October 17, 2008

BYU Yanks Diploma From Publisher of Calendar Showing Hunky Mormon Missionaries

Brigham Young University has withheld the diploma of a man who was excommunicated from the Mormon Church after publishing “Men on a Mission,” a calendar of shirtless Mormon missionaries, the Associated Press reported today.

The man, Chad Hardy, told the AP that in June he finished his last four credits at the university, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon Church is formally known. He then walked across the stage with classmates at graduation.

But in September, Mr. Hardy received a letter from a Brigham Young official stating that a nonacademic hold had been placed on his record. The letter said he might be eligible to receive the degree if he were reinstated as a member of the church in good standing.

Mr. Hardy was excommunicated from the church in July. A church elder told the AP that the calendar had been a factor in that decision.

A Brigham Young spokeswoman told the AP she wouldn’t discuss the specific case, for privacy reasons, but she said that all students “must be in good standing from an academic point of view and from an honor-code point of view.” The university’s behavioral honor code aligns with church teachings.

As for the calendar, a 2009 edition has now been published, along with a disclaimer saying that it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Mormon Church. —Beckie Supiano

Comments

1. It would be inaccurate to assume that Hardy was excommunicated solely for the calendar. There were other reasons involved, as has been pointed out in other places:

   http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/mistakes-in-the-news-associated-press-errors-more-than-semantics

   Also, one might wrongly conclude from the Associated Press article that the church excommunicates those who do not pay their tithing, which would be a completely erroneous assumption.

   Another inaccuracy: these men were not “Mormon missionaries,” but rather, as the AP points out, FORMER Mormon Missionaries, an important distinction.

   — humana    Oct 17, 05:37 PM    #

2. humana,

   Checked out your link. Inactivity, non-tithe payment, or not wearing the magic undies are not, by themselves or all together, excommunicatory offenses. If they were they would have to “ex” 2/3s of the members. Although, non-payment of tithing will keep you form getting a temple recommend.

   I don’t know Chad personally, but I have been following his story. I have heard his side. I have also set on a “court of love.” The Stake President/Bishop/etc. can excommunicate a member for any reason “they” deem fitting.

   Chad was excommunicated for doing the calendar.

   Also, demanding that Chad be dunked again to get his diploma is religious blackmail.

   Jim

   — Jim Jensen    Oct 17, 09:54 PM    #

3. Perhaps this serves as an insightful warning, when college authorities are religious authorities. To deny someone their degree because they were excommunicated from the church?

   What does the regional accreditation association have to say about this? Put BYU on probation!

   — keith    Oct 18, 03:03 AM    #

4. Oh NO… You mean that a university is taking seriously their responsibility to teach students to demonstrate integrity and loyalty in upholding the standards the student agreed to when they filled out the application to the school! What is this world coming to??
   Accrediting bodies do not regulate the value systems of private institutions. They regulate academic excellence. Students who matriculate to BYU do so because they share the values the institution upholds. Why did this student choose this institution? There are plenty of institutions out there that would be just fine offering a degree to someone who, for the income a calendar brings in, would trample on the sacred values held by 13,000,000 people. BYU is conferring on this student, a wonderful education about having the integrity to be true to himself (or at least not spit on those who gave him a great educational opportunity). Good for you BYU.

   — Nada    Oct 18, 07:50 AM    #

5. It’s hardly “academic excellence” when someone is refused a degree after completing all of the academic requirements, though, is it.

   — William    Oct 18, 01:29 PM    #

6. Every year, good mormon politicians and state employees are indicted for all kinds of crimes, fraud or unethical behavior. Does BYU ex-communicate them & take away THEIR accreditation too, or only if they stop paying tithing?

   — Jimmy    Oct 18, 02:38 PM    #

7. Nada writes:

   “You mean that a university is taking seriously their responsibility to teach students to demonstrate integrity and loyalty in upholding the standards the student agreed to when they filled out the application to the school!”

