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The Daily Universe
BYU students participate in Rainbow Day on March 4. From freshmen to full-time employees, different groups in the BYU community are working to make changes that will help LGBTQ students feel like they belong. (Sydnee Gonzalez)
LGBTQ students at BYU have long struggled with how to feel safe and welcome on a campus that is rooted in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ policies and doctrine.
For many LGBTQ students, BYU’s religious environment and cheap tuition are what drew them to attend, just like their straight classmates, but the culture can make their time at BYU a challenge.
PROVO After meeting since last July and following a deluge of thousands of personal and electronic communications with stakeholders, including the university s minority alumni base, the nine-member committee tasked with improving racial equality at Brigham Young University and in the surrounding community has presented its initial findings to President Kevin J. Worthen and school officials.
The report, outlined in a 63-page document available at race.byu.edu, includes 26 recommendations for improving race relations both on and off campus, including the addition and changes to classes based on data received from nearly 20,000 respondents.
The recommendations are categorized under three headings related to improving the experience of Black, Indigenous and People of Color at BYU: institutional and organizational reforms, student belonging and equity, and faculty reforms.
The Daily Universe
BYU is heightening its efforts to address racism on campus.
Since the protests surrounding the death of George Floyd and the subsequent rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, BYU has sought to follow the admonition of President Russell M. Nelson and leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to “review processes, laws, and organizational attitudes regarding racism and root them out once and for all.”
University level
reform
The BYU Committee on Race, Equity & Belonging was formed under the direction of President Kevin J Worthen over the summer. The committee’s mission statement says:
The Daily Universe
President Kevin J Worthen told students to persevere in unity amid COVID-19 and chaos during the semester’s first devotional on Jan. 12.
The power of both unity and diversity is needed more than ever during the pandemic and other pressing issues, he said. President Worthen also reminded students that the pandemic is not over and to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines, commending their good work last semester.
“While there is increased optimism because the end is in sight, there is a commensurate need to be more diligent than ever in wearing masks, washing our hands, maintaining social distancing and complying with testing protocols,” he said.