Daniel2 Posted March 8, 2020 Posted March 8, 2020 (edited) On 3/5/2020 at 11:36 AM, smac97 said: https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/03/04/after-byu-honor-code/ History is cyclical.... As I stated previously, I have no doubt BYU and it’s directors removed the proscriptive language against same-sex dating with hopes to avoid allegations of overt discrimination against same-sex couples, as well as the racial challenges and allegations of discrimination in the past. It’s striking to me how the images of BYU protesting above invoke similar images and protesting of those of the 1970’s... Quote The BSU takes on BYU and the UW Athletics Program 1970 by Craig Collisson Leaflet urges students to attend BSU rally during the campaign to severe relations with Brigham Young University in March 1970. Courtesy Special Collection Library, UW. This essay is part of the special section: The Black Student Union at UW: Black Power on Campus with video interviews with activists, a film, photos, documents, and reports about the BSU and its history making impact in Seattle. [Click images to enlarge] Leaflet produced by the Weatherment in support of BSU’s campaign. Courtesy Special Collection Library, UW. The BYU campaign followed an earlier struggle with the UW Athletics program. In 1968 black athletes protested what they saw as discriminatory practices by football Jim Owens and his staff. The conflict escalated in 1969. The article above is from April 17, 1968. March Demonstrations The newpaper articles that follow show the events of March 1968 as BSU-led demonstrations escalated. Click to read them. See also the full database of BSU news coverage. UW Daily March 5 Seattle Times March 5 Seattle Times March 6 Seattle Times March 7 Seattle PI March 7 Seattle PI March 8 UW Daily March 9 Seattle PI March 10 Seattle PI March 12 Seattle Times March 11 Seattle Times March 12 Seattle PI March 12 Seattle PI March 14 Seattle Times March 17 BYU Responds In this full page ad purchased in the Seattle PI, March 31, Brigham Young University explained its postion Supporters This leaflet supporting the BSU campaign was circulated in advance of one of the march rallies. Courtesy Special Collections Library, UW. In January of 1970 the Black Student Union (BSU) at the University of Washington launched a protest campaign demanding that the UW sever all athletic relations with Brigham Young University (BYU). Later, the BSU also demanded that the University make a statement condemning BYU as a racist institution. The protests were doomed to failure. The University believed that they could not legally sever relations with BYU on the grounds that doing so would infringe on the Mormon Church’s freedom of religion. For the BSU, the statement would have stood as a sign that the University was operating in good faith to end racism. But, the only compromise the administration could offer did not seem like such a gesture. Inspired by successful protest campaigns at other universities, the UW’s BSU launched their own campaign against BYU in the first few weeks of the 1970 winter quarter. On a chilly Saturday afternoon in January, 20 blacks entered Hec Edmundson pavilion where the UW gymnastics team was finishing their final round of warm-ups before a scheduled meet against BYU. The protesters dumped garbage, threw eggs, poured catsup and oil on the gymnastics mats and knocked over chalk trays and tables.1 When the UW gymnastics coach yelled at the protestors to leave, they responded by throwing a pail of water in his face before departing. Meanwhile, Lynn Hall, a black gymnast, had begun circulating a petition requesting that the University cancel all future athletic competitions with BYU. The petition eventually gathered over 1,500 signatures . BYU PROTESTS Similar protests against BYU had been occurring for more than two years at numerous universities in the Western United States. The first protest occurred in 1968 at the University of Texas El-Paso. On Easter weekend in 1968, UTEP had a scheduled track meet against BYU. The week before the track meet several athletes informed their coach they were going to boycott the meet. The coach was unsympathetic and told the black team members that if they refused to compete they would be off the team and lose their scholarships. The black students refused to yield, did not go to Provo to participate in the meet, and were kicked off the team. When asked why he decided to protest, Dave Morgan, a UTEP runner, responded, “There were about a dozen reasons. The Mormons teach that Negroes are descended from the devil. As a reason for the track team’s boycott it may sound like a small thing to a white person, but who the hell wants to go up there and run your tail off in front of a bunch of spectators who think you’ve got horns.”2 The way blacks were treated at UTEP was a second reason for the