Although this institution has a honor code intended to maintain the college "values," what does this say about sex? Is engaging in pre-marital sex immoral? What one may think is morally correct can differ from person to person and institution to institution. However, suspension is not a method in upholding their concerns about sex. Having a conversation with Brandon about the implication of pre-marital sex could have served as a better tool in demonstrating the "importance" of adhering to the honor code.
I believe the role of the honor of the code is a way to governs one's body and personal decision(s). Religion obviously is a way to maintain power within the institution. Brandon Davies is an adult that chose to be human and have sex with his partner. Sex is a major factor in people's life; it is natural so how does this conflict with "morals and values?" How can we move forward if we can’t get past sex? I sure hope no else on campus is having sex either
Along with this despicable decision, I couldn't help but to think about race relations being that Brandon is a Black male in Utah. I am sure that he was not the only male who has sex on or off campus. What are the underlying assumptions about this "incident" and how it was published? I pose all of these questions in order to create dialogue around institutions, sex, and race.
This entire “case” speaks to the state of religion and how institutions use it as a tool to govern bodies and maintain the status quo.
I think this is an interesting case. I'm not a Mormon and thus don't agree with all of the aspects of Brigham Young University honor code, but I think that they are far within their right to have their honor code. It would be different if BYU was a public school, but it is not.
ReplyDeleteHistorically speaking, most colleges (including public universities such as UIUC) did make some sort of demands on students’ moral behavior under the idea of in loco parentis (in the place of parents). While I don't think the university should have an absolute say in how you live your life, I think that it is a loss for society that many schools have largely given up on trying to push for any real morality. Thus I respect BYU for mandating behavior consistent with their faith.
Even more so, I respect BYU for sticking with their principals. If I were a BYU administrator, I think that I would have glossed over the break with the honor code to avoid the negative press and to keep winning their basketball games. While this move was perhaps not the best for the institution, at least from a Utilitarianism ethic (greatest good for the greatest number of people), they did maintain their integrity.
I found the below article form a Mormon paper to be interesting. I’ll quote part of it.
http://www.mormontimes.com/article/19929/BYU-backs-up-principle-in-suspending-starter-Brandon-Davies
"It would have been better timing for the university and Davies to wait until the season was over. The decision could cost the school hundreds of thousands of dollars in NCAA Tournament money. But it would also have been less honest.
Instead, the university treated a basketball star the same as it would any other student. It wasn't so much a message of intolerance as a message of principle."
I think this school is going too far by removing him off of the team. That is private and whatever people do in their own time is their business. This school seems like they are the type to be in charge of all aspects of one's life. I know the student is the one that told on himself but at least he was honest. The saying that says, "honesy is the best policy" could be applied to this situation. The school should have let him play in the rest of the games. The school was in a tournament. However, the school could have waited until the end to say something. Then they could let other students know there are always consequences for their actions. In this case, I feel like it pushes students away from admitting their wrong. Students will not come forward in other situations since this athlete's information eventually became made public.
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