdez said.

The fundraising campaign started with a goal of raising $10,000. That goal has increased by an additional $10,000 each time the previous goal was met.

The appearance of a policy reversal, Valdez said, has been painful.

“When you give hope to someone who is hopeless and then take it away, that is really cruel to do,” Valdez said.

He said as a result, students went public with same-sex relationships and sexual orientations. Now, he said, students are afraid they could be punished for going public.

The fund was created to help students pay for application fees, help with a potential loss of housing or if students lose their on-campus jobs.

“There are a lot of financial ramifications that transferring can hold,” Valdez said.

The OUT Foundation plans to release an application in order to access the funds later this week.

LGBTQ individuals and allies have taken to social media after Wednesday’s announcement, offering support for LGBTQ students and offering to help with the transferring process. Valdez said the foundation will support all LGBTQ BYU students whether or not they decided to transfer.

“We are saddened by the events that have happened, and simultaneously we are very happy to be able to use this traumatic event in order to mobilize action and get some good out of it,” Valdez said.

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American Bar Association advances religious discrimination investigation on BYU

ALi MONSEN
Good4Utah
April 13, 2016

Video

A high-profile investigation into Brigham Young University advances, Wednesday, amid claims that the private institution violates students' religious liberties.

If the American Bar Association finds BYU to be out-of-compliance with non-discrimination standards, the law school could lose its accreditation. Meanwhile, some students say the results of the investigation can not come soon enough.

Good 4 Utah's Ali Monsen interviewed a BYU student the investigation impacts. She asked to remain anonymous for fear of expulsion but says she and her husband have basically lived a lie for the last year.

"I do what the honor code requires, I go to church every week, and I fulfill my callings... A lot of times it just means being quiet about what I think and feel and not speaking up," she said.

The anonymous student says she fell away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after serving a Mormon mission but that she can not officially leave the LDS church without violating BYU's honor code.

"I would be kicked out of school, and lose my job, and lose my housing," she explained.

While Mormon students who change religions face serious penalties, non-Mormon students converting faiths do not.

A BYU spokesperson explained the policy differences, stating that "because of covenants and commitments members of the LDS church have made," for Mormon students the honor code "includes following the values and standards of their religion."

But a group called FreeBYU calls the so called 'disaffiliation policies' religious discrimination.

"Most of us [FreeBYU members] are BYU alumni. We have a lot of affection for the school. What we're advocating is an improvement and a reform... We do want the honor code to be reformed so that people that go through faith transitions aren't so impacted," said Brad Levin, Director of FreeBYU.

The group filed a complaint with the American Bar Association months ago, which started an investigation. This week, the ABA confirmed its decision to advance the case on to its accreditation committee, which will ultimately decide whether or not BYU is in compliance with ABA non-discrimination standards and potentially impose sanctions.

Accreditation officials have a meeting scheduled this week, where they could take up the issue. Typically, though, complaints take months -- sometimes more than a year -- to fully investigate.

Wednesday, a BYU spokesperson responded to the situation saying FreeBYU previously made the same complaint to the university's regional accreditor and was unsuccessful. The statement also states, "We remain confident that the law school is in compliance with accreditation standards and look forward to the ABA's resolution of this matter."

http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/american-bar-association-advances-religious-discrimination-investigation-on-byu

BYU "fundamentally violates" religious liberty, professor says after cancelling speech

JEREMY HARRIS
KUTV
October 6, 2015

BYU "fundamentally violates" religious liberty,
professor says after cancelling speech

A professor of sociology backed out of a speaking engagement at BYU's Law and Religion Symposium, citing the school's policy that prohibits students from leaving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In a letter to BYU's International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Dr. Mark Juergensmeyer, Director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara, told the school that he was unaware of BYU's policy of expelling Mormon students who leave the faith.

"I have decided that it would be hypocritical of me to participate in a conference in which the issue of religious liberty is paramount when the institution sponsoring it fundamentally violates this principle in its policies towards Mormon students," Juergensmeyer wrote.

Juergensmeyer says he was honored to receive the invitation to speak at the symposium. According to BYU's website, the topic of the conference was "Religion, Law, and Social Stability."

"As I understand it, non-Mormons are allowed to enroll in BYU, and they are welcome to convert to the Mormon faith if they wish, but if Mormon students change their religious affiliation they lose their scholarship, their campus housing and jobs, and are expelled from school even if they are months away from graduation," Juergensmeyer wrote.

"Free BYU", an organization that opposes BYU's expulsion policy, said they contacted the speakers of the symposium last week, encouraging them to "take action to reform BYU's policy of terminating, evicting, and expelling LDS students who change their faith," according to a post on the group's website.

According to Free BYU, Juergensmeyer was the only professor to respond.

