A national honor society for arts and sciences rejected BYU's third bid for a campus chapter because of concerns about limitations on academic freedom at the university.
Phi Beta Kappa notified Brigham Young University recently it would not be considered for a chapter during the current review period. University officials said Wednesday the rejection is based on a misunderstanding of BYU's mission and the academic freedom afforded faculty. But BYU will have to wait until 1994 for a new opportunity to convince Phi Beta Kappa they both have similar missions. The society reviews chapter applications only every three years. The University of Utah currently has the state's only Phi Beta Kappa chapter.Neil Rasband, associate dean of general and honors education at BYU, has worked to get a Phi Beta Kappa chapter at BYU since 1977. BYU's last try was in 1984.
Phi Beta Kappa's 12-member qualifications committee was troubled by three items in reviewing BYU's current application, according to Douglas W. Foard, society secretary. He cited two sentences in the university's mission statement that appear to limit academic freedom.
The sentences: "All students at BYU should be taught the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Any education is inadequate which does not emphasize that His is the only name given under heaven whereby mankind can be saved."
"Phi Beta Kappa exists to promote and foster a liberal arts education," Foard said. "That means freedom of inquiry."
Rasband said Phi Beta Kappa never raised concerns about BYU's mission statement in previous applications.
Phi Beta Kappa also is concerned that BYU has an insufficient number of faculty members who are affiliated with the society, Foard said. Faculty members run the chapter, nominating and reviewing candidates for the society.
Nineteen of BYU's full-time, tenured professors are affiliated with the society. BYU has 1,402 full-time faculty members; 979 have tenure. The society requires that 10 or 10 percent, whichever is greater, of a university's faculty be members of Phi Beta Kappa.
BYU President Rex Lee is "mystified" by the idea there is an inconsistency between Phi Beta Kappa's and BYU's missions.
"We would like to be a member of Phi Beta Kappa. We think the quality of our students certainly entitles them to that kind of consideration," Lee said.
For example, in 1991-92 BYU ranked 10th in the country in entering national merit scholars; it also had nine National Science Foundation scholarship winners.
Lee believes Phi Beta Kappa either misunderstands what BYU is all about or "they don't understand what academic pluralism is all about, and I can't believe that's the case."
Phi Beta Kappa and BYU would both benefit from an affiliation, Lee said.
"But if it really were to be a choice between that and adherence to our religious mission, then of course it's not even a close question," Lee said. "We have functioned for more than a century without Phi Beta Kappa and we can continue to do so very consistently within our mission."
Lee said that more important than getting Phi Beta Kappa on campus is addressing misunderstandings about BYU and the values that religious institutions can bring to academia and society in general. BYU is comparable to other religious institutions, such as Notre Dame, in adhering to serious religious values, Lee said.
"I'm sure their purpose is not to make judgments based on (finding) some religious institutions more acceptable than others," Lee said. "I'm sure they want to give wide range to the ability of academic institutions, particularly religious academic institutions, to carry out their objectives."
Applications for new chapters are reviewed intensely. During the last review period, the society's government council, comprised of representatives of each chapter, accepted only two new chapters. (See accompanying story.)
"Both happened to be church-related, liberal arts instititions," Foard said.
Neither schools' mission statement includes language that "stands in the way of a student or faculty member disagreeing with the vision of the church that sponsors those schools," Foard said.
According to Phi Beta Kappa, that's not the case at BYU.
"We're concerned about the atmosphere for liberal learning," Foard said. "We've had the same mission for more than 200 years. We've been about freedom of inquiry from the very beginning.
"Phi Beta Kappa is not saying BYU isn't an excellent institution. We're saying they define their mission differently than we define ours."