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The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at Byu

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Bryan Waterman is a former editor of the Brigham Young University off-campus newspaper "Student Review"; Brian Kagel is a former editor of thre official BYU newspaper "Daily Universe". Together they have written the new book, "The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at BYU", a history of the academic battles at that campus during the 1980's and 1990's. In many ways it is a sort of sequel to Gary Bergera and Ron Priddis' 1985 work, "Brigham Young University: A House of Faith." The two histories share a similar, very readable journalistic prose style, have similar painstakingly thorough research, and both reach controversial conclusions about the fate of academic freedom at the school. Waterman and Kagel's book begins with four chapters that give a general background to more recent events: a nice summary of the LDS commitment to education; a history of feminism, such as it is, at BYU; an eye-opening history of the "Daily Universe" and the continuing attempts of BYU administrators to control the news on campus; and an (inadvertently) highly amusing account of the evolution of the honor code (standards of dress weren't always set in stone, it used to be more concerned with personal honesty than appearance, due process for alleged offenders has not always been a big concern for those who enforce it.) We then get an extensive laying out of the struggle over the definition of "academic freedom" over the past decade or so. The discouraging of BYU professors from attending the Sunstone Symposium; the firings od Cecilia Konchar Farr, David Knowlton, and Gail T. Houston; and the decision of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) to censure BYU for an allegedly "repressive" atmosphere are among the highlights of a densely packed, almost encyclopedic telling of almost every controversy you can think of at the school during this era. Perhaps the case that concerns us most here on AML-List is the forcing out of Brian Evenson from his English department job. Waterman and Kagel give us the blow-by-blow story. At first administrators were reluctant to act on an anonymous student's letter to a General Authority complaining of the "disgusting" violence in Evenson's work. Then the case seemed to get caught up in the larger American "culture wars" (of which for more, see below.) Evenson was told he would have to eliminate the violence in his fiction in order to stay at BYU. There are several issues here that deserve careful thought: whether an LDS artist can use *all* the resources at his command to criticize an immoral society (as I believe Evenson was trying to do;) whether any other respected university in the nation would have driven out a rising young author in such a fashion; and how LDS writers are expected to work under such newly vague standards. The most debatable part of the book will be the linking by Waterman and Kagel of BYU's stresses to the "culture wars" in American society today. The authors see BYU administrators as trying to preserve an enclave of "neo-conservative" political thought at the school amid a sea of leftism and moral relativism at other colleges. BYU officials speak of "a diversity of universities" (as if a single university can hold only one opinion on many issues.) Waterman and Kagel are wrong to pooh-pooh concerns about political correctness in the academy. These things are not just in the imaginations of conservatives--see the book, "Dictatorship of Virtue" by the liberal "New York Times" writer Richard Bernstein. On the other hand (and here I speak my opinion as an alum of BYU and a faithful reader of "The Weekly Standard", "The American Spectator", and a teen-age subscriber to "National Review") ideally left and right shouldn't try to censor each other; and conservatives, having been victims of "speech codes" at other universities should be very careful about enforcing their own. I hope (probably in vain) that there would be a place for a variety of opinions on all university faculties, not just at BYU or Berkeley. "The Lord's University" is a thought-provoking, very worthwhile book. I wonder if they sell it at the BYU bookstore.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, or Mormons) sustain their prophets as the literal representatives of God on earth. Since the board of trustees for Brigham Young University (BYU) is composed of the First Presidency of the LDS Church and the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, it follows as a natural corollary for many Mormons that BYU, is literally the Lord's university. Thus the title for the book, and the strange story of the suppression of academic freedom in an institution supposedly directed by men who speak personally with the premier intelligence of the universe.

The authors wrote the book largely from personal experience and are sometimes characters in the story they tell. As a younger man Waterman wrote for the "Student Review," a banned independent newspaper that catered to BYU's more independent minds. Kagel wrote for BYU's official "Daily Universe." Their book is of the highest quality in its presentation and research, and the documentation is simply amazing, all the more so since they were denied "access to accounts from administrators and board members."