protest. Black athletes were not allowed to date whites, were given little financial assistance beyond their scholarship and were often called “niggers” by their coaches. In the eyes of many administrators, coaches, and white students, black athletes came to college to compete, not get a degree. Once a black’s athletic eligibility was used up, he was often given little other financial assistance and forced to leave UTEP without a degree. Morgan, then, recalled that he also took part in the protest because “the Negro is treated like something out of the jungle here, and we wanted to express ourselves about that.”3 While the black athletes’ protest was big news on the UTEP campus, BYU’s record of racism and discrimination did not become national news until the fall of 1969 when 14 black football players at Wyoming were suspended from the football team for planning to protest against BYU. The University of Wyoming’s successful football team had 14 black players recruited from around the nation. Their coach, Lloyd Eaton, was known as a disciplinarian and had a strict policy against his students protesting. On October 15, 1969, three days before a game with BYU, the Black Student Alliance at the University of Wyoming delivered a letter to the university’s administration. The letter discussed the racial policies of the LDS Church and BYU and suggested that students and players protest in the upcoming game. The 14 blacks on the team met and, while unsure of the tactics they would use, decided to protest the LDS Church’s doctrine.4 The specific issue that the athletes were protesting was a Mormon Church policy that prohibited blacks from joining the priesthood. In the Mormon Church the priesthood was not a professional order and all males entered the priesthood at age 12. Without being allowed into the priesthood blacks, could not marry in the temple, hold important leadership positions in the church, or enter the highest level of heaven. In short, the Mormon doctrine viewed blacks as spiritually inferior.5 After tentatively deciding to protest, the Wyoming football players broached the matter with their coach. Eaton immediately railed the blacks for even considering a protest, revoked their scholarships and dismissed them from the team. Since Wyoming was a nationally ranked team, film crews from the three networks descended upon Laramie to cover the administrative, faculty, and student meetings that followed the dismissals.6 The national exposure of the Wyoming protest kicked off a flurry of protests against BYU and Wyoming. Police were called to stop violence at a BYU-Arizona State basketball game. At the University of New Mexico the student senate demanded that the college end any relations with BYU.7 In early November Stanford announced that it would schedule no new athletic events or competitions of any nature with BYU. Kenneth Pitzer, Stanford’s president, defended the decision by stating, “It is a policy of Stanford University not to schedule events with institutions which practice discrimination on a basis of race or national origin, or which are affiliated with or sponsored by institutions which do so.”8 Outraged alumni and community members, as well as BYU, immediately criticized Stanford’s new policy by arguing that it violated the Mormon Church’s freedom of religion. Only if BYU itself discriminated should such a step be taken. Later, when the BSU at the University of Washington demanded a similar statement, administrators would remember the virulent attacks against Stanford’s policy. The football season ended, but the protests against BYU continued into January, spreading to other campuses including the University of Washington. The week following the protest at the UW-BYU gymnastics meet, the BSU presented a letter to Joe Kearney explaining why the UW should end all athletic competitions with BYU. The letter argued that “the University of Washington, by allowing its athletes to participate in any events against a university (BYU) that openly professes white supremacy, is in fact, condoning racism.” Instead of arguing why the University should agree to halt further athletic contests against BYU, the BSU took a more militant stance. They vowed that if the University did not enforce a ban on any further contests, they would. “We have already decided that BYU will not participate in any athletic events against the University of Washington.” The letter continued by threatening the power structure of the Athletic Department. “If the Athletic Department doesn’t like it … RIGHT ON … she can shove it because her rule of conduct and behavior, her disciplinary courts, and her force and power will be dealt with accordingly, by the Black Student Union and the black community.”10 Lots more here: https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/BSU_BYU.htm Edited March 8, 2020 by Daniel2 1
Recommended Posts