Honor Code

I officially love being able to put whatever I want on my blog.  There's been a lot of hubub over the BYU's honor code lately.  Although the Honor Code has been in the media frequently the last few years (ahem Brandon Davies) I want to talk about a recent incident.  You've probably all read about it by now-it was the Valentine's Day Reprimand that a BYU student named Brittany received from a boy BYU student who she didn't know.  I'm going to post what she originally wrote/tweeted/whatever and her picture of her outfit, as well as the note.  But I want to state my side first.

It may be because I was a political science minor but on a lot of issues I straddle the fence.  Although I have a set opinion on this, there are always two sides to every coin.

First off-I think although the note was kind of creepy/weird, and that it's never good to judge others and be mean, but the guy who wrote the note should get a little slack.

 My facebook homepage has been filled with people saying horrible things about this anonymous guy.  I don't know him, thankfully for him no one seems to know who he is, so I don't know if he does have morality issues or not.  But I think that everyone has been telling him not to judge and then going around and judging him.  It's just gotten out of control.  So yeah...it was weird, and to get a note like that on Valentine's day would be upsetting-but I hope that the kid isn't as awful as everyone is imagining him to be....just a little misguided

Second-This is the most important part to me.  Brittany's outfit WAS AGAINST THE HONOR CODE. She is a beautiful girl, it was a cute outfit.  But, it was against the honor code.  She wouldn't have been allowed to take a test in the testing center with a short dress. Everyone keeps saying-what is BYU coming to? This had nothing to do with BYU changing or coming to anything-their standards have been the same for years.  All dresses and skirts must go to the knee.  That's what we've all read every year; that's what everyone signs.  It doesn't matter if her outfit was cute or not, or if she's pretty or not, it was against the Honor Code.  I wonder if a less pretty girl had tweeted this situation if the reaction would have been the same.  Or if the woman had been overweight-the standards are the same for everyone and she didn't meet them.  I'm not saying she deserved a weird note, but I do think standing up for BYU's reputation is a good thing-which is why I'm doing this post.

The way this has gotten so big people just keep saying horrible things about BYU.  But BYU isn't the issue here...it was JUST one guy who wrote the note.  And Brittany, although she was breaking the honor code (even if may seem in such a small way), she isn't the biggest offender out there.  I wish more people would stand up for the honor code-just in a less judgy/slightly creepy way. Obviously Brittany wouldn't be making people feel unsafe by her outfit, but  there are so many ways to look cute and modest today that there isn't an excuse to wear anything against the honor code on campus. If she wants to wear that outfit to the mall, or on the weekend, or whatever...that's fine.  I don't care. But because of all of this BYU is being criticized when it's Honor Code is really a wonderful thing.

So that's it.  That's my rant. The note was weird, and inappropriate, but she WAS breaking the Honor Code. I believe that guy was just trying to uphold the standards of our school rather than offend someone or have immoral ideas about them. What Brittany was wearing doesn't make her a bad person and it's unfortunate that she received that note because it could have made her feel bad, and now it's creating stereo types, but...I've seen how a lot of girls are pushing the limits (or completely disregarding them) on what they wear at school and it makes me feel bad for everyone.