   Calendars of men with their shirts off – less male skin than one can see at the beach.

   Exactly what “sacred” values have been trampled?

   BYU – a “university” named for a polygamist …

   — Astonished    Oct 18, 03:08 PM    #

8. The poster above (humana) who claims that he was excommunicated for something other than the calendar is both incredibly naive and engagining in libel against Mr. Hardy.

   I am a graduate of BYU and the honor code does NOT prohibit publishing a calendar with shirtless men on it. The fact that the excommunication took place AFTER he completed all of his course work tells you how vindictive refusing to let him graduate was.

   I am embarrased to be a BYU Graduate – and will do everything in my power to assure that non of my kids attend there.

   — Steve    Oct 18, 03:13 PM    #

9. Nada: …the sacred values held by 13,000,000 people…

   Mark: Make that 12,999,999. Although I am LDS, I don’t hold sacred this kind of punitive behavior on behalf of the church. It’s whiny and embarrassing. Certainly, somewhere in the world is a cause more worthy than this we as LDS can spend our time worrying about.

   — Mark    Oct 18, 06:45 PM    #

10. And there are NOT 13,000,000 Mormons in the world.

    The real figure might be as few as 4,000,000 or so.

    — Matt    Oct 18, 07:05 PM    #

11. I applaud BYU for insisting that in order to earn a degree at their institution, a student must do more than simply attend classes.

    — Take Back the U!    Oct 18, 07:37 PM    #

12. In actuality, Chad was excommunicated only for the calendar. He has said such and he personally confirmed it to me.

    — Michael    Oct 18, 11:35 PM    #

13. A religious institution of higher learning is an oxymoron. Sacred wafers, sacred underwear, dei ex machina—it’s all the same supernatural nonsense. The university must be committed to the search for truth; if it accepts values or beliefs that have no rational, empirical basis, then it cannot really be considered a university in the modern sense. There should be no accreditation for medrassas. BYU’s accreditation should now be called into question.

    — Rich    Oct 19, 12:37 AM    #

14. BYU has no justification for not granting his degree. He has completed all the requirements, was allowed to walk, and has done nothing academically wrong.

    Certainly, I could understand them not allowing him back for another semester, but not handing him the diploma he has earned is petty and spiteful. BYU is going to lose a lawsuit if it comes to that, and will also lose a major PR battle.

    — AxelDC    Oct 19, 09:42 AM    #

15. Anyone who publishes a calendar of any kind is excommunicated from my church, The Holy See of Timeless Truth. It is the covenant of our denomination to be nondenominational with respect to days…dont count em, dont count the months, dont count the years. The world would be a lot better place, actually heaven on earth, if all of us would turn to the truth and recognize that things you can count dont really count. If only we could free ourselves with the untimely emphasis on time, then we would not under the influence of the Belial of the clock, tick, tick, tick, driving you crazy, the little second hand sweeping away at the day as if that was the important revolution when in fact, freedom comes from turning aside from measurement and stepping into experience.

    And we have our own tablets, small things we swallow, given to us by the angels in the white outfits, or at least, they used to be white, but now they have patterns and flowers and figures of mice, little yellow birds, and other adornment. i like the colors.

    — mnh    Oct 19, 11:58 AM    #

16. The ONLY reason Chad was excommunicated was the Calendar. Anything else that is stated is pure non-sense and should be challenged.

    — LDS-Prof.    Oct 19, 12:38 PM    #

17. There is a conflict in this report. It says that he was inactive for 6 years, but that he finished his degree at the same time. You cannot attend BYU and be inactive, not pay tithing, etc. So how do the fact fit?

    — anon    Oct 19, 03:52 PM    #

18. chad is out of luck. the lds church is powerful and will win if a lawsuit were to be brought against them. this is a way to make him an example to others. he’s not the first, and he won’t be the last….look at byu’s track record.