"In making this decision I mean no disrespect to you, the Center with which you are affiliated, or the other participants in this week's conference. I know that many faculty members at BYU are opposed to this policy and are quietly working to change it. I applaud them, and hope that my decision will be taken as a sign of support for those within BYU who are seeking change. I appreciation your dilemma and admire your persistence," Juergensmeyer wrote.

Free BYU said that faculty members defended the school's policy to Juergensmeyer. In the same post on their website, Free BYU posted Juergensmeyer's response.

"There may be legal acceptance of such discrimination, but it is discrimination all the same, and I suspect that if a university in a Muslim country were to expel a student who wanted to become a Mormon, BYU administrators would regard this as a violation of religious freedom. And they would be right."

UPDATE: Brigham Young University responded with the following statement after a request for comment about Dr. Juergensmeyer's letter

"Higher Education in the United States is made up of a diverse collection of colleges and universities with distinct and unique missions. Institutional diversity is highly valued in American higher education and is protected by federal law. BYU is very open and clear about its mission as a religious institution.

Prior to entering BYU, all students agree to uphold the BYU Honor Code. BYU's website pertaining to the honor code explicitly states the principles students are expected to follow. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this includes following the values and standards of their religion. Because of covenants and commitments members of the LDS Church have made, they can no longer remain in good honor code standing if they chose to formally disaffiliate from the LDS Church.

All students must be in good honor code standing to graduate, to receive a diploma and to have the degree posted. All of this is explained on BYU's website and in the application for admission to the university."

http://kutv.com/news/local/byu-fundamentally-violates-religious-liberty-professor-says-after-cancelling-speech-10-06-2015

How BYU Destroyed Ancient Book of Mormon Studies

September 8, 2015

William Hamblin

Patheos

I maintain that numerous policies adopted by a wide range of BYU administrators over the past thirty years have had the effect—intended or unintended—of destroying ancient Book of Mormon studies as a fledgling discipline. Here’s how.

College and Department Politics. Although many people might find it incredible, every single BYU administrator on every level of the administration has explicitly discouraged me from doing ancient Book of Mormon studies in my annual performance (“stewardship”) reviews. They have all explicitly told me to focus my research and publications on non-Book of Mormon topics, such as the crusades. In part this was good advice on their part; they were telling me if you want to be successful at BYU, don’t publish on the Book of Mormon or publish with FARMS or later Interpreter. More broadly, you must publish outside the “BYU Bubble”—that is, BYU or LDS sponsored publications. Only people hired to teach Mormon history should publish on Mormonism. Only publications in non-LDS-related venues are viewed as legitimate scholarship. Since non-LDS publications generally do not accept ancient Book of Mormon studies as a legitimate discipline, this essentially means that no publication on ancient Book of Mormon studies can be acceptable as authentic scholarship at BYU.

This policy is also reflected in two other phenomena moving beyond mere verbal discouragement. Over the past twenty-five years I submitted several research proposals to my college on Book of Mormon related topics; none was ever accepted. This is in clear contrast to many of my non-Book of Mormon research proposals, many of which were accepted. Merit pay raises, based largely on academic performance did not include ancient Book of Mormon publications as authentic scholarship. The policy was crystal clear. When I published non-Book of Mormon related books or articles, I received merit pay raises. When I published Book of Mormon-related books or articles, I received no merit pay raise. My promotion to full-professor a few years ago was rejected by my college dean precisely because my Book of Mormon publications were not viewed by him as legitimate scholarship. I was informed explicitly by the dean that I needed more non-LDS-related publications to be promoted—despite the fact that I had two books and numerous non-LDS articles in my vita. (The dean’s decision was overturned by the university.)

So, my experience throughout my 25 years at BYU was that ancient Book of Mormon studies were not considered an authentic discipline. Publications in that field were not legitimate scholarly work. Such research was not supported by the college. Publications in ancient Book of Mormon studies did not contribute to either merit pay raises, nor promotion. Such policies not only obviously discourage young scholars from publishing in ancient Book of Mormon studies, and even overtly punish those who do so against BYU policy and the universal advice of administrators. 

Religious Education. One would expect that the College of Religious education would be the natural home for intensive ancient Book of Mormon studies. It is not. First, as I’ll note below, the curriculum on the Book of Mormon at BYU is both superficial and extremely limited. Second, many people teaching the Book of Mormon have no professional interest or training in ancient Book of Mormon studies—or ancient scriptural studies of any sort. Finally, Religious Education focuses on teaching what I call the “Three Ds”—doctrine, devotion, and daily application. Those three approaches to the Book of Mormon are certainly important and legitimate. But they do not provide the students much opportunity for intensive text-based academic study of the Book of Mormon. The whole academic culture of Religious Education is directed towards teaching the basic principles of the Gospel, which is fine, and indeed most important. The problem is that they also actively prevent any classes being taught at an advanced level, and essentially discourage the serious academic study of the Book of Mormon as an ancient text. As far as I can tell, this restriction represents an intentional policy by the BYU Religious Education administration. They don’t want the Book of Mormon studied contextually as an ancient historical document. They want it studied only as a theological and ethical document. 