The book is divided into two parts. Part one is background information for those not familiar with Mormonism, and helps to present the context in which later controversies developed. Chapter 1 describes Mormonism's historical development of schools and seminaries, not so much out of commitment to the truth, but from a practical need to forge a civilization in the wilderness and to maintain control over members.

Chapter 2 is a history of Feminism at BYU. I found this chapter particularly interesting because I still remember the massive political opposition the LDS Church mounted against the equal rights amendment and title IV. I recall the fiery speeches warning of the evils of women working outside the home, using birth control, etc. Waterman and Kagel describe these teachings of the LDS Church in historical context to bring greater understanding to the environment in which BYU later terminated feminist professors and how teachings of the LDS Church promote gender-based discrimination in the work place.

Chapter 3 is a brief history of BYU's student newspaper, and how the administration has gradually forced its way into the position of censor. A key theme throughout the book is the Church's heavy-handed aversion to any form of criticism.

Chapter 4 describes the evolution of BYU's honor code. Begun as a true student honor code, it was quickly appropriated by the administration and morphed into a tool for controlling unwanted behavior and thoughts. Today the honor code consists mostly of a dress code and prohibitions against doing anything that would embarrass the LDS Church. There are some interesting stories here, like the BYU coed who was refused admission to the testing center during finals because she was wearing jeans (a violation of the honor code at the time). It was winter and she was wearing a long coat, so she went to bathroom, removed her pants, buttoned up her coat, and was promptly admitted to the testing area.

Part two describes specific controversies in greater detail. Chapter 5 discusses BYU's statement on academic freedom and their policy of discouraging teachers from participating in certain symposia. For example, "[f]ollowing the 1992 Sunstone Symposium, Scott Abbott was warned by his stake president, BYU religion professor Keith Perkins, that his analysis of BYU and academic freedom showed 'potential for apostasy." [p. 264]. Perkins was told to apologize to Mormon apostle Packer for the sin of critiquing the Mormon leader's ideas.

Chapter 6 describes the firing of Cecilia Konchar Farr and David Knowlton. It's fascinating to read of the unethical behavior of BYU's administration as they fabricated their case against these teachers and forced them out of the university. The book is a tribute to those individuals who's professional reputations were tarnish by an administration that lied about their worth as intellectuals in their headlong rush to purge the university of teachers who did not follow the administration's party line on how to think, and what to say.

Chapter 7 touches slightly on a covert committee that spies on church members and keeps tabs of their public statements regarding the church. It also describes briefly the excommunication of historian Michael Quinn and others for uncovering and publishing information to which the General Authorities objected. In other parts of the book they describe the firing of David P. Write, an assistant professor of Near Easter studies, for privately admitting that the Book of Mormon is not literal history. Steve Epperson was fired for spending time on Sunday supporting a non-profit music conservatory for children instead of going to his Church meetings. Chapter 8 describes the firing of Gail Turley Houston and Brian Evenson. Brian is the son of William Evenson, a professor of Physics from whom I took theoretical mechanics while at BYU.

The book ends by documenting the influence of right-wing organizations on the thinking and behavior of BYU's administration and the leadership of the LDS Church. I was unaware of how deep some of the connections go. After reading this chapter much of the propaganda to which I was exposed growing up in the LDS Church made a lot more sense. It was particularly interesting to see these influences in Dallin Oaks, who was BYU's president when I attended. [Oaks, who is now a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, was in my ward during the first summer semester after I got married. On one occasion I had the chance to introduce myself to him after a Sunday-school class we attended. These experiences make accounts of his behavior even more intriguing.]

One of the book's unstated values is the insight it gives into the behind-the-scenes behavior of what it means to be a Mormon. If you want to understand Mormonism by observing Mormon behavior, then this book should be an integral part of your study program.