    — anon    Oct 19, 05:19 PM    #

19. It was my understanding that a student doesn’t have to be Mormon to attend BYU. If that’s true, then why would a student’s excommunication from the church have any bearing on his degree?

    — anon    Oct 19, 07:44 PM    #

20. I and many others wish Harvard, Yale, … would pull the degrees of the many Harvard, Yale, … MBAs working on Wall Street, formerly at Enron, and the many banks, savlings and loans and real estate agents responsible for the financial crisis and the tax payers having to full a $750 billion dollar bill. These guys and gals should all have their degrees pulled and maybe even Harvard, Yale, …. their MBA programs discredited. BYU is a leader for pulling the degrees of individuals who are no longer ethically, morally and social responsible. The degree is not a license to disgrace the university and all of the fellow alumin. In the information given to all future and current students, it should be explicitly that any Enron, Wall Street, Sub Prime loans, Student loan scandals, … will be grounds for pulling your degree until restitution is made to those hurt by your unethical, asocial and irresponsible behavior.

    — KJJ    Oct 20, 08:53 AM    #

21. Still the question is begged:

    exactly what “unethical, asocial and irresponsible behavior” is exemplified by a calendar showing males unclothed from the waist up?

    What is your ethical analysis of a “Christian” church building a multi-billion-dollar shopping mall?

    — Astonished    Oct 20, 09:05 AM    #

22. Let’s hope that all the conservative groups who defend students against “political correctness” will speak out against this particularly ridiculous form of repression. Making a calendar is not grounds for punishment. But even if it were, a college cannot make post hoc penalties, and deny a diploma to someone who has completed the academic work. As I note in my Patriotic Correctness book, the worst repression on campus is at religious colleges like BYU.

    — John K Wilson    Oct 20, 09:06 AM    #

23. Poster of #19: Yes, non-Mormons do attend, but must fulfill an “ecclesiastical endorsement” requirement – a signature from some religious authority.

    Revoking a degree post-ceremony proves the lack of morals of the institution itself. Let’s hope his “tooth and nail” determination overcome the hegemony.

    — anon    Oct 20, 09:45 AM    #

24. So that BYU/LDS officials, who might be reading this column, know public opinion — shame on you for this petty, arbitrary, capricious, anti-academic decision.

    — Mark de Goz    Oct 20, 09:59 AM    #

25. If he paid his tuition, earned satisfactory grades in all courses required, and otherwise met graduation requirements, sounds like he has an excellent case for breach of contract against BYU to receive his degree.

    Even churches are bound by contract law.

    Should prove excellent marketing for his next calendar too, if he can keep it in the news long enough.

    — Mervyn Emrys    Oct 20, 10:20 AM    #

26. I know we seem peculiar, but is this peculiarity really worse than the hand wringing going on among so many who are not members of the Church or BYU students? How is your life affected by this? Everyone knows BYU to have different standards, and it is puerile to mock things we don’t understand (or care to).

    And to the people talking about “sacred undies,” I might just ask, since you realize that to some people the very garments you mock are an outward demonstration of an inward commitment to Christ (like Jesus Fish, but not quite so publicly visible), you might think about having a bit more respect in order to elevate the discussion and disguise the mindless vituperation that motivates much of your attack.

    This Hardy person felt his calendar was more important than his faith. I think the divorce between him and the LDS Church is probably the best decision. He doesn’t want the church ‘breathing down his neck,’ and the church doesn’t want him advertising it as a place to lust after shirtless returned missionaries.

    There is an intelligent conversation to be had over this, and I invite all you who lather yourselves in hatred toward Mormons to take a Valium and have the discussion.

    And to you BYU alumni who hate it and won’t send your kids to BYU—great decision! This is the glory of free choice! You don’t want BYU, and I doubt it want you. Now let BYU exercise its choice, and faithful members exercise theirs, and try to live happily.

