Shorts will be allowed but closely monitored on the Brigham Young University campus through the next few months if a student advisory board's recommendation is accepted by the school's administration.
Members of the BYU Student Advisory Council approved a proposal Thursday that recommends placing the university's policy allowing shorts on probationary status through 1996's summer term. The proposal also outlines ways the shorts policy and other aspects of the university's honor code could be enforced.If approved by the BYU Student Service Association president, the proposal will be presented on Dec. 19 to the Honor Code Advisory Council, which is made up of faculty, administration and student representatives. That body in turn will present its recommendation to the President's Advisory Council, said Ryan Davies, Student Advisory Council chairman.
The Student Advisory Council proposal suggests that various student and administrative committees meet next March and at the end of the 1996 summer term to evaluate whether progress is being made on the shorts issue.
In 1990, the university began allowing students to wear shorts of knee length or longer. Violations of this policy have increased over the years until BYU's administration began considering prohibiting shorts. However, before that action was taken, BYU's Honor Code Advisory Council asked the advisory council to help find a solution to the problem.
BYU students are required to meet certain dress, grooming and behavioral standards. Overall, the advisory council proposal addresses enforcement of this honor code as a whole, rather than focusing only on whether shorts should be allowed. Jay McClure, who helped draft the document, said this is because violation of the shorts policy is merely a symptom of a larger problem: an apathetic attitude toward the honor code."We're just trying to deal with the honor code as a whole and the shorts will take care of themselves in the meantime," McClure said.
Methods of enforcement recommended in the advisory council proposal include denial of all campus services if students are not in compliance with university standards as well as fines for standards violations. Details regarding the charging of such fines are not included.
The policy also recommends that faculty members include a statement in class syllabuses regarding their "enforcement policy and personal commitment to the honor code and dress and grooming standards." It also recommends including questions about how well teachers enforced the honor code in teacher evaluation questionnaires.
Some members of the advisory council, which is made up of students, brought up concerns such as the fines issue and how the faculty would react. Advisory council member Trent Davies reminded those present that the group has no authority to make policy; it can only make recommendations.
"We are coming up with suggestions for solutions," he said. "I think this proposal does that."
Surveys and questionnaires revealed that the majority of BYU students supports keeping shorts as an acceptable mode of dress, said Ryan Davies. "I think the proposal was well-done and represents student opinion very well," he said.