Letter: BYU Crackdown
Salt Lake Tribune,
April 18, 2001
P. O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, UT 84110
Fax: 801-257-8950
Email: letters@sltrib.com
As a Brigham Young University alumnus, I read with great disappointment the
recent story of the expulsion of two gay BYU students (Tribune, March 29). I
take issue with BYU official Kerri Jenkins’ statement: "There are no
sting operations. No one is going out and asking students their sexual
orientation. It’s not something they ask when they apply to the
university." She was referring to news stories in the ‘60s and ‘70s
about campus police spot-checking gay dance clubs for license plates of BYU
students, or posing as gay men and soliciting sexual favors from male
students.
I can’t vouch for the ‘60s or ‘70s, but in the ‘90s such patrolling
and intimidation definitely occurred. A friend was actively solicited on
campus by an undercover BYU policeman and then turned in to the
administration, which threatened him with expulsion. For an official today to
deny that such entrapment schemes take place is truly disingenuous. I hope BYU
will take steps to end these practices and concentrate on making the campus
life of all its students more rewarding.
— Troy Barber, Oakland, Calif.
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