Posted on 03/03/2009 7:44:26 PM PST by delacoert
Brigham Young University has denied an appeal to award a diploma that the creator of a Mormon beefcake calendar says he earned.
Chad Hardy's diploma was withheld by BYU last fall after he was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns and runs the school. Hardy was excommunicated during the month between completing his courses and graduation ceremonies.
Hardy appealed and met with Dean of Students Vernon L. Heperi on Feb. 13. In the meeting, Heperi sought to determine whether Hardy's life is guided by the school's honor code, which reflects the values of the Mormon church.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
I agree with the school’s right to exclude who they want and govern their students’ conduct, but this student might have a breach of contract claim. He met all the requirements to graduate, and lots of non-Mormons attend and graduate.
Those non-Mormons have to abide by the Honor Code also. If this young man perpetrated a fraud of pretending to abide by the code while taking his courses, then he has no claim. The article said he voluntarily stopped attending the church in 2002. Every year member students are required to affirm they are members in good standing in the church and will abide by the code. It appears he may have misrepresented his commitment to the church since 2002 and if the coursework was completed only in 2008 or shortly before that time, then he broke the agreement.
Incidentally, his beefcake calendar of returned missionaries is to Mormons as a girlie calendar of nuns would be to Catholics. It is a slap in the face to the standards of the church and his marketing it as members baring their chests is using the church in inappropriate ways.
Don’t confuse Mormons with Jehovah’s Witnesses, please.
The university does not accept federal funds except on a quid pro quo basis, meaning they might accept a particular federal contract for specific results. No federal funds are accepted for general purposes. Many years ago the feds tried to argue the university was bound by all the usual federal regulations applying to federal funds if it had even one student attending who used Pell Grants or federally insured student loans. That battle was fought and won by the university but, as the battle was going on, the university seriously considered how it might help students in the event it had to prohibit those grants and loan guarantees. With Obama cutting banks out of the student loan process, I suspect the issue will rise again.
If BYJ accepts Federal money, they might not have it that easy.
Is this just because he did not keep his word with BYU, a Mormon school, that you think he should receive his reward, or do you pay everyone who does not follow through on his promise.
Paying tithing is one of the de facto requirements of attending the university. Also, his tuition is subsidized by the tithing of other members of the church. This makes it an affordable private university. If tithes of the church were not used to subsidize his education there, he probably would not have been able to afford it in the first place.
Why would you apologize and then cut-and-paste a long sting of words that justify your original position? You have already been corrected, but I want you to know that I am LDS and the whole time I grew up in the church, all of us young men were encouraged to spend the first couple years of our adulthood serving other people.
I chose the Army and a lot of my friends chose to go on missions. Some chose nothing, and that is fine. I was a fourth generation U.S. Army veteran of LDS men, and some of my later time inculded Iraq (2005) and Afghanistan (2007). Every place I went, including small forward operating bases, I always had fellow Mormons to meet and pray with. There are literally tens of thousands of us currently in the Military. We are proud to salute our flag and love your country. I only know of one other denomination who refuses to salute or even recognize our flag, and it is not us.
There is a book called Saints at War, which details some of the higher profile (more decorated) LDS military men, which include some Medals of Honor. Our church even encourages us to wear our uniforms to church when we are about to leave or after we come home. We take pride in serving our country through military service. If people have a problem with the LDS church, so be it, but we can never be accused of not pulling our weight in military service. As a side note, my Grandpa was a waist gunner in WWII and was shot down during his first mission and spent two years in Stalag 17B. The first thing the Germans did to him was knock out all his teeth and break his hand on a table. He is still alive and speaks to schools all over our state while wearing his uniform. Even the most trouble-making kids sit in silence and come cry when he tells them how lucky he was to represent his country like that.
If he didn’t complete the required courses, then obviously, I understand his not graduating. My thought was that if he had, which I thought was the case, then he should at least get his diploma.
He can always transfer and graduate from Utah or somewhere I suppose. I think this was all about the calendar. Their school, their rules.
“During World War II over 100,000 Latter-day Saints served in the military and approximately 5,000 of that number gave their lives.”
Saints at War
If anyone would like to sift through to find the section applicable to the honor code binding someone who "was not a student and had not stepped foot on campus for 6+ years" please ping me with the info.
Not interested in the part where only one earring per ear is acceptable.
Last Friday, February 13th, I had my official university review with Vernon Heperi, Dean of Students at BYU. Susan flew with me to Utah for the review, and a Valentine's weekend ski get-away. She has no religious upbringing whatsoever, and for her to witness the university review at a Mormon-run school was indeed shocking. She still can't believe what she experienced, and neither can I. She told me that several times during the review, she had to hold her mouth from dropping from the questions that Mr. Heperi asked me.
My experience as a full-blooded Latter-day Saint is that the LDS church has an obsession with sex- even more than my innocent beefcake calendar. They don't get off by openly acting out sexually, just by asking others what they do in private. They love to ask the dirty little personal questions. For those who are, or have been LDS- you know exactly what I am talking about. You never can enjoy a private moment without thinking that you will have to discuss every graphic detail in your next bishop's interview.
Well let's just say that my "university review" at the accredited Brigham Young University felt much like a bishop's interview - but it managed to entirely cross the line into much more personal, private questions.
From Heperi's point of view, in order for him to grant me an exception to receive a diploma because I was excommunicated from the Mormon Church, he had to determine that I was still in good honor code standing currently- meaning that since I was last enrolled at BYU in 2002, and bound by the honor code - up until the current time I sat across from him in the review, I had to have lived the BYU honor code in its fullest.
Yes, you read that right. The past 6+ years, even though I was not a student and had not stepped foot on campus until my August 2008 graduation, I had to have abstained from coffee, tea, alcohol, and anything and everything SEX all those years I was away in order to be in good honor code standing to receive my degree.
I am sorry to say that I have worn shorts, grew out a beard and watched an R rated movie a few times since 2002, so I might be out of a diploma.
If you think this is ludicrous, how do you think my poor friend Susan felt. She is still freaked out about it. My Dad was there too. Imagine being grilled about sex in front of your Dad- and at an "academic" review. I know I am a grown adult, but please! It was so extremely embarrassing and inappropriate. My family is uber-Mormon. They don't talk about sex, period! The whole experience was so surreal and strange and just plain degrading.
I recorded the review, and will have it available for public consumption in the future.
My point is that to complete the graduation requirements you have to live in accordance with the honor code as well as complete the course work. He can surely transfer his credits, but he is not entitled to a BYU degree as he didn’t fulfill his obligations.
If BYU is smart that will facilitate his transfer toot sweet.
This gets very confusing...
Many years ago I dated a Mormon girl. She told me that her church (LDS) tries to get young men to sign as “Conscientious objectors”.
***So they are Christians now?
This gets very confusing...***
I went to a local National Cemetery not long ago. There amidst all those stones with crosses engraved on them were Stars of David and one oval engraving of some guy tooting a horn. A Mormon. So some did serve.
I knew one in the military years ago, a real jerk. But then he would have been a jerk no matter what church he went to.
Is that ALL he is entitled to?
...or DEAD!
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