Amid the enormous attention surrounding the dismissal of Brigham Young's Brandon Davies from the Cougars basketball team after a violation of the school's honor code, athletics director Tom Holmoe said the case is "being investigated exactly same way we would have if there was no media."
By Ethan Miller, Getty Images
Brandon Davies' suspension from the BYU basketball team has put a spotlight on the school's honor code.
By Ethan Miller, Getty Images
Brandon Davies' suspension from the BYU basketball team has put a spotlight on the school's honor code.
In a news conference on Thursday, Holmoe said Davies has been involved with the investigation from the beginning.
Davies was dismissed from the Cougars basketball team after having premarital sex, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. BYU, which is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Provo, Utah, requires its students to "live a chaste and virtuous life," according to its honor code.
"Everybody who comes to BYU, every student if they're an athlete or not an athlete, they make a commitment when they come," BYU coach Dave Rose said of a code that also forbids alcohol and coffee and requires students to be honest and attend church regularly. "A lot of people try to judge if this is right or wrong, but it's a commitment they make. It's not about right or wrong. It's about commitment."
-
DAVIES SUSPENDED: BYU hands down penalty for honor code violation
-
WILL HE BE BACK? BYU coach hopes Davies returns to program
The loss of Davies, the leading rebounder and third-leading scorer for the third-ranked Cougars, was immediately felt Wednesday night in a 82-64 loss to New Mexico. The Cougars were outrebounded 45-29, including 33-22 on the defensive boards. The team's chances for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament behind player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette, and its chances of reaching the Final Four, may now be in jeopardy.
Craig Drury, who was Davies' coach at Provo High School, expressed his support for his former player on Thursday and said the school's rules were probably explained to Davies. "He was raised in Provo. I would assume he knows the rules. I don't know what rules he's violated," Drury said. "I understand he was very forthright in his conversations with university officials."
Drury said while no coaches have directly called him to recruit Davies, many of the teams that initially were interested in Davies have called this week to show support. "I've had calls from places like Virginia," Drury said. "Most colleges that are calling me are saying, 'If he needs help, let us know.' It would be inappropriate for anybody to say to come to our school until he decides what he wants to do. But people that recruited him before and several others that recruited my players before have called me. He was recruited by everybody this side of the Mississippi."
Other high profile athletes at BYU have been suspended for honor code violations. Heading into last football season, BYU running back Harvey Unga, the school's career rushing leader, missed his senior season. His girlfriend, BYU's women's basketball player Keilani Moeaki, also withdrew from school after violating the honor code.
In 1998, former BYU running back Reno Mahe was suspended from the team after his freshman season due to a honor code violation. After two years, Mahe returned to BYU and to the football program and went on to play for several seasons in the NFL. "Learn the lesson that needs to be learned," Mahe told the Deseret News. "There's a lesson to be learned. I don't know what it is, but come back. It's a great school. It's a one-of-a-kind school."
But the restrictions of its honor code are not one-of-a-kind. A look at similar policies at three other Division I schools with religious affiliations, according to their student handbooks or guidelines for conduct:
? At Liberty University, a Christian Evangelical university in Lynchburg, Va. founded by Jerry Falwell, students must adhere to the "Liberty Way" which states that "immorality (sex outside of marriage between a man and woman) is prohibited."
? Baylor, a Baptist university in Waco, Texas, holds its students to "high moral standards of the Christian faith" with the understanding that "human sexuality is a gift from the creator God and that the purposes of this gift includes (1) the procreation of human life and (2) the uniting and strengthening of the marital bond in self-giving love. These purposes are to be achieved through heterosexual relationships within marriage. Misuses of God's gift will be understood to include, but not be limited to, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, incest, adultery, fornication and homosexual acts."
? At Oral Roberts University, a Christian university in Tulsa, students pledge they "will not engage in or attempt to engage in any illicit, unscriptural sexual acts, which include any homosexual activity and sexual intercourse with one who is not my spouse through traditional marriage of one man and one woman."
***
Contributing: Wire reports
Posted
No comments:
Post a Comment