I'll admit, I'm not a huge collage basketball fan. I love basketball, but I just don't have the time to follow it very closely (and since I don't own a television, that makes it even tougher). Since I do live in Provo though, I've over heard a lot of talk about Brandon Davies and his honor code violation. I was sad for him and for the basketball team, but honestly, I was happy that the honor code office stuck to their guns, I did not expect them to do any differently.
This is how I feel about it as a BYU student. Can the honor code be a pain the butt? Absolutely. Like the time I went to the Morris Center Cafeteria right before one of my inter-mural volleyball games. I was wearing shorts that came just above the top of my knee, but were not touching my knee, and softball socks that came up to the bottom of my knee. So the only part of my leg that was showing were my knee caps. But the cashier would not let me into the cafeteria to eat because my shorts were not long enough. Was I mad? Furious.
But you know what? I have friends who went to other collages and they've told me stories about how their roommates would have guys sleep over in the same room, and about how they got to be the third wheel to frequent love making going on in the next bed. I have friends whose roommate would have huge drinking parties that would last all night long, when she was trying to get a good night's sleep before a big test. Friends who were roommate with drug or porn addicts. And on and on. I'll take being sent out of the cafeteria for wearing my basketball shorts over any of those situations every time, thank you. And I am grateful for the honor code for keeping those kind of situations away from me.
But even that is not even the point. The point is no one forces you to sign the honor code. It is something you agree to do when you decide to attend BYU. And even if some of the things seem a bit silly, like guys not being allowed to have facial hair, every single guy at the school agreed to that in a contract (the Honor Code) when they decided to come to BYU. It bugs me when people complain about the honor code. It bugs me even more when basketball fans are angry that they don't make exceptions for athletes because it will ruin our chances in the NCAA tournament. If they made an exception for Brandon Davies, then they'd have to make an exception and for every other student, and if they did that they might as well not have an Honor Code.
I don't mean to rant, that's really not where I want to go with this post. Mostly I wanted to share this sound clip of an interview with Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics talking about the Davies situation, and the Honor Code. I think this interview is fantastic, and I think he answers the questions really well, really thoroughly, and without being haughty or stuck up or pretending to be better than anyone. He gives great explanations about what Mormons believe, and talks a bit about what is was like to be a Mormon playing in the NBA. It's an all around great interview, and I really agree with the things he has to say about the players, the Honor Code, and our religion.
PS I had Geography with Austin Ainge (son of Danny Ainge) when I was a freshman. :) Go Cougars.
3 comments:
(Sorry, I put a double negative in my first comment, and that bothers me)
I am not a BYU fan, and I believe that their rules are a little *too* strict (Your knee story is EXACTLY why). But, their rules and the church's stance on premaritial sex is not in question here. The problem is that this student chose to break the rules, knowing the consequences... I actually commend them on putting their money where there mouth is. For once, an organization put values before success, instead of giving a student athlete special treatement that other students at BYU would not receive.
With great honor comes great responsibility. This student CHOSE to be in the limelight. By choosing to play on a nationally ranked team, he chose to become a public figure, and public figures expect little to no privacy. In fact, legally they have less privacy rights than a normal person...
And it's not just the athletes that sign the honor code... it is EVERY student that attends that school. By choosing to attend that shcool, they choose to abide by the very strict rules, knowing that they could be expelled and/or kicked out of any school organizations for breaking the rules. And as a student athlete, he is not above those rules like they are at most schools. This adult man made his own bed, and now he has to sleep in it...
I hope the U or some other school picks him up. It would be great to see him carry on with a wonderful career and go places, despite the problems he has had. But, just not at a school where he can't obey the rules that he promised to abide by
Great post! :-)
Amen. That's about all I have to say. Just this week a UW basketball player got suspended from playing in the pac-10 tournament for supplying booze to two 16 year old girls and then having sex with them one night a couple of months ago. Last week a WSU player got arrested for possession of marijuana and was suspended for 1 game... Thank you BYU for sticking to your standards.
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