A scheduled speaker at a BYU religious freedom conference cancelled his participation after discovering that Mormon students who change their faith while enrolled as students are either expelled or forced to hide the transition in order to stay at school, reported the Salt Lake Tribune.
“Universities are meant to encourage free inquiry,” said University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) sociology Professor Mark Juergensmeyer.
“To sully that with the kind of intimidation this provides,” he said, referring to the private school's policy, “it's inappropriate for an institution of higher education.”
Juergensmeyer was set to speak at BYU’s International Law and Religion Symposium, and according to the Salt Lake Tribune, he was the only speaker to have opted out of the conference.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported the California professor’s opinion was stated in a letter he had written to the event organizers stating, “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.”
According to BYU’s Honor Code, “excommunication, disfellowshipment, or disaffiliation” from the Church will automatically result in “the loss of good Honor Code standing.”
FreeBYU, a group consisting of former students and others that rallies for amendments made to the Honor Code, notified Jeurgensmeyer and other scheduled speakers before the event. The group believes if students choose to resign their membership from The LDS Church, they should be allowed to obtain an ecclesiastical endorsement from the BYU chaplain or their new religious leader and pay the non-LDS tuition to remain in school.
Elizabeth Clark, associate director of BYU’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies, told the Salt Lake Tribune religious freedom extends to faith-based institutions, which have the right to determine their membership requirements.
Brendan Scott, a junior from Arizona studying political science, said it makes sense that the university would incorporate these things as part of their standards. “The school invests a lot of money in the students here. If members suddenly decide to disaffiliate from the Church, this can be seen as a lost investment.”
Non-LDS students pay double tuition, compared to Mormon students who are financially supported through the Church’s tithing money and only have to pay about $2,500 a semester.
Loreesza Butella, a freshman from Mililani studying marine biology and business, said her experience at a Church institution as a non-member has been good, and she has never had any conflicting issues with the school. She said, “Being a non-member here at BYUH is cheaper than all of the other schools on the island. I’ve never had any problems, but I would say the hardest part for me is the dress code.”
Butella said she expects all students to be treated the same, regardless of their religious standing. A few faculty members at BYU defended the Honor Code policy.
In response, Dr. Juergensmeyer wrote: “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.”