BYU Dismisses Player From Basketball Team for Having Premarital Sex

[v-girl]

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/0...est=latestnews

Discuss. Is there a Catholic student union at BYU? I might like to send my kids there.

[Vanquisher]

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/0...est=latestnews

Discuss. Is there a Catholic student union at BYU? I might like to send my kids there.

Ummm, no. BYU is a strictly mormon private college. I would disown my kids if they went there, but they are our rivals. You can't even get a Coke on campus.

Look, I think it's good that BYU is sticking by their honor code to dismiss the player from the team, in the best year ever for them to boot. However, it's college. It's sex! It isn't illegal. It is a loving, consensual, adult act which should not be that big of a deal. All BYU students must sign the honor code. It has been reported that this was not this particular students first offense, and he was already on probation.

Here is the code:

Be honest
Live a chaste and virtuous life
Obey the law and all campus policies
Use clean language
Respect others
Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse
Participate regularly in church services
Observe the Dress and Grooming Standards
Encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code

It's a nearly impossible honor code to live by in college. No caffeine? I applaud BYU for their actions with sticking with their rules, not that they always have in the past, but it's also over-the-top ridiculous. I guess that's what you get for going to BYU. Hopefully, Utah can pick up any of their other players who want to have sex, Mountain Dew, or grow a beard, or wear shorts.

I applaud them for sticking to their code. It's not as though the rules are a surprise to those attending the school. You go there, you agree to the code. While it's not my cup of tea, BYU is walking the walk, when keeping the player would have been much easier.

[scrub-jay]

I applaud them for sticking to their code. It's not as though the rules are a surprise to those attending the school. You go there, you agree to the code. While it's not my cup of tea, BYU is walking the walk, when keeping the player would have been much easier.

I'm in this camp. They are a private university that is further illustrating their value upon the established code. I am impressed with the decision despite it potentially hurting the bb season.

[SoonerTexan]

Notre Dame should learn a lesson from BYU. I'm not a Mormon and don't ascribe to LDS beliefs, but good for them for sticking to them!

90% of the other married med students here graduated from BYU...I'll have to ask them about it.

Everyone I have ever met that has either planned on attending/already graduated from BYU (the list is getting long) has been a very impressive, motivated, and kind person. I'm becoming a closet BYU fan.

It's a nearly impossible honor code to live by in college.

I don't know about that. Except for the alcohol (I was legal), caffeine, and occasional swearing, that about sums up my college experience. Not the standard, but impossible? Nah.

Also, found this from another article:

Perhaps as amazing as BYU officials enforcing the code now is the fact that they didn't actually catch Davies breaking it. Either Davies or his girlfriend came forward, and Davies later admitted his transgression not only to school officials, but also to his teammates.

Ummm, no. BYU is a strictly mormon private college. I would disown my kids if they went there, but they are our rivals. You can't even get a Coke on campus.

Look, I think it's good that BYU is sticking by their honor code to dismiss the player from the team, in the best year ever for them to boot. However, it's college. It's sex! It isn't illegal. It is a loving, consensual, adult act which should not be that big of a deal. All BYU students must sign the honor code. It has been reported that this was not this particular students first offense, and he was already on probation.

(I am LDS)

The LDS faith takes a pretty strong stance against extra-marital sex of an kind. In addition to the action taken by BYU here, this man is likely also going to face some Church disciplinary action as well. Yes, he's an adult who is allowed to consent to sex, whether inside or marriage or out. However, as you said yourself in your post, when he applied to BYU, he agreed to live by the honor code as they wrote it.

Also, just to address a few other comments made here: coffee and tea are explicitly forbidden. While it's true that you won't find caffeinated drinks on campus, the consumption of them isn't going to get you kicked out of the school or threaten your membership in the church. It's one of those gray areas that is left up to conscience. Some members abstain from any caffeine, others do not.

And yes, BYU is an LDS college, but there are a fair number of non-LDS who attend as well. They do have to agree to abide by the honor code whether they are LDS or not though.

I think it is great that BYU has stuck to their belief's. I am an alumni of BYU and I was excited about their basketball team, but I am glad that no one is exempt from the rules. He knew the rules of BYU when he went signed to go there. Just like I did when I went there. i think this just goes to show that there are more important things in this life then playing basketball.

[diggitydot]

I give BYU major props for standing by their principles. It isn't easy to do in today's college sports climate.

[SuzySunshine]

I also give BYU major props for sticking to the code, ESPECIALLY when sports are such a big deal and they were ranked #3 nationally when this happened. However I don't understand why he was dismissed from the team but not the school, would a "regular" student who violated the code have been dismissed from the school?

I do hope he gets a chance to play again, not necessarily with BYU, he seems like a good young man and a good basketball player.

Regardless of your religion if you don't believe in the code, don't go there, its that simple.

[diggitydot]

DD1 is beginning to research colleges and universities and was utterly gobsmacked that some on her list were private religious institutions with requirements specific to their particular dogma. I could see how a non-religious kid could not be aware of expectations until after recruiting and letter-signig was over. Still, though -- once you agree to an honor code, expect consequences for violations.

[scarlett09]

Here is the code:

Be honest
Live a chaste and virtuous life
Obey the law and all campus policies
Use clean language
Respect others
Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse
Participate regularly in church services
Observe the Dress and Grooming Standards
Encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code

Damn, I wouldn't have made past the first semester there.

I applaud any institutions that have honor codes and have students who take them very seriously. Especially in this climate. I'd be curious to know what the percentages of students who have res life/judicial/health issues are at these places as compared to private schools w/o honor codes and public universities. I have a hunch that amount of these issues are significantly lower at schools with honor codes. This would have made a good thesis topic...

Anyway, I have a question for our LDS members: why the no caffienated beverages? Is caffiene considered addictive by church doctrine?

[MDPhDWife]

I agree with what's been said here so far. While I'm not LDS and would never have considered attending BYU, I respect the school for sticking to its principals.

Cheri brought up an interesting point about BYU choosing to not expel him from school.

I'm also curious about Lemon Pie's post about caffiene consumption not being grounds for dismissal. If it's in the honor code along with pre marital sex, where is the line drawn? Since the consequenses vary for the specifics listed in the honor code, are the students aware of that when they sign?

[poky]

I agree with what's been said here so far. While I'm not LDS and would never have considered attending BYU, I respect the school for sticking to its principals.

Cheri brought up an interesting point about BYU choosing to not expel him from school.

I'm also curious about Lemon Pie's post about caffiene consumption not being grounds for dismissal. If it's in the honor code along with pre marital sex, where is the line drawn? Since the consequenses vary for the specifics listed in the honor code, are the students aware of that when they sign?

If the honor code is written exactly as quoted above, the prohibition is specifically against tea and coffee, not caffeine in general. That's why other caffeinated drinks are more of a grey area.

I am glad that no one is exempt from the rules.

This. Mormon or not, I find it abhorrent how much the sports stars at the college level routinely get away with. Well done, BYU.

[diggitydot]

It was explained to us by an LDS friend that warm caffeinated products were specifically prohibited in the book of Mormon, but cold ones weren't mentioned. Hence the gray area. No idea how accurate that information might be.