By Lyall Swim
lyall@du2.byu.edu
If you asked the average BYU student what makes BYU different from other campuses, you are likely to get some mixed responses.
Is it the way people in Utah drive, or that 90 percent of the student body shop at the GAP or Eddie Bauer, or possibly the fact that more languages are spoken on campus than at the United Nations?
Amid all the differing responses you are most likely to hear some snide remark about BYU's oft-debated Honor Code.
When you ask BYU students how they feel about the Honor Code, several thoughts come to mind: an uptight flag football referee, an overbearing card swiper at the testing center, an easy joke for a comedian at Jonny B's or the hushed 'ah' of a knee spotting.
This semester I experienced more than one 'ah' as I walked around BYU with a beard that would have made Grizzly Adams proud.
The words from the song 'One of these things is not like the other' ran through my mind every time I walked into a building during a class change.
I could read students' minds as the attention changed from what they did over the weekend to the lost soul with a beard wandering around campus.
'He must be a transfer from that other university.' Or, 'I wonder what kind of skin disease he has. I hope it's not contagious.'
But despite the bruhaha my beard caused in my ward, at home and on campus, I was happy to finally get out the razor and come 'clean.'
Needless to say the experience of being an exception opened my eyes to attitudes on campus I had not previously seen or had been ignorant to.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not here to bash the Honor Code. In fact, I think it is a great thing and as far as I am concerned it needs to stay.
I just think it's time we took a different approach and a new look at the Honor Code.
I think the Student Honor Association has finally found the right approach.
The Honor Code makes BYU different. Not that we are any better than any other university, but we are here for different reasons and under different circumstances.
I think it's time we stopped taking the Honor Code and the atmosphere, notwithstanding its quirks and problems, for granted here at BYU.
One response that surprised me more than any was male students who would ask me how they could get a beard card so they didn't have to shave.
For those of you who don't know where you are going to school, this is BYU and if I am not mistaken we have a thing called the Honor Code, which stipulates for males shaving on occasion. Sure it's a pain, but at least be grateful that your wardrobe doesn't range from dress uniform to fatigues and you're not subjected to routine head shaving.
Having been on the 'other' side of the Honor Code, I must say it's nice to be back where I belong.
I went to a conference in Boston in October where students from all over the country were in attendance. At the evening socials, it appeared that pasta (i.e. spaghetti straps, etc.) was the style of choice and the stench of beer and cigarettes was enough to make you swoon.
As the other students from BYU and myself made our way home from the final social, I counted myself lucky that I attended a university that expected more from its students.
Sure there may be problems with the Honor Code, but I think it's about time we started seeing the Honor Code for what it is -- a real chance to be different.
BYU is not your average university. Things are run just a little differently, but with what I have seen this past semester, I don't think I would have it any other way.