    — Darin    Oct 20, 10:26 AM    #

27. If the Olympic Committee can pull the gold medal from Marion Jones who clearly won at the Sydney Olympics and PASSED her drug test, then any American University can pull the degree from any American college student for whatever.

    Marion Jones was made a scape goat because she came clean and admitted that she took some drugs and lied, even though there was NO UNDISPUTED Rigorous Scientific Evidence that she had ever done so.

    What is good for Marion Jones is good for everyone else. Sad but true. Marion Jones lost because she had the Guts, Social, Ethical and Moral Fortitude and Responsibility to come clean and accept the consequences for her actions (and those of the USA Olympic Committee which certified her trainer and the doctors and pharmaceutical companies which make the (il)legal drugs, …

    It is time that those in Washington, on Wall Street, in the Financial Aide offices at many Ivy League, SEC, Big 10, ACC, Pac 10, Big 12, and Big East universities, investment houses, banks, savings and loans, real estate agents, Washington Insiders and Consultants, … responsible for the Financial Crisis come clean like Marion Jones did and take the consequences and make restitution and not put the burden on the USA taxpayers and homeowners, many of whom have lost their homes in foreclosure, while those directly and indirectly responsible get off Scott free due to the Bail Out which has been Sanctioned by Obama, Howard Dean, John Edwards and even John McCain.

    And Obama says he is not a Washington Insider. Ya right. He, Howard Dean and John Edwards screwed Hillary Bigtime in both Michigan and Florida. And academics in the USA sponsor Obama.

    These are the same academics which tell Congress that there are not enough highly qualified American educated and trained undergraduates to fill the PhD and Master’s positions at their universities and then import Indian, Mainland Chinese and Eastern European graduate students, who after they graduate stay in the USA, and outsource and help outsource work to India, China, Russia, … These academics are as American as Obama, Howard Dean and John Edwards are.

    How many of them served in Vietnam with John McCain? How many of them took deferments to avoid Vietnam, ran to Canada or even joined the National Guard, and then served on their father’s campaign, while others went to Vietnam, were captured and were prisoners of war like John McCain. I for one know and can distinguish real Americans who are loyal to America and the principles is USE to stand for.

    It is easy to talk like many academics do, and like John Edwards, Howard Dean and Obama. But it is much harder to walk the walk and to serve one’s country during tough times like John McCain has done and which Palin’s son will do shortly. On the other hand look at Obama’s, John Edward’s, Howard Dean’s military record?

    Vote your conscience and vote for Americans for America and not Americans who fill their graduate schools with Chinese, Indian, Russian, … graduate students and who think that the young American undergraduate is not better educated, smarter and more hard working than the imports from India, China, Russia, … Just like the dog food, heparin, drugs, toys, … from India, China and Russia, they are all of lower quality than the American trained and educated students, at least those educated and trained at USC in LA, Cal Tech, UCLA, and MIT.

    As for many of the large state universities with graduate schools full of foreign graduate students, one has to wonder why they need to import graduate students at the same time they are charging American undergraduates over $20,000 a year to attend their universities. The American college student crisis is the next big surprise which the American tax payer will be asked to pay. When the American undergraduates with close to $100,000 in student loans are passed over for Chinese, Indian and Russian educated and trained undergraduates for graduate school position and positions at NCSA, Los Alamos, … what does it tell us about the quality of our American academics and the selection process?

    Sounds like the same kind of selection process as on Wall Street, Enron, investment banks, savings and loans and real estate offices. And we know what this process has brought us.

    The next $1.000 billion bail out will be the American College Student Loan bailout. And we should send the bill to India, China and Russia, countries which have benefited immensely from the American public university doctoral and master programs, more so than the children of the American tax payers who have to foot the bill.

