Students who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have found belonging at BYU amidst the struggles of being in the minority.
BYU strives to create a community that reflects the love of God and a genuine concern for one another, according to BYU’s Statement on Belonging.
“We value and embrace the variety of individual characteristics, life experiences and circumstances, perspectives, talents and gifts of each member of the community and the richness and strength they bring to our community,” according to the Statement on Belonging website.
For University Chaplain Jim Slaughter, the best part about having non-member students attend BYU is how their presence allows people to see their own faith through the eyes of someone who is not part of it.
“I think it’s helpful to see how people see our beliefs,” Slaughter said, referring to the Church's doctrine. “It also reminds us not to take too much for granted, because not everybody understands what we’re talking about all the time.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints constitute 1.7% of the total U.S. adult population according to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. In contrast, 93.3% of people in the college town of Provo are members of the faith, according to bestplaces.net.
There are lots of reasons non-member students choose to come to BYU, such as student athlete scholarships, cheaper tuition, graduate school recruitments and students studying the English language, Slaughter said.
“A lot of it has to do with the standards that BYU has,” he said. “A lot of people who aren’t members of the church share those same values and want to be in an environment where those values are respected and upheld.”
The decision process was not easy for Sama Salah, a Muslim student at BYU, who gave up a full-ride scholarship offer from the University of Utah to study at BYU.
“For some reason I was still on the fence about it, so one night I prayed about it hoping to get divine revelation,” Salah said. “I was like, ‘Okay, maybe if God has a sign for me, I can make the decision easier,’ and that night I had a dream I went to Heritage Halls on BYU campus with my friend.”
On top of that, BYU has some of the best academics in the state, including the program that Salah wanted to study, she explained.
Kayla Mitchell, BYU alum and former member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, attended BYU for similar reasons as Salah. She stayed at BYU after her change of belief because of the good friends she made, and it was more convenient for her to graduate.
“It just wasn’t feasible to leave,” Mitchell said. “I had awesome church leaders even though I didn’t go to church that much and they still helped me through.”
When a non-member student is new to BYU, they are immediately welcomed into a church congregational group known as a young single adult (YSA) ward, Slaughter explained. An ideal situation occurs when that student is embraced and included in everything by that ward without the ward trying to actively convert them to the faith, he added.
“When they don’t feel any pressure, but they feel like, ‘Hey, I want to be part of this,’ that’s when it’s magic,” Slaughter said. “It happens like that in different things—not just wards—like other areas on campus where people have genuine, honest relationships and there aren’t any ulterior motives.”
Great relationships form when people have an affinity for each other, enjoy associating together and care about each other, Slaughter added.
The best representation of other faiths at BYU, aside from interfaith clubs and other religious groups, is through some of the professors, Mitchell stated.
“I had an amazing world religions professor who’s more open and intentional of including other faiths,” she said. “He’s the head of the Interfaith Club at BYU.”
The Interfaith Club at BYU does a good job at providing opportunities for religious discussion, Salah said.
“Discussion of faith is very open and welcome at BYU, which I really appreciate,” she said. “The school places a lot of emphasis on a faith-based approach to life as well as devout Muslims, so I think there’s that mutual respect.”
To improve inclusion and belonging at BYU, people need to allow difficult conversations to happen, Salah added.
The Muslim Student Union at BYU hosted an educationally beneficial event called Meet the Muslims where misconceptions and taboo topics about Muslims were discussed and corrected in a safe place, Salah said.
“It’s how you can build up this connection that creates relational proximity,” she said. “Proximity is one of the only palpable ways you can defeat prejudice or defeat stereotypes.”
Mitchell expressed concerns about the culture at BYU and believes a culture shift to allow more safe spaces for those who aren't members or who are former members of the Church would be beneficial.
“Usually, people that leave the LDS religion are seen as worse than people that have never been members,” Mitchell said. “That’s a cultural church thing that bleeds into the BYU institution.”
In Mitchell's opinion, BYU's status as a church institution raises challenges in being more inclusive toward former-member students.
“It’s incredibly isolating when you really can’t talk about changing beliefs,” she said. “I hope people become more supportive of people who leave the church or people who aren’t members by asking questions and being empathetic.”
Slaughter added it would be helpful to celebrate the success of others, no matter who they are, where they come from or where they’re going.