Waterman and Kagel's book is a good read, and vividly portrays one side of recent controversies concerning academic freedom at BYU: several professors were asked to leave or departed on their own in recent years over alleged theological incongruities in their teaching with the doctrines of the LDS church which funds BYU. What stops the book from being truly authoritative, though, is the failure of the authors to research and analyze both sides of the controversy. BYU administrators, many of whom are well-educated and compassionate, are universally portrayed in the book as cartoon characters- oafish puppets of an unseen Church hierarchy determined to thwart free inquiry at BYU. This view might be shared by perhaps a few of the 1400 member faculty who are active in the AAUP in Provo but it should have been rather easy for the authors to interview several of the majority of faculty members who supported the dismisals of the three or four faculty members who did not make tenure. Did the authors avoid such interviews because they would have conflicted with their hypothesis? Is is posible that, contrary to the assertions of the authors, there still is a great deal of academic freedom at BYU for those who share the tenets of the LDS faith? Many faculty came to BYU because of the freedom BYU presented to research and profess in a community of faith. Most of the faculty are at BYU because they are believers in the Mormon Church and support the Church leadership. It would have been nice to present the views of a few of those professors who strongly supported the dismissals of the errant faculty. Academic freedom does exist at BYU- such topics as evolution (which poses a problem for many Mormons) are taught rigorously and without apology. What BYU doesn't want - since it is supported by the tithes of Church members- are professors who attack the faith of LDS students- a reasonable expectation for the largest Church supported university in the country.

Also missing in the book is a critical analysis of the relative strength of the different cases of the dismissed faculty: a little poking around campus by the authors would have demonstrated remarkably little faculty support for Farr or Knowlton who lacked significant publication records, but far more sympathy for Huston who was the stronger scholar. The authors' imbalance colors their analysis of student reactions: we read a great deal about VOICE and women's issues but one wonders why the authors reject so quickly the claim of the female graduate student who,while attacking an extraordinarily violent and misogynistic book written by one of her professors (who later left BYU), requested to remain anonymous in her complaint because she feared reprocussions form the professor. Are the authors sure that her fears were unfounded?

All of this is quibbling, though. I bought the book expecting not to like it: I am a BYU alum (on campus when the authors were there) and remain a strong supporter of the institution. Yet despite my prejudice, I did enjoy reading the book. It gave me much more empathy for those who were dismissed, and although the book did not change my view that the alleged academic freedom issues at BYU consist of smoke and mirrors mainly drummed up by a few malcontents, the book did help me better understand anguish of those who were dismissed, and gave me a few hours of interesting reading. I recommend the book for anyone who has spent time at BYU and is interested in these issues.

This is a very interesting book, with great insight into the making of contemporary Mormon culture. Of particular interest is the influence of Earnest Wilkinson during th 60s and early 70s (and later Presidents) in creating much of what we think of when think of modern BYU, such as "anti-feminism," the standards and honor code, air-brushing out things that "we just don't like," etc. When you consider the preponderance of BYU graduates out there in the world of the LDS church serving in leadership capacities, it is clear that BYU shapes the church.

This book deals with several controversial issues, is probably a little one-sided, but overall a very interesting read. I recommend it highly!

Two BYU alumni, Bryan Waterman and Brian Kagel, have written an interesting summary of controversial firings at BYU in the 1990s. While only Mormons, BYU alumni, or those with an interest in religious universities' battle with academic freedom will read this journalistic narrative, it is nonetheless an important expose of the way the Mormon church operates.

Cecilia Konchar Farr (now at St. Catherine's College in the Twin Cities), David Knowlton (independent writer), and Gail Turley Houston (Univerity of New Mexico) were fired under murky circumstances while the authors were students at BYU, and their unhappiness at the way these firings were organized and carried out prompted them to use the resources at their command to tell the professors' side of the story. They do so convincingly, and the reader gets a scary glimpse of the way the churchmen in Salt Lake City run the university.

