BYU: The No Smashing School

Call it a cultural connection, call it intuition, or call it common sense, but the moment I heard Brandon Davies was dismissed from the BYU basketball team for violating the school's honor code I knew what happened. BYU has 9 rules that all students (unless they're married) must adhere to at all times:

1. Be honest.

2. Obey the law and campus guidelines.

3. Use clean language.

4. Respect others.

5. Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and substance abuse.

6. Participate in regular church services.

7. Observe the dress code and grooming standards.

8. Encourage others in their commitment to comply with the honor code.

9. LIVE A CHASTE AND VIRTUOUS LIFE.

As I suspected Brandon Davies broke rule #9. On just about every college campus in America having sex with your girlfriend is not a punishable offense by the school. It is assumed that young adults (mostly between the ages of 18 and 22) will engage in sexual activities without their morals or ethics being questioned. Is BYU at fault for kicking Brandon Davies off the team or is Brandon Davies at fault for having premarital sex?

Without question Brandon Davies is at fault. BYU has been consistent over the years in enforcing the honor code rules. In the early 90's they dismissed an all American running back for the same offense. The running back claimed he wasn't the only player having sex and that he was being singled out because his girlfriend was white and he was black. I personally don't feel the honor code has a racial component to it, but the whistle blowers may have ulterior motives when turning in the violators of certain rules.

The bottom line is the rules for BYU and their level of expectation are crystal clear. There is no ambiguity in the guidelines and students understand the rules and the consequences of breaking those rules before they ever crack a book. I think it's unrealistic to expect a star athlete to go 4 years without having sex (especially if they weren't virgins before attending BYU), but student athletes sign a letter of intent and that's that. Isn't this one of the main reasons BYU doesn't recruit very many blue chip prospects in the first place? My advice is don't go to BYU if you want to have premarital sex and if you do be sure there's no snitches around and stay in a sound proof room. Brandon Davies is not a victim, he just chose the wrong school for his lifestyle.