Robert Goldberg recalls getting his first jolt of anti-Mormon sentiment at the University of Utah before he ever set foot on campus.
Moments after arriving in Salt Lake City, Goldberg - then a newly hired history professor - was given a tour of the city by a university representative."My host drove me around town and pointed out landmarks like the U. and the Capitol Building. Then he pointed to the Salt Lake Temple and said, `There's our version of Disneyland.' The comment was designed to put me at ease, but I was startled."
At a panel discussion Thursday sponsored by the B.H. Roberts Society - titled "Anti-Mormon Feeling at the University of Utah?" Goldberg warned of academic stereotyping and employment discrimination at the U. directed toward members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Goldberg, who is Jewish, said LDS students and faculty are often denied the same respect extended to other campus groups.
"In our focus to erase racism and sexism at the U., we have neglected other victims," he said. "Anti-Mormonism at the University of Utah needs to be cleaned up. Mormons need to feel as safe and secure as blacks, Jews and everyone else."
Susan Staker, a doctoral candidate in the U.'s English department, said devout LDS members may perceive they are victims of discrimination because of an inherent conflict between church doctrine and secular academia.
"The broad culture of academics is sometimes at odds with Mormon culture," she said.
Staker also said recently introduced ethnic- and gender-studies programs at the U. present historical perspectives that may be unsettling for many loyal church members.
"Courses on group studies can cause a conflict for some LDS students because the Mormon Church has a troubled history with blacks, women and Native Americans," she said.
Church members and faculty, Goldberg said, should be careful not to misinterpret scholarly critiques of the LDS Church as a blanket exercise in bias.
"Simply examining the church does not imply discrimination," he said. "Disagreeing with the LDS Church's stand on abortion is not anti-Mormon, just like disagreeing with Israeli policy is not anti-Semitic."
During an open-forum period, audience members questioned panelists about allegations of LDS Church members being denied employment, job promotions or acceptance into graduate programs by a non-Mormon majority in a given department.
In his comments, Goldberg recalled a colleague who once recommended an opening in the history department be filled "by someone who has not breathed the air of Utah."
Conversely, Staker said her fellow students in the English literature graduate program all come from LDS backgrounds.
Panelist William Mulder, a U. professor emeritus of English, encouraged any student or faculty member feeling the sting of discrimination to take action.
"If there are pockets of prejudice - on any side - there are avenues of recourse," Mulder said. "The university cannot control attitudes, but we can administer justice."