University aims for collective standard

One of the first things I noticed when I arrived at BYU is that no one walked on the grass.

. . .

We are attending a school that is attempting to hold itself to a collective standard that (hopefully) will allow righteous learning to flourish. One beard will certainly not destroy this standard. But the physical is a forerunner of the spiritual, and dress and appearance have more to do with behavior than you might think. A campus of scraggly-bearded, unkempt men would not convey the kind of atmosphere BYU wants. Thus the university outlaws unkept appearances.

Totalitarian? A little. Logical? Certainly. By stopping all demonstrating of an unwanted characteristics, the administration may be assured it will never become a problem. Yes, by "nipping the problem in the bud," the school does deny a few flowers the ability to grow freely. But BYU was never a field of wildflowers. It is a well-kept garden, tended and nurtured (and weeded) with care. A garden where students and faculty alike should be able to enjoy the freedom to study the words of both God and man in righteousness and peace.

But not on the grass.

Russell Fox