The BYUSA Continued

When I first started ranting about the BYUSA on Wednesday, I did not honestly think anything of it. I habitually rant, and I have come to the conclusion that no one really cares. But apparently I touched a nerve with the BYU community. People have asked me questions, shared their perspectives, and put me in contact with candidates running for BYUSA President. Shoot, the post about the problems with the BYUSA election has received well over 100 views, dwarfing my 15 views per post average (and I thought over 30 was impressive when I posted pictures of my niece). My post about the Friendzone still remains my highest viewed.

Unfortunately, the effect has been as infuriating as the cause, like trying to dig a hole in a pool of water with your hands. This post constitutes my response to responses.

On Wednesday night a friend of mine posted a link to my post on the wall of one of the candidates. I will not use names because to be perfectly honest, the candidates are pretty much the same people so it doesn't matter. The ensuing comment thread was fascinating. The candidate managed to say a lot and absolutely nothing at exactly the same time. A true politician in the making. The candidate acknowledged that the points I made were valid and that there are significant problems on BYU campus that need addressing. However, the candidate informed me that the BYUSA is essentially powerless, with every decision they want to make going through the administration. So, in effect, the BYUSA is less student government and more student lobbying committee.

Along with that, the candidates for President and Executive VP are chosen not by primary, not by the voice of the people, but by the administration. So I guess the best way for any of you young folk to get into a position of fictional power from which you can act like you can change things when in all actuality you are powerless is to get into the BYUSA machine early and act like the perfect lap dog. And then, once elected into pseudo-power, you make your position known. Wait, you can't do that. And I'll show you why by continuing the story.

Eventually the candidate stated that they were working on some "real issue" projects with the Student Advisory Council. I naturally asked what those real issue projects were, what the candidate really stood for aside from their bubbly platform and less-than-worthwhile initiatives. But I had to get up early and go tour to an elementary school in the morning, teaching them about how important it is to stand up for what you believe in, so I left the conversation and looked forward to reading the response in the morning. But lo and behold, when I checked at 5:30 AM the following morning, a mere six hours removed from the conversation, it was nowhere to be found.

The link, the entire comment thread, everything had been deleted, and instead there was a message waiting for me in my inbox that essentially said, "I am a supporter of X Candidate and I have been recruited to talk to you because of this one class we took together three years ago. Would you kindly delete your comments on the thread? While X Candidate does honestly believe in important things, X Candidate cannot publicly support anything of value or substance for fear of being disqualified from the presidential race. (and this is an exact quote) We know that this is stupid but what else can we do? We don't want to get X Candidate disqualified for something so petty. Thank you."

My response, "I find it shameful that we live in a community in which free speech and the right to express opinions are neither encouraged nor allowed."

The response back, "Well I am glad I could help shed some light on the subject."

Really? Free speech, being allowed to say what you actually stand for, is petty? I don't know what light was thrown onto the subject. So not only are candidates hand-picked by the people they will be lobbying to (not for), but they will also be disqualified if they go off-script? I honestly don't know if this is a rabbit hole I wanted to go down, but I did and now I have to reconcile my mind to the seedy underbelly of BYU politics.

What exactly are we teaching our students? I guess we're teaching them exactly how politics works in the real world. But shouldn't we instead be teaching them how politics should work? How our founding fathers intended in the Constitution of the United States of America? My ancestors fought and bled for the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of  happiness. My ancestors left religiously oppressive areas to come to the United States in search of true freedom. My ancestors crossed the plains to escape the hypocrisy and persecution of the East and establish a community where truth and honor and faith and tolerance could stand paramount.

I am not a lawyer. The extent of my training in the Constitution was my American Heritage credit. I am a theatre major. Maybe my opinion doesn't really count. But I believe the right to free speech should be guaranteed to all citizens of the United States, to all people everywhere, and that no private institution has the right to limit or govern free speech. I believe that every level of government, federal, state, local, even student, should be representative of the people that it governs. I believe I have the right to express my voice, not the voice that the administration or the BYUSA says I should have, but the voice that comes directly from my soul, that is inherent in my being.

Unfortunately I cannot be at the information meeting for the candidates in the Varsity Theatre on Thursday at 11:00. And that right there is information I had to go to four different websites to get. But I invite you to go and ask real, thought-provoking, difficult questions. Chances are you'll get infuriating answers. You might even get silenced and asked to leave. In fact, chances are they have already collected questions ahead of time so as to vet them for appropriateness to the script established by the higher-ups. But at least you're making your voice heard. The question is not why BYUSA exists, but how can we the people take it back and help it fulfill the purpose for its own creation. It's the Student Service Association. It's the Student Leadership of BYU. It should be representative of us, but everyone that has responded to my original post agrees that it is broken.

In the end, our protestations will go unheard. Our complaints will go ignored. Our questions will go unanswered. Our hopes will go unfulfilled. But I'd rather stand for something and fail than stand for nothing and be elected into the fiction of power.

So to answer the question posed by the supporter of the candidate, "What else can we do?" I say this - So what if you get disqualified? The path of least resistance makes rivers, and men, crooked. There is nothing petty about standing up for what you believe in.

P.S. I love BYU. I have no qualms with my academic career. My only complaint against Utah is that it is filled with coldness (literally and figuratively). I find the quality of education I receive to be stellar and at least the equivalent of my previous university. I respect our administration, the BYU Council, and those that have decided to accept the nomination for student government and get involved in the process. I recognize your jobs are difficult and time consuming. I just also happen to believe there is a better way to do them.

EDIT:
Since writing this post I have had the opportunity to read the full transcript of the aforementioned conversation. I would like to point out that a position was taken that seemed supportive of change, and more about the rusty insides of the BYU government machine were revealed. While I cannot publicly endorse the candidate, they do seem to have a good head on their shoulders and a good heart. I doubt they will make any difference, but I wish them the best of luck.