Honor Code

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAMPUS OFFICIALS AND ECCLESIASTICAL OFFICERS

Admissions
Brigham Young University is sponsored and directed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the purpose of providing educational opportunities in an environment consistent with the values and standards of the Church. Therefore applicants are admitted to BYU upon certification from their bishop/ ecclesiastical leader that they have been and are now abiding by the values and standards of the LDS Church and will, in the opinion of the bishop or ecclesiastical leader, continue to so live. In order to accomplish this objective, all prospective LDS applicants must participate in a thorough and detailed interview conducted by their bishops and stake presidents. Non-LDS applicants will be interviewed by their local religious leaders. In this interview each item of the BYU Honor Code, including Dress and Grooming Standards and Residential Living Standards, should be discussed in detail. The Church and the university work closely together with LDS students involved in serious moral transgressions. Students with moral problems who are allowed to remain at the university will be placed on probation. The Honor Code Office (HCO) counselor may request the bishop or other religious leader for non-LDS students to work in conjunction with the HCO, providing the student has given permission.

Continuing Student Ecclesiastical Endorsement Requirement
The purpose of this endorsement is to certify whether or not the students have maintained their commitment to the BYU Honor Code, including the Academic Honesty Policy, the Dress and Grooming Standards, and the Residential Living Standards and, in the case of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have done their duty in the Church, attended meetings, and abided by the rules and standards of the Church. Based upon the endorsement interview and the interviewer's knowledge of the conduct of the student, the interviewer certifies to the university that the student is eligible to continue at BYU. An ecclesiastical leader should not endorse any student who does not meet the above requirements. If endorsing bishops/ ecclesiastical authorities determine that students have not maintained their commitment to the Honor Code, they may withdraw endorsements at any time during the school year.

All enrolled, continuing undergraduate and graduate students are required to obtain a Continuing Student Ecclesiastical Endorsement for each new academic year.

LDS students may only be endorsed by the bishop of the ward (1) in which they currently reside and (2) that holds their current Church membership record.

Non-LDS students are to be endorsed by (1) the local leader of their preferred religious denomination or (2) by the bishop of the LDS ward in which they currently reside.

Change in Church Membership Status
The Brigham Young University Board of Trustees policy mandates that a student is ineligible to attend BYU upon disfellowshipment, excommunication, or disaffiliation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Priesthood leaders are directed to notify the Honor Code Office when a student is disfellowshipped, excommunicated, or disaffiliated from the Church. These ecclesiastical actions effect a withdrawal of the student's endorsement.

REQUEST FOR EXCEPTION TO ECCLESIASTICAL ENDORSEMENT REQUIREMENT

The Brigham Young University Board of Trustees only authorizes the president of the university to grant exceptions to the ecclesiastical endorsement requirement.

When reviewing matters involving the request for an exception to the ecclesiastical endorsement requirement, the university will substantially follow the procedures outlined in this policy. However, any departure from these procedures will not act to invalidate the determination reached by the university, provided the procedures followed have been fundamentally fair, given the facts and circumstances of the case.

Revocation Procedure
When ecclesiastical leaders withdraw an endorsement either through disfellowshipment, excommunication, or disaffiliation of the student from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or for other ecclesiastical reasons, they notify the HCO. The HCO informs the student in writing of his or her ineligibility to continue enrollment. Instructions on the procedures for requesting an exception to the ecclesiastical endorsement requirement are also included. In the event that a student is denied an endorsement, he or she would be provided instructions as requested through the Honor Code Office.

Grounds for Requesting an Exception
A student may request an exception to the ecclesiastical endorsement requirement on the following grounds: (1) the student claims to meet the requirements for an endorsement, and (2) the student claims there are mitigating factors which should allow for the student to remain enrolled at the university in the absence of an endorsement.

Procedures to Request an Exception
Upon being notified of the revocation or denial of an ecclesiastical endorsement, students may request an exception to the ecclesiastical endorsement requirement by following the procedures listed below:

1. Students must give notice of their intent to request an exception. This notice must be given to the director of the HCO within two school days after receiving the Honor Code Office notice of discontinuance.

2. Where applicable, students must have already appealed their bishops' ecclesiastical actions to their stake presidents, and the stake presidents must have upheld the actions. Unless notified otherwise, students may participate in all university activities pending a decision.

3. Students must write a letter of request to the university president. The letter should explain the nature of the transgression resulting in the ecclesiastical action and should detail mitigating factors for the president to consider. The letter is submitted to the HCO within one week after giving notice to request a review.

4. Students should also ask their bishops and stake presidents to write letters regarding their status. These letters should provide information and rationale to support the request for the exception and should be submitted to the Honor Code Office within one week after being requested to do so.

5. When this information is complete, the HCO forwards it through the vice president of Student Life to the president of the university. The president communicates his decision back through the vice president of Student Life to the Honor Code Office, which informs the student.

6. If a decision is made to allow students to remain enrolled at the university, students will remain enrolled without an ecclesiastical endorsement. Students allowed to remain enrolled without an endorsement may do so only through the current term or semester. Thereafter students must qualify for endorsement for succeeding terms or semesters.

7. When appropriate, a notification of the fact that students are no longer eligible to remain enrolled at the university will go to appropriate ecclesiastical leaders, Housing Services (which may notify the students' housing managers), and others in the university who have a need to know.