    But many of the multinationals which have moved all production offshore and advocate free trade with countries which are anti-America like India and China are also responsible. American universities like USC in LA, Cal Tech, UCLA, and MIT should open up branch campuses in India and China. Then the large American state unviersities will not have to accept so many Indian and Chinese PhD students and deny positions to the children of American tax payers, the biggest scandal in the history of the American Public and University Education. The Chicago Tribune had a wonderful series about this problem at its flagship university, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Ask Obama how many foreign graduate students are taking the PhD and Master level positions at the flag ship universities in his state. Is this the change and education policy we want for our children. And many of the PhD and MS students, alumni of the UIUC are responsible for outsourcing jobs back to India and China and hiring other Indian and Chinese when they get jobs in the USA at universities, government and state labs. So in summary, many academics are also responsible for the current financial crisis in the USA. They also should be held accountable and should lose their so-called tenured jobs, just like all of the other American workers who have lost their jobs due to the asocial, amoral and socially irresponsible jobs of many academics at large public universities in the USA.

    — KJJ    Oct 20, 10:27 AM    #

28. How interesting that in all this talk of freedom and “the modern age” that it is okay to use ad hoc arguments and bigoted remarks such as “magic underwear.”

    I would hope that an academic would focus on the topic at hand – the question of the ethics of an institution making such a revokation. Apparently advanced degrees and working in an environment that encourages new ways of learning and thinking have not yet elevated our discourse above the playground name calling and bullying of our elementary school years.

    — Dallin (No relation to Brigham) Young    Oct 20, 10:37 AM    #

29. I looked at Chad’s calendar website. It seems to use the calendar as a tool to get attention for the positive contributions of the missionaries to social welfare all over the world.
    Since to many, Mormon missionaries are a joke (identical clothes, bicycles, and ties) the calendar is good PR for the church. On the web site, the missionaries come across as real human beings.

    — Tex    Oct 20, 10:50 AM    #

30. I can’t say I know a lot about LDS, but I have had some LDS students in my classes. Part of their beliefs is modesty. I had a student in my music program who had to have her shoulders covered—so we redesigned her costume for concert to accommodate that. Bare shoulders was a big deal. I can’t imagine the uproar an entirely bare chest would cause. But isn’t our country supposed to accept religious difference? For being supposedly “liberal academics”, I am often shocked and dismayed by the levels of vitriol and bigotry I see posted in response to Chronicle articles. Of course I wonder how this young man can lose his degree after the fact. Of course it makes me ponder the ethics and power of an institution. Of course I would support him receiving his degree if he has done the work, and “walked.” However, I am more troubled by some of the insensitive responses. Shouldn’t we have a substantive discussion about that? In the end, I don’t know why everyone should be so incensed. What does a piece of paper that says “degree” really matter? He has the education. They can’t take the knowledge away from him. And he has garnered enough publicity here that I imagine many graduate schools would still admit him even if he doesn’t have the official degree from BYU—if he even sees that as necessary for his life/career.

    — Ansley    Oct 20, 11:37 AM    #

31. Um, just one question. Where can I buy a copy of this calendar?

    — Ginger    Oct 20, 11:40 AM    #

32. “In the end, I don’t know why everyone should be so incensed. What does a piece of paper that says “degree” really matter? He has the education. They can’t take the knowledge away from him.”

    Ansley, why don’t you trash your driver’s license then? You know how to drive a car. You have the education. No one can take the knowledge how to drive away from you.

    — Mark de Goz    Oct 20, 11:58 AM    #

33. Ginger, there is a link to his website in the first line of the article.

    — Kate    Oct 20, 12:00 PM    #

34. This is a fascinating issue. On one hand, you have a recognized church holding to a line it believes is right, a tenet of faith. On the other hand, a young man exercising his First Amendment rights. The dynamics of the controversy are too good to pass up.

    Disclaimers:
    1. I am not a member of the LDS church, nor will I ever be a member.
    2. I am a conservative Christian (that probably means a goodly percentage will dismiss my comments out of hand as the work of a skull-bashing Neanderthal).
    3. I spent a good bit of time a number of years ago studying LDS history and doctrine, hence my inability to ever consider becoming a part of the LDS, or any of the 80 other groups bearing some version of that name. Okay, I think that covers the disclaimers.

