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Loading ...Creator of Mormon hunk calendar loses BYU diploma Appeal
03.04.2009 4:21pm EST
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(Salt Lake City, Utah) Brigham Young University has denied an appeal to award a diploma that the creator of a Mormon beefcake calendar says he earned.
Chad Hardy’s diploma was withheld by BYU last fall after he was excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns and runs the school. Hardy was excommunicated during the month between completing his courses and graduation ceremonies.Hardy appealed and met with Dean of Students Vernon L. Heperi on Feb. 13. In the meeting, Heperi sought to determine whether Hardy’s life is guided by the school’s honor code, which reflects the values of the Mormon church. BYU requires students to be in academic and ecclesiastical good standing in order to obtain a diploma.
Hardy received a letter Monday from Heperi, saying his appeal was denied.
Hardy, who said he was not surprised by the decision, had hoped BYU would end the dispute and give him his diploma. BYU has repeatedly declined to comment on the specifics of Hardy’s situation in the past, citing confidentiality.
The ruling ends Hardy’s avenues of appeal with the school, however, he could reapply for graduation if he regained his membership in the church. That’s unlikely to happen. Hardy said he voluntarily became an inactive member of the church in 2002.
So Brigham Young is allowed 55 wifes-some underage. But a beefcake calender is reason to loose a diploma. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on. Hypocrites.
This is sad…doesn’t seem to me he did anything wrong, but then in the parallel universe of wacko religion he did.
I’ve never read that he is gay….maybe I missed it, but this is a “skin” issue. Did they go after the models too for showing their beef before the camera? America is ashamed of our bodies thanks to religion and it is just stupid. People flip out over nudity (and this wasn’t even nudity, just chests, right?) as if it is some corrupting force. That issue is much broader than just the mormon’s being afraid to show a little skin that might make their woman want young men instead of the old farts they get paired with!
But the real point here is that he should have known better! Why go to a sick wacko school, give them your money, flaunt their rules, and expect to be rewarded? I don’t agree with their rules, but then instead of putting money into offering plates, I drive by churches and scream for the pagan idiots to get a reasoning brain.
He should have left the school when he left the church…that is the sad thing here, he let himself be hurt by this institution that he should not have been supporting financially.
There is no real academic freedom at most universities owned by religious institutions. They need to protect their mythologies which don’t stand up to the scrutiny of reason and science. They should probably have their own accrediting bodies so that they are not confused with more broad-minded institutions of higher learning which lack their bias. One does have to wonder why self respecting gays or liberal-minded individuals involve themselves with institutions which are certain to banish or marginalize them(the Republican Party, the Catholic Church, the Mormons).
Ahhh yes. Gotta love the Breedem Young University. makes ya just wanna run right out and submit an application eh?
Does this mean they will return the tuition he paid with interest? Probably not- he broke the “code”.
It’s one thing to kick him out for not behaving as they want him to (isn’t that in and of itself sad?). But if he did the course work and passed the tests, I don’t see how they can deny him the diploma. He should get a good lawyer and sue the holy halo’s off them.
I agree with Ammie. Some other accredited university should step up and offer to graduate him, for free, to take a stand for what is right.
Here is where to complain.
http://www.nwccu.org/Complaints/ComplaintProcess.htm
All Universities belong to some kind of accredidation organization or leagues in order to have their academic credentials accepted by other colleges and universities. Pressure needs to be brought to bear on the accredidation association to which they belong in order to lift their credentials for discrimation and civil rights abuse. Likewise, a roar should be heard in the admission halls of every university in the United States for this kind of shit head action by BYU. Rendering their diplomas usless would send a huge message to the World that academic freedom will not be tolerated in America. Perhaps the bigoted old Apostolic white heads would also get the message that America’s gays won’t stand for this type of denial of due process for our gay brothers and sisters. For the life of me I don’t see the sin in his having published the calandar. I had two of them and thought they were attractive in a Vanilla cheese cake way. Not a pubic hair was evident below or near the belt line. Now, I suppose, the man is still obligated to pay off his student loans for an education he didn’t get in the form of a final diploma. He should sue for damages. Maybe, hopefully, the college will sink into the desert as a retrubution from God for the elders’ sillyness.
Well, at least he is (currently) out of that sicko psuedo religious nuthouse. He lost his diploma from tha unholy shit pile of a university, NOW he should get on with his life.
Is there a fair-minded, kind-hearted university that would accept Hardy’s BYU credits and give him a diploma?