Also of interest is the way the BYU administration forced out Brian Evenson (now a successful novelist and on faculty at Brown) of the English department. Professor Steven Epperson and David P. Wright's (now Dept. Chair of Near Eastern Studies at Brandeis) mistreatment also gets a cogent explanation. Waterman and Kagel also give a brief history of feminism at BYU and a careful account of the September Six excommunications in the Mormon church. The book is well written, well documented, and even handed in its treatment of these unhappy events at BYU. The book is too long and repetitive--many characters have their full names mentioned dozens of times in the stories, and some of the main characters are briefly introduced in several chapters. On the flip side, these writers wanted to "state for the record" both sides of the firings so the reader can make her/his own conclusion regarding their fairness.

The unavoidable conclusion is that BYU cannot be considered, at least in the present climate, a true center of higher learning. The General Authorities in Salt Lake City have the final say in what can and cannot be taught or published at BYU, and you risk being fired if you cross them. What is really puzzling after reading this book is why any of the professors mentioned would take a job at such an institution. Perhaps many LDS teachers at the school long to stay in Utah for family, social, or other reasons.

For these professors and others who feel oppressed in their classrooms and writings, why do they stay loyal to the church directed by such leaders? The idea that the church is off course and that being a crusader will somehow be to your benefit is ill advised--they hold all the power, and you will lose every time. Waiting for them to excommunicate or fire you besmirches your name and stains your dignity. Why not leave the church and publicly give your reasons? It will do more to further your quest to encourage independent thinking, and you won't be part of an organization that tramples free thought and objective truth.

BYU, these authors suggest, exists to shield students in their intellectually malleable years from truth in science, critical thinking, and scholarly debate. It will keep the church membership strong, so goes the reasoning. If a university exists that will punish you for declaring humans evolved from lower primates and that there was no universal flood, then it doesn't deserve the title of "university".

The authors write in the Preface to this 1998 book, the book "is not, first of all, a comprehensive history of BYU. Nor is it even intended to be a comprehensive history of academic freedom controversies at the university. Rather, it is a chronicle of such events primarily from the last ten years---from 1988 to 1998." Later, they add, "BYU more than ever remains determined to deviate from contemporary academic models and preserve a safe place for Mormon education, even at the expense of outstanding faculty and national reputation... This book begins to tell that story." (Pg. 13)

Here are some quotations from the book:

"On a summer afternoon in 1993... a small nucleus of student activists... (staged) the first open protest over academic freedom at 'the Lord's university' since 1911... The student protest came in response to ... the firings of two controversial but popular faculty members: Cecilia Konchar Farr... who had reportedly upset church leaders ... with her pro-choice activism, and David Knowlton... who had critiqued the LDS's church's American image in South America..." (Pg. 1)
"President Ernest L. Wilkinson, a John Birch Society devotee... launched... a student spy ring that enabled him to keep tabs on certain 'liberal' professors..." (Pg. 12)
"From time to time, heated debates have gone public, as in 1911 when popular professors Ralph and William Chamberlin and Henry Peterson were dismissed or resigned for teaching organic evolution and higher biblical criticism, or seventy years later when tenured history professor D. Michael Quinn resigned..." (Pg. 177)
"To liberal intellectuals... President (Ezra Taft) Benson's mental incapacity meant one thing: greater freedom for the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Boyd K. Packer, widely rumored to be behind the recent actions against liberals and feminists." (Pg. 268)
"LDS General Authority Merrill ... Bateman's appointment (as BYU president)... caused concern... which verified to some that the BYU presidency had moved... from a position of representing the faculty to one of defending the board of trustees." (Pg. 373)
"(The American Association of University Professors) voted to censure BYU, placing the school on a list... that have violated ideals of academic freedom or tenure... (BYU spokesman James) Gordon told reporters... 'BYU will maintain true to its intellectual and spiritual mission. If we abandoned that mission, there would be no reason for us to exist.'" (Pg. 446)

One review above suggested this book by Waterman and Kagel is "one-sided." That's incorrect. In fact, one side -- the one comprised of BYU administrators and orthodox faculty -- apparently had little to say in defense of its (largely indefensible) actions. The other side was imaginative, thoughtful, and embattled. No wonder the authors focused on them rather than their brain-dead persecutors.

