BYU Honor Code

"As a matter of personal commitment, faculty, administration, staff, and students of Brigham Young University seek to demonstrate in daily living on and off campus those moral virtues encompassed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and will

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"

This is the verbatim text of the Honor Code for BYU.  I see nothing in here which could be considered criminal, in the legal sense of the word, which means "of the nature of or involving an action or an 
;instance of negligence&n
bsp;that is deemed injurious to  the&nb
sp;public welfare or 
;morals or to the&nb
sp;interests of the state and that&n
bsp;is legally prohibited
."

How is BYU's Honor Code injuring the public welfare or morals or interest of the state or legally prohibited?  Just because you don't agree with a particular belief system does not mean that it rises to the level of a criminal offense.  Be realistic!

This Honor Code is forced on nobody.  BYU is a univeristy which tens of thousands of high school seniors apply to attend every year.  If selected to enroll, the student must sign the Honor Code in order to be admitted into the university.

There is nothing forceful about it.  If you have a problem with the Honor Code, there are literally hundreds of other colleges and universities for you to attend.  No one at BYU was ever forced to attend and sign the Honor Code against their will.  THAT would be criminal.

BYU is a private, religious university.  It accepts no federal funding,  It forces no laws or rules on anyone outside of its campus, and everyone who attends chooses to attend of their own free will and choice.  Why does that matter to you?  If you disagree, you are welcome to go anywhere else.  Your tax dollars are not funding BYU.  It is costing you nothing for BYU to exist and to believe anything that it wants that is not legally prohibited or harming the public welfare or morals.

BYU is a private univeristy owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The LDS Church still believe in following the Ten Commandments, which do in fact prohibit sexual relations outside of marriage.  It is well established that sexual activity outside of marriage leads to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.  

Choosing to continue to believe in the Bible and the word of God and follow it is going to always be part of BYU's standards and Honor Code.

If "getting with the 21st Century" means abandoning our beliefs then we are happy to be counted as out of touch with the modern ways.

The Princeton Review has called BYU the most stone-cold sober campus in the USA for many years, a distinction which we are proud of.

We do expect that every (unmarried) player should be practicing full sexual abstinence before marriage, and full monogamy after marriage. 

BYU has an Honor Code which specifies no premarital sexual relations, no alcohol and no tobacco, tea or coffee.  Everyone must sign before attending BYU and can be dismissed for violations.

Are we naive enough to really think that everyone is perfect?  Of course not, but we are making the effort to live God's law even in the 21st century.  If studnets don't agree with BYU' standards, there are hundreds of other colleges out there where they can drink, party and have sex all they want.  

But if you think a religious university sponsored by a Christian church that believes in the Bible and the Ten Commandments is going to condone and encourage activities in direct contradiction to its fundamental teachings, you are mistaken.  BYU will never change it's Honor Code, no matter what century it is or how ludicrous you personally feel our standards are. 

Didnt Jim mcmahon Go to BYU. He could not follow any rules in the NFL. How did he get through BYU MMMMMm I mean cmon you are telling me he never had sex drank coffee or had a beer while he was in college. The same dude that didnt follow any rules with the Bears. I find that not to be logical.

SUSPENDED FOR PRE-MARITAL SEX?

That's the most bogus reason for suspension that I've every heard of.
This is the 21st Century.
Get with it BYU!
This is ludicrous.
Do you really think he's the only player having sex?

I am disgusted with BYU.

I didn't say you had to leave my house for bringing vegetables, although it would be my right to ask you to leave - for whatever reason.  I just said YOU PLAY BY MY RULES when you walk inside my private home.  You eat the meal I serve, and if you don't like it, I can certainly ask you can leave.  I'm not going to become a vegetarian just to please you.  That is not silly.  That's just the way it is.  This is a private university and their rights are the same.  They don't need to dilute major tenets of their faith to suit anyone.
Really...If you think outsiders should dictate the policies of this university, what is to stop anyone from dictating to you how you live your life as a private citizen?  Unless you are breaking the law, everyone should stay out of your business.  Unless BYU is breaking the law, everyone should stay out of theirs.

