A statement from BYU about sexual assault

Some of you, no doubt, are aware that a national and even international firestorm of criticism has erupted about Brigham Young University’s treatment of victims of sexual assault.

It hasn’t been merely suggested by some critics, but declared as fact, that, in its self-righteous and puritanical zeal, the University has been far more concerned with sniffing out and punishing possible sin than with offering compassionate help to those who have been violated.  Indeed, some have said, the University — and perhaps, by extension, the Church that sponsors it — care only about compliance with pharisaical rules and scarcely concern themselves (if they do so at all) with the well-being of BYU students as people.

I haven’t been following this controversy much.  Not only because, to this point, it seems to have generated far more heat than light, but also because I’ve been preoccupied elsewhere and with other matters.

I think it far from inconceivable that the intersection of two BYU policies might sometimes have unintended negative consequences, and I’m certainly not opposed, if that has happened in certain cases of sexual assault, to revisiting and modifying one or both of those policies.

But I can offer one personal opinion with some confidence, based upon years of experience with Brigham Young University as both a student and a member of the faculty as well as upon some limited experience with serving in ecclesiastical leadership positions that sometimes put me in contact with the BYU Standards Office.  (When I served as the bishop of a singles ward, most of my congregation were either students at Utah Valley University or not students at all; only a handful were BYU students.)

Here’s that opinion:  I flatly deny that the BYU administration is indifferent to the well-being of the University’s students, so rigidly and fanatically focused on its Honor Code that it cares little or nothing for their safety or psychological health or personal flourishing.  Indeed, I’ve had experiences that have shown me quite the opposite — including some that I’ve found both gratifying and surprising.  (I won’t give details.)

In any case, here’s an official statement that was issued by the University just today:

https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-announces-decision-study-title-ix-reporting-processes-and-structure