Last week’s move by Brigham Young University officials to dismiss sophomore center Brandon Davies from the basketball team has some BYU students upset, but they are understanding of the decision.

Davies was dismissed from the team on Feb. 28, after university officials became aware that he violated the school’s honor code, said Carri Jenkins, BYU spokeswoman.

The university has not released exactly what Davies did to cause the violation, she said. According to a Thursday article published in The Salt Lake Tribune, the dismissal came after Davies violated the premarital sex provision of the school’s honor code.

Joe Morris, a senior mechanical engineering major at BYU, said he was upset Davies would no longer be on the basketball team, but this was the only decision the university could make.

‘This decision truly hurts us as a team, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ he said. ‘I would rather this have happened then us getting a national championship while keeping it hidden.’

Morris said everyone who signs the honor code is aware of what it entails. There is no ‘honor code police’ at the school, Morris said, and students are mostly on their own honor system. Morris said students usually follow the policy because they know it and understand it.

BYU is a private university, owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Most students are practicing Mormons, as is Davies, Jenkins said. Davies was also born and raised in Provo, Utah, where BYU is located, Jenkins said.

The school has guidelines for hygiene, grooming and an appropriate dress code, and it restricts the consumption of coffee, tea, tobacco and alcohol, Jenkins said. The BYU basketball team also does not play on Sundays.

The honor code applies to about 34,000 students, Jenkins said. Non-Mormons are expected to abide by the honor code as well, but they are not required to attend church services.

Every year since 2000, about 1.5 to 3.5 percent of students have been contacted because of a code violation by the honor code office, Jenkins said. But most of them are minor violations, she said.

‘It is rare that a student is suspended from the university for an honor code violation,’ she said.

Students are made very aware of the specific content of the honor code before they even arrive at BYU, Jenkins said. Students sign the honor code, which states they are willing to uphold the specifications before they arrive at the school.

‘It’s an environment they choose to live in,’ she said.

George Golightly, a junior exercise science major at BYU, said students were saddened by the loss of a great player but feel good about Davies’ decision.

Most students at BYU don’t follow the honor code to the extreme, Golightly said. They already live by the standards outlined in the code, so they don’t have to make a conscious decision to follow it, he said. The code is mostly self-enforced, Golightly said, but the university did take actions to enforce certain standards.

‘Being clean shaven for the dress and grooming standards for men is one that is enforced all the time by not allowing men to take tests or use certain facilities on campus or check out books from the library and stuff like that,’ Golightly said. ‘But it’s not going to result in any long-term punishment.’

Housing rules are also highly enforced at BYU, Golightly said. He said students are not allowed in the bedroom or apartment of a member of the opposite sex after midnight on weeknights and 1 a.m. on weekends. This rule, however, is mostly enforced by students themselves, he said.

Students at BYU have thought a lot about what has happened with Davies, Golightly said. They are glad Davies has apologized for his actions and admitted his mistake, and the students don’t judge him for his violation of the honor code, Golightly said.

‘The students here at BYU love Davies,’ he said. ‘We know that everyone makes mistakes and that no one is perfect.’

For now Davies remains a student at the university, and it is possible for him to return to the basketball team next season, Jenkins said. The university is currently undergoing many meetings with Davies about his violation of the honor code, a protocol followed for any honor code violation, Jenkins said

‘Our hope is that, at some point, he will return to the basketball team and graduate from this university,’ Jenkins said.

The next step for Davies is an honor review, where he will sit down with university officials to discuss and try to resolve the issue. A timeline for the review meetings has not been set, Jenkins said.

medelane@syr.edu

 

Published on March 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani