Students at Mormon-owned BYU: Ease up on honor code
PROVO, Utah — Several hundred students at Mormon-owned Brigham Young University chanted “If God forgives me, why can’t you?” during a protest Friday aimed at pushing college officials to be more compassionate with punishments for violators of rules banning things that are commonplace at other colleges — including drinking, premarital sex, beards and piercings.
The demonstration was part of an informal campaign that started with an Instagram account created earlier this year by a former student who had a negative experience with the college’s honor code office. That led to a flood of stories from other students claiming they had negative experiences over transgressions and punishments.
People held signs such as “Stop playing God” and “Practice compassion” on the campus in Provo, south of Salt Lake City. Riley Mabry, a 21-year-old student from Memphis, Tennessee, carried one with a picture of Jesus and the words, “The only big brother I need watching me.”
“We shouldn’t live in fear of messing up,” said Mabry, who is bisexual. “That doesn’t align with the teachings of the church. One of the biggest tenets is that we are capable of repentance and forgiveness.”
Read more: https://www.thehawkeye.com/zz/news/20190412/students-at-mormon-owned-byu-ease-up-on-honor-code