BYU Curriculum and the Book of Mormon. Currently, there are only two courses that BYU students can take on the Book of Mormon: REL A 121: The Book of Mormon (first half), and REL A 122 : The Book of Mormon (second half). Both are introductory courses, and are only two hours long, making a total of only four hours. Even if a student wants to do more in depth study of the Book of Mormon, it is impossible to do so anywhere at BYU or in the church. BYU classes on the Book of Mormon are perpetually stuck at the introductory level. Furthermore, the new Book of Mormon class offered by BYU—Rel A 275 “Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon”—is now a single two hour class approaching the Book of Mormon thematically. In other words, it’s a glorified Sunday School class. It’s getting more superficial. 

What BYU actually needs is a robust curriculum in the Book of Mormon. Most simply, BYU could offer in depth courses on each of the major books of the Book of Mormon, combining some of the smaller books into one. Note that Religious Education offers a class on Isaiah, but no class on the book of Alma or Helaman or Nephi? Why? Beyond in depth classes on major books of the Book of Mormon, BYU should offer classes on Book of Mormon geography, history, archaeology, linguistics, literature, theology, culture, language (ancient Near East and Maya), textual criticism, religion, law, warfare, apocalyptic, reception history, the Bible in the Book of Mormon, etc. BYU could, if the administration wanted, have a program in Book of Mormon studies, and offer two dozen different advanced courses on the Book of Mormon, certainly enough for a major. But it doesn’t. This cannot be an oversight or random chance. This is obviously a conscious policy that implements curriculum decision which minimizes the opportunities of students to study the Book of Mormon as a serious academic discipline at BYU. Which, for all practical purposes, means students can’t do ancient Book of Mormon studies at all, anywhere.

Graduate Studies and the Book of Mormon. The only way that young LDS scholars can study the Book of Mormon in graduate school is to study it as a nineteenth century text in a secular religious studies program, or US history program. There is, of course, nothing inherently wrong with this. But what this means is that one cannot do graduate work anywhere in the world in ancient Book of Mormon Studies. Unremarkably, young scholars are not doing ancient Book of Mormon studies. Furthermore, no one teaching has at BYU has a PhD in ancient Book of Mormon Studies. BYU has completely failed in its mission to prepare young LDS scholars for ancient Book of Mormon studies. 

BYU Curriculum and the Book of Mormon. I’ve written extensively on the debacle of BYU’s destruction of FARMS. FARMS originated outside of BYU precisely because of the policies of BYU that I’ve outlined above, which prevented ancient Book of Mormon scholarship from thriving at BYU. Then, not satisfied with undermining ancient Book of Mormon studies on their own campus, BYU administrators decided they should undermine it outside of campus as well. Their goal in forcing FARMS to join was not because they wanted to support ancient Book of Mormon studies. Quite the contrary. BYU wanted to gain control of land that FARMS owned, and be able to manipulate potential donations to FARMS. BYU administrators made a number of promises to the FARMS board at the time of the hostile takeover—almost none of them have been fulfilled. Furthermore, in the past three years, BYU administrators have completely transformed the direction of the Maxwell Institute from ancient scriptural studies to modern Mormon Studies in its broadest sense. As I’ve detailed in blogs over the past few years, BYU has taken what was once the most productive center of research and publications on ancient Book of Mormon studies—which came into existence precisely because of the failure of BYU in this regard—and transformed it into Sunstone South. 

Conclusion. I don’t know what the goals or motives of the BYU administrators have been over the past thirty years in relationship to the Book of Mormon. I suspect they haven’t actually considered the implications of their policy decisions at all. Their focus is on other important aspects of running a university. However, the law of unintended (and perhaps even some intended) consequences has resulted in a series of administrative policy decisions over the past thirty years all of which have combined to result in undermining serious ancient Book of Mormon studies at BYU. Indeed, if their actual goal was to intentionally minimize the discipline of ancient Book of Mormons studies, they could have achieved that goal no better than by making precisely the decisions they have made.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/enigmaticmirror/2015/09/08/how-byu-destroyed-ancient-book-of-mormon-studies/

Mormon school removes gay-marriage cards at store

August 20, 2014
Nirmala George

AP

Greeting cards celebrating same-sex marriages turned up at the Brigham Young University bookstore Tuesday.

BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said Wednesday that the cards were placed on the shelves by Hallmark. Jenkins says they were quickly removed when bookstore staff discovered them after photos surfaced online.

She said the outside vendor stocked the shelves without realizing the school wouldn't want to sell the cards.

Acting on same-sex attraction with any form of physical affection is a violation of the school's honor code.

BYU is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has stood behind its belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman despite a growing societal movement in support of legalizing gay marriage.

A call to Hallmark wasn't immediately returned.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/mormon-school-removes-gay-marriage-cards-store