    Now, this will probably end up where another controversy of more than thirty years ago ended up – with BYU changing course. In a nutshell – BYU was going to face serious public problems because the church’s doctrine at that time was that dark-skinned people were inherently evil and were marked so by the color of their skin. BUT – presto, chango – along came the Civil Rights movement and its aftermath directly affected BYU. How you ask? Why, let me tell you. BYU, operated by the LDS church refused to admit those inherently evil people (the dark-skinned ones) and therefore were facing problems in their athletic programs – like for instance, basketball. So, the church’s solution was to experience a new proclamation from their Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, I think it was Spencer W. Kimball’s immediate predecessor but am not sure, that went something like this: dark-skinned people are not inherently evil anymore. Therefore, we can recruit black athletes and not face problems associated with that issue.

    In other words, the church changed its doctrine to accommodate a new public relations disaster in the making. There was a precedent for this action, after all Joseph Smith had the revelation regarding plural marriages after the housekeeper turned up pregnant. BUT HE WAS A MARTYR, Mormons believe. That is right, he was killed in a mob action in Illinios – after he shot and killed someone else.

    Now for this circumstance, I have some questions, but one will do. If these were good Mormon young men, former missionaries all, why did they pose for the pics in the first place? Having a little problem with vanity are we guys? or maybe the pride of life? Or were those special garments, vaguely reminiscent of the priestly garments of the Old Testament a bit uncomfortable now that your mission is over? A dedicated Mormon would not have exposed himself in this fashion.

    At any rate, if the young man in question has actually completed the coursework, he will probably hire a lawyer and take one of two directions open to him. One, he will settle with BYU for his degree and a cash settlement (if would be best to hire a lawyer familiar with LDS doctrine and history – not me, I’m not a lawyer); or two, go to court and make a loud, public point of shaming the LDS church. I don’t make that recommendation, not because I fear retribution from Mormons, but simply because its so uncool.

    Mormons in general and missionaries in particular, are human beings just like the rest of the inhabitants of the planet. They do some good things and some bad things while trying to do the best they can. I hold no personal animosity toward they or the church. I simply reject its doctrine as false.

    — 2B    Oct 20, 08:54 PM    #

35. This from a Mormon (in good standing) and a BYU Grad – LIGHTEN UP. It’s just a stinkin’ calendar! Shame on BYU for pulling his degree.

    — DJ    Oct 20, 11:44 PM    #

36. I teach at a military service academy. We do this sort of thing ALL THE TIME. There have been several cases where Cadets/Midshipmen have finished all of their requirements for a degree, but aren’t given the diploma because: – They fail physical standards (too fat, can’t run in the requisite time, etc…) – Honor violation adjudicated right before graduation – Conduct violation adjudicated right before graduation.

    This is not a phenomenon exclusive to religious institutions. Any institution that is rigid in its standards can do this…

    Now,I agree with the sentiment that it is a bit over the top, but it is within their right to do it.

    — hcl    Oct 21, 06:03 AM    #

37. First, my question is how did this guy ever finish his last semester at BYU? It sounds like he was not eligible for an ecclesiastical endorsement, which is necessary to renew every year while at school. BYU’s big mistake was not refusing this guy earlier.

    Second, 2B, you have no idea what you’re talking about. BYU admitted blacks well before the revelation on the priesthood, just like the church baptized blacks before the revelation. That restriction was only in relationship to the priesthood. There is no way the church reversed its position on blacks and the priesthood to recruit black athletes. That is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.

    Also, Joseph Smith injured two or three of his attackers before he was murdered(the exact number is in dispute), but they all survived and were indicted in the murder. Get your facts straight before you go on the attack.

    — dc    Oct 24, 02:54 PM    #

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