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Letter from: CptHale
Re: Stoffer, Parents Criticize BYU Following Suspension
Dear Editor:
So I have read the supporting media articles, including the one from BYU news.
Your summary glaringly omitted the apparant fact that the director of BYU's
honor code office was willing to travel to personally meet with Julie but
that she declined to have him do so.
The summary also suggests that the honor code office was asking purient
questions about the details of Julie's behavior but does not make it clear
that what apparently prompted those inquiries was the allegation that she not
only shared the "walls" of the mansion but also shared the beds.
Whether she did or not is still unclear. But it would certainly explain why
(as one of her parents argued) she found it necessary to sleep with her
clothes on.
A better response by the University would have been to simply say "when you
are willing to talk to us about this, we will be willing to decide whether
you can return."
But that she should have been advised that remaining out of school for more
than just fall semester would forfeit her right of continuing enrollment and
that if she did not reenroll by after winter semester she would have to
reapply just like every other University student. That would have put the
ball squarely in her court and not have allowed the univeristy's actions to
be grist for the MTV publicity mill.
Instead the honors office makes all Mormons appear as willing to make
decisions based on assumptions and thereby provides the rebellious with a
pretext for dismissing the Church and its values.
Even if Julie is a rebel, and she may be, she apparntly gave them a chance to
weigh in prior to her making the show commitment. That they did not chose to
do so is most unfortunate....and should be cause enough for them to use very
great flexibility after the fact.
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