Brandon Davies, the sophomore forward on BYU's basketball team was dismissed after admitting he had "sexual relations" with his girlfriend. According to BYU's Honor code, students are not allowed to have premarital sex. I do not question the honor code set forth by the university, I more so question the manner in which it was handled. An article written in DeadSpin by an anonymous journalist, list actions and events that are clearly against the Honor Code. According to this individual, the Honor Code almost seems like a myth, or something put in place as a requirement than an actual law to live by.
The first statement of the Honor Code is "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men. . . . If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." I think this is a powerful statement, and I think it is symbolic of God, or whatever God people choose to live by. However, were these behaviors used when Davies admitted his acts and was dismissed shortly after ? If you go on BYU's web site under the "Our Values" section, it explains how God gave us our agency and will always respect our freedom to make choices. It does also note's that we are accountable for those choices both good and bad, that God never approves of us using force, and in fact fosters the spirit of freedom to effectively serve and believe in him. It also states that everyone has the right to their own opinion and beliefs.
Fosters the spirit of freedom to effectively serve and believe in him is an interesting statement to me. From what I understand and believe, is that because God gave us free will, he understands we as humans will make mistakes. I also agree there are consequences, but he does forgive us and helps us learn from the mistakes. But why does what Davies did warrant a dismissal for the remainder of the year ? Why was this made a public spectacle ? A review is under way to determine if he will be allowed to remain in school and on the basketball team next year. So let me get this straight, the board is actually contemplating not letting this kid back in school because he had sex. There was no harm done to either party and it was consensual. Another part to the story is who was the rat in all this. Where were they being honest and of good report ? It sounds more like they are good at reporting someone else's business. My rule on that is when someone else gossips or tells your business, they themselves are hiding their skeletons or faults. Take that as you wish. Also, what is to really be determined in this review ? What about, in doing good to all men? I understand the rule is in place and he is to learn a lesson for breaking the code, but being dismissed for the length of time left is a bit much and the decision in my opinion was made to quickly. Furthermore, in other articles I've read, other students have come out and disclosed most of them have sex on campus anyway,which openly questions the validity of the code.
I am not preacher, far from a saint, and damn sure not perfect. It is not my place to judge, and what someone else does, especially when it does not directly involve me is none of my business. The conspiracy theorist in me questions the suspension, the motive behind it, and the person or persons who relayed the information. That's my opinion, however from the information I've gathered, students have come out and acknowledged that sex is a regular act on campus, fact. That's makes me question the code, and the people monitoring it. As I stated earlier, it is not my place to judge, it's their school, their rules, and their system, but mentioned in the "Our Value"section of the schools web site, I have a right to my own opinion and belief. I believe there is much more to this story than we are lead to believe, unfortunately we will never find out what the truth really is.
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