STATEMENT "FROM BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

AT THE

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE COUNCIL MEETING

November 3-5, 1969

On October 22, 1969, Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Wiles Hallock stated "There are organized forces outside our member universities which seek to discredit and divide us on the basis of false charges relative to racial and civil rights policies in the conduct of our athletic programs. . . . I am not in the least pessimistic about our ability as a conference to arrive at solutions which will meet the needs of everyone seeking reasonable and practical answers."

In the spirit of a "reasonable and practical" approach to the current situation, Brigham Young University submits the following:

The official admission policy .at Brigham Young University is set forth clearly in its catalog as follows: "Students of any race, creed, color, or national origin are accepted for admission to Brigham Young University provided they maintain ideals and standards in harmony with those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and meet the University's academic requirements. . . ."

This policy, in statement or in fact, in no way restricts anyone from attending BYU because of the color of his skin. Negroes, Indians, Hawaiians, Japanese, and all other races, are all welcome; and all have been, and are now, a part of our student body at BYU. During the current semester more than a thousand students from approximately 70 foreign countries have selected BYU as the University of their choice. Their color ranges from black to brown to yellow to white. Their religious affiliation from Islam to Hindu to Roman Catholic to Protestant to Mormon. To our knowledge there are few, if any, universities in the United States that have tried harder to make minority-group and foreign students more welcome.

True, there is not a large number of black students on our campus. But that is a result of their decisions, not of our policy. So far as we know, there is only one Negro family in the entire county where BYU is located. This appears to be an important influencing factor in the decision these Negro students make to not come to BYU. Those who have come and who are here now have made no suggestion that racial discrimination is practiced against them.

BYU has been able to attract a large Indian enrollment because we are geographically in the heart of Indian country. This year there are 279 Indian students on campus representing 48 tribes and 16 blends. Should some of the other schools in the Western Athletic Conference be branded as "racists'' because they have almost no Indians in their student bodies? Indian attendance at BYU is analogous to Negro attendance at schools in areas of large Negro populations.

When we have tried to recruit Negro athletes at the BYU, we have, frankly, not met with much success. We have had two fine Negro students on our track team. Another tried out for our basketball team. He was given every opportunity, even though his high school athletic performance did not merit it. He was the last one cut from the team, long after it was discovered he could not come up to the standards required in Western Athletic Conference competition. Incidentally, he ran for BYU Freshman Class President and lost out in the finals by only a slender margin.

One would expect to get complaints against our policy from those who know us best, such as the many non-Mormon athletes on our teams, who come from widely varied racial, cultural, social, and religious backgrounds. There has never been a serious problem among BYU athletes relative to discrimination during all the years of intercollegiate athletics at BYU. Typical response from a non-Mormon athlete comes from a current member of the track team. "I will never become a Mormon. I'll never be criticized here for that decision, and never rejected either. They just figure that this is my business. That is also the way I feel about their policy."

BYU has never refused to play any team, regardless of the race, religion, or color of the opposing team members, and has never attempted to dictate the racial composition of opposing teams.

In order to find out if racial discrimination was practiced at BYU, the Civil Rights Office of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare made a thorough study of all the practices which related to possible discrimination on the BYU campus. On March 27, 1969, the Civil Rights Director of the Denver office informed President Wilkinson that "Brigham Young University is deemed to be in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." The letter also stated: "We think you might like to know that we still consider Brigham Young as being one of the very finest schools we have visited."

While we at BYU are concerned, as you all are, with the events of the past few weeks, there is a larger problem we all face which we must not overlook. That problem: can intercollegiate athletics be used as the whipping boy for those who have an ax to grind in other unrelated areas? In the last analysis, the problem comes down to that of whether a university still has the right to determine its athletic policy, or whether this policy is to be determined by dissidents--regardless of their color.

President Wilkinson had to leave for Vietnam on Friday morning of last week (October 31). He is one of a delegation of about 25 Americans who were asked months ago to make the trip and analyze what can be done by American industry, civic groups, and educational institutions to assist the people of that country. Three days prior to his leaving he wrote Western Athletic Conference Commissioner, Wiles Hallock, as follows:

"As soon as I return, I would like to talk with you to get the benefit of any suggestions you have at that time.

"We are vitally concerned, as you are, that any problems which confront the Western Athletic Conference be worked out to the best advantage of each Conference member. You can be sure that the administrative officers of Brigham Young University will cooperate fully to this end. But while important issues are being resolved, it is imperative that we remain cool and objective in the face of pressures which would encourage us to act otherwise."