Four Brigham Young Students Punished by University for Gay-rights Protest
PROVO, Utah
Brigham Young University has put three students on probation
and disciplined a fourth for participating in a gay-rights demonstrations on campus.
BYU spokesman Michael Smart says the fourth student was punished with “suspension withheld,” which is just short of suspension.
The discipline was for violations of the school’s honor code.
Earlier this month, 21 people charged with failure to cease violation of a university rule pleaded guilty or no contest in 4th District Court. Judge Claudia Laycock fined them $200 each. Eight others have not yet entered pleas. The pleas were part of a deal that reduced the charges from a Class C misdemeanor to an infraction.
The written pleas included the statement, “I took part in a protest on the BYU campus knowing it violated university policy, and I failed to leave when asked to do so.”
On April 10, five members of the group were arrested for shouting and distributing literature on campus.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns BYU, considers homosexuality a sin and its practice is grounds for excommunication. The church has campaigned against legalizing gay marriage and it is a violation of the university’s honor code for students to engage in homosexual activity. The demonstration also was considered a violation of the university’s conduct code.
— Associated Press
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