But all that really is not the point.  He knew he was going to a school with a religious element.  Schools like that have different standards.  A school local to me recently threw a kid out for what they saw as bringing shame to the institution (by working in the pornography business).  Private universities set their own policies, and this is as it should be.
"They are human?"  I don't buy it.  If these student athletes are old enough to vote, to fight and die in the military, to drink (at least in some cases), then they are old enough to read over a simple listing of expected conduct and follow it (and to accept the consequences if they do not).  I guarantee he isn't THE ONLY ONE to break some of these rules.  But he got caught.  I wasn't the only guy speeding the other day, but the cop caught me.  Is that unfair?...Maybe.  Is it simple reality?...Definitely.
I wish people would focus on where the true wrong was instead of trying to apologize for the kid.  As far as I can tell, he has taken responsibility for his actions, and that is admirable.  This is a simple matter of "Just cause."  They had just cause to take action (I doubt they wanted to take action, but probably felt is was necessary).
As I said before, if you don't like the policies of the school, don't go their, don't send your children there, don't give money to the institution and don't support their programs.  If enough people do these things, who knows?, they might be opening a brothel there next week.   Probably not.  Vote with thy feet, brother eagle9665.

Altermoor the analogy you use is not a good comparison.Unless you want to say well I like beef and if you like veggies you need to leave my house because i do not allow veggies in here and if i catch you out you go.. See how silly that sounds ,,ok you have the right to say that and exercise it but it's still extreme and wrong to force such things on people regardless if they know it or not. They are human ,, and im sure he isnt the only one to break some of those codes - he just happens to be more high profile.I still say BYU is a hypocritical school with ridiculous standards. I don't know how kids sign up for it knowing the deal. 

Let me put this another way.  If I have a side of beef in my freezer and you are a vegetarian, you have no right to tell me to get rid of it.  It's MY HOUSE.  You have a choice.  You can come to my house and eat steak or you can go somewhere else and eat carrots.  But it's your choice.  If there has been full disclosure about the situation, you can't blame me for serving you, a vegetarian, a beautiful NY Strip.  On the other side of it, I do not require you to pay for the food I serve.  As I said, it's my house.  You choose whether you want to partake or not.  If you do, I have another friend at my party.  If not, I might spend my evening in an empty house because the rest of the world is vegan.  And if no one shows up to my party, maybe eventually I'll start serving a vegetarian option to my guests.
This young man came to BYU's house and CHOSE to eat steak and now thousands of people are arguing on his behalf that he should be allowed to choose carrots, even though they do not serve vegetables.  Now isn't that ridiculous?
As to whether tea is good or bad for you, the point is MOOT.  Tea might be the best thing for you.  Sex and beer might grow hair on a Chihuahua.  But, as long as the regulations imposed by an institution are not illegal or immoral (and none of these regulations in this so-called "honor code" fit that description), then they have every right to expect their students to live up to those standards.  And perspective students have every right to choose a different college which more appropriately fits their own lifestyle.  Choices, choices.
To all of you who think this honor code is stupid, YOU also have a choice.  You can go to college at BYU, support BYU with donated funding or support the sports teams at BYU.  OR NOT.  That is the only choice you have.  They have no right to force you to eat steak.  And you have no right to force them to serve carrots.

OK, I will agree on the fact that if you know the rules going in ,
you have a choice to go to that school or not and if you do go and break the rules then you must pay the piper.

But what I will say is , the honor code is b/s and somebody needs to speak up.
They are rules made up by a bunch of self righteous hypocrites and even the name of the school is after someone
who was a polygamist .  BYU needs to be flagged.

Most of this so called "honor code" has nothing to do with honor it has to do with control. Even if you take out the fun things that every college kid does like sex and drinking. This stupid "honor code" doesnt let you even drink tea? Tea is one of the healthiest things you can put in your body. It is almost as good for you as water and has antioxidents. Their "honor" code is criminal but as long as its what a religion says then they can do whatever they want and force what ever rules and or laws they want on people.

Altermoor very good post. To many people in this Country think like 70% of the people that post on here, the rules stupid so I shouldn't have to follow it. You signed a contract, if you break that contract you will be punished, he knew the rules and broke them now he must pay.