The faculty fired or forced out at BYU were not "attacking the beliefs" of LDS students. In fact, all of them -- Konchar Farr, Gail Houston, D. Michael Quinn, and others -- are card-carrying LDS, and most of them have paid a price in academic status for their continuing commitment to the Mormon religion. Yes, some of them had minor doctrinal and political/social differences with the LDS Church, but their removal has cost the university some of its most energetic and promising faculty members. (Other professors left in disgust, including Margaret Nibley Beck, a sociologist and daughter of orthodox Mormon icon Dr. Hugh Nibley.

Reading this book makes one realize what an academic wasteland BYU has become. In the history of the U.S., exactly one Mormon woman -- a professor at the University of New Hampshire -- has won the Pulitzer Prize. This scholar was not allowed to address a feminist group at BYU. Why? Apparently because the university would not be able to control what she said. That is shameful, the product of an intellectual deathwish

The key issue in the book is whether a "religious university," one where thought and enquiry must be congruent with a particular doctrine, is an oxymoron. From the analysis of Waterman and Kagel, it appears that BYU is a university in name only. It's mainly a "seminary," designed to train people how to be unquestioning Mormons.

BYU's motto is: "Intelligence is the glory of God." Perhaps it should be changed to: "Ignorance is bliss."

It's worth reading this book if only to determine exactly what a university should not be.

One review above suggested this book by Waterman and Kagel is "one-sided." That's incorrect. In fact, one side -- the one comprised of BYU administrators and orthodox faculty -- apparently had little to say in defense of its (largely indefensible) actions. The other side was imaginative, thoughtful, and embattled. No wonder the authors focused on them rather than their brain-dead persecutors.

The faculty fired or forced out at BYU were not "attacking the beliefs" of LDS students. In fact, all of them -- Konchar Farr, Gail Houston, D. Michael Quinn, and others -- are card-carrying LDS, and most of them have paid a price in academic status for their continuing commitment to the Mormon religion. Yes, some of them had minor doctrinal and political/social differences with the LDS Church, but their removal has cost the university some of its most energetic and promising faculty members. (Other professors left in disgust, including Margaret Nibley Beck, a sociologist and daughter of orthodox Mormon icon Dr. Hugh Nibley.

Reading this book makes one realize what an academic wasteland BYU has become. In the history of the U.S., exactly one Mormon woman -- a professor at the University of New Hampshire -- has won the Pulitzer Prize. This scholar was not allowed to address a feminist group at BYU. Why? Apparently because the university would not be able to control what she said. That is shameful, the product of an intellectual deathwish

The key issue in the book is whether a "religious university," one where thought and enquiry must be congruent with a particular doctrine, is an oxymoron. From the analysis of Waterman and Kagel, it appears that BYU is a university in name only. It's mainly a "seminary," designed to train people how to be unquestioning Mormons.

BYU's motto is: "Intelligence is the glory of God." Perhaps it should be changed to: "Ignorance is bliss."

It's worth reading this book if only to determine exactly what a university should not be.

This is the biggest piece of bull I have heard in a long time! Why do people want to waste their time reading this crap? If you are looking for the truth, why on earth would you read a book that does nothing, but try to tear down and demean someone or something. This is obvious garbage. If you want to know about something, go to the actual source, don't go to someone who has a vendetta or whose only point is to tear down something. Truth builds you up and edifies you, it doesn't take the time to demean others and strive to prove them wrong.