Southern Utah University, a public college in a predominantly Mormon state, has raised questions with an advertising campaign that seeks to recruit Mormon students by describing the campus, in Cedar City, as an ideal place to prepare for the proselytizing mission that many young Mormons participate in as part of their faith. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, critics question whether a public institution should be appearing to cater to one religion but not others, a situation that led a Wyoming college to back away from an ad campaign last winter. Southern Utah’s vice president for university relations called the college’s ads a “smart marketing decision.”
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4 Responses to Recruiting Ads Aimed at Mormon Students Draw Questions at Southern Utah U.
1564789 - June 7, 2010 at 4:11 pm
As a non-Mormon Utah resident I think SUU’s vice president for university relation’s statement is a sad, but not surprising sentiment. Let’s further alienate students who already don’t feel welcome at several institutions in the state because they don’t belong to the religious majority! More proselytizing – great!
bag31050 - June 7, 2010 at 5:05 pm
What part of the establishment clause of First Amendment do they not understand, as well as the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?Pull their federal and state funds and see how fast they change their minds. Money is the only thing that college administrator seen to understand anymore.
surakmn - June 8, 2010 at 12:04 am
I don’t live in Utah, but my undergrad degree is from SUU and I know from very personal experience that SUU is a state run, secular university. The reality is that about 60% of Utah is Mormon and assuring a majority of the population that they can have a good experience studying there is, in fact, good marketing. Frankly, they’ll get a better education and a hell of a lot more exposure to the real world at SUU than at BYU. If the university were teaching classes on proselyting or were advocating for any one faith tradition we’d have a problem. But it doesn’t.
chino_blanco - June 8, 2010 at 12:08 am
“I made friends who encouraged me to go [on a mission].”These guys know their market. That line is music to Mormon parents’ ears.And SUU has to be concerned that a new private Mormon Madrasah (Desert Valley Academy) is being built next door in Nevada.Here’s a new motto for SUU:Southern Utah University: Other schools only teach the establishment clause. We teach the controversy.