BYU (and its affiliated schools in Idaho and Hawaii) tend to get a lot of flak from Church members--some of it justified.

Many question the need and utility for Church-sponsored universities, especially considering how much is subsidized through tithing dollars. It’s a fair question to ask what purpose BYU serves and whether it is accomplishing that purpose or not.

As a BYU graduate (2001), let’s take a brief look at some of the good and bad with BYU and other Church universities.

Support of LDS living

Why does BYU exist? I would submit its basic purpose is to create a university environment that inherently supports LDS standards.

Naturally, there are plenty of faithful LDS students at other universities, and plenty of students who don’t live LDS standards at BYU. The difference is convenience.

Many students at other universities have shared stories about coming back to their dorm rooms or apartments and finding their roommates (a) watching porn, (b) doing drugs, (c) having sex, or (d) all of the above at the same time. Not a pleasant experience or environment for someone who is attempting to live a “higher law”, not to mention the awkward feeling of being compelled to stay out of one’s own apartment.

Students do drugs, watch porn, and have sex at BYU, of course, just not as openly. It’s easier for students who want to live LDS standards to do so in an environment where LDS standards are supported as the default (and enforced). It’s the other people that feel the pressure to live their desired lifestyle in secret somewhere on the outside.

No one wants to be marginalized, naturally, and there are clear advantages if your school environment is set up to support your lifestyle, rather than fight against it.

"Whited Sepulchres"

The other side of the issue, of course, is that driving non-LDS-standard behavior underground has the potential to create—borrowing the Savior’s phrase from Matthew 23--“whited sepulchres”: people who act pure and righteous on the outside (because they need to due to the environment they’re in), while keeping bad habits hidden away.

Open problematic behavior from an LDS standard perspective may present certain obstacles and temptations to faithful LDS students, but at least they know what that person is about.  Open behavior is fundamentally more honest than hidden behavior, and in many cases (particularly when dating) students may have been better off knowing more about their potential partner's habits and standards through open behavior rather than forcing them to closet it away to meet an outside ideal, where they find out after it's too late.

Dating and Socializing

As a corollary, being surrounded by other LDS students creates more opportunities for dating and socializing. For those students who value dating and marrying within the faith, having a larger pool to choose from is a great advantage.

Outside BYU, LDS students may be forced to choose from a very small pool of Church members, and hope their personalities and interests happen to match up. Whereas at a Church school, with Church membership being almost a given, one can start from the hobbies and interests side and meet Church members who share those interests.  Art, drama, or music majors can find other art, drama, or music majors that share religious beliefs and interests--in theory, creating more productive and fulfilling relationships.

Emphasis on Marriage

An environment that emphasizes marriage, however, may also be a disadvantage.  As most people can attest, there is a two-tiered class system at BYU: those that are married and those that aren't.  The pressure to marry leads to an environment that can be stressful and rewarding at the same time--for many, more the former than the latter.

At BYU, there's an unwritten "Two Date Limbo Zone" that once you've dated someone twice, there's the assumption that your relationship is progressing towards marriage.  If you're not thinking of marriage (with that person, or with anyone), it's usually socially awkward to continue dating.  (DTR -- "Define The Relationship" -- talks are frequent occurances in that limbo zone, where one or both partners make sure that the other partner has the same end in mind for their relationship)

The "meat market" effect brings social pressures that secular universities don't.  Whether that's an advantage or a disadvantage over other schools, where dating pressures often consist of "how quickly can I get this person into bed with me" will depend on the person.

Cultural Homogeny

Having most of the people around you be Church members is useful in situations where that's advantageous (such as dating), but perhaps not so much from a general 'life experience' perspective.  BYU has a large population of students from other countries, although oftentimes they are LDS the same as everyone else.  There's something revealing and inherently educational from having classes or social opportunities with an Orthodox Jew, a Muslim, and a Buddhist.  Part of life is getting to know people different than you, which can be problematic if you've deliberately chosen a university where people are generally...not all that different from you from the beginning.

Cultural opportunities, particularly regarding entertainment, have the same problem.  Official BYU policy affects cultural and artistic opportunities on campus, and only a small subset of artistic experiences that meet Church standards are approved.  BYU "censorship" is a legitimate concern, although it should be obvious to even the most bitter critic that when difficult decisions arise, BYU will *always* be better off leaning towards the "conservative" side of any debate.  (The people who would complain about BYU being "too conservative" on an issue are not nearly as influential as those who would complain about BYU "relaxing" (or "betraying") their standards.)

Still, as a BYU student, I found BYU "censorship" to be way overstated.  If you know where to look, there are plenty of cultural and entertainment opportunities that stretch "Church standards".  BYU International Cinema, for one, and many of the plays put on by the drama department regularly go into what would be "PG-13" material--stuff that I bet the average BYU student would be shocked to hear was actually performed and displayed on campus given BYU's reputation.  Okay, sure, nothing like UC Berkeley's "pornography studies" class, but still more of a "liberal" artistic environment than outside observers might think.

Honor Code

90% of the time when people reference the BYU “Honor Code”—usually in a derogatory manner—they’re not referring to the BYU Honor Code at all, but BYU’s Dress and Grooming Standards.

Virtually all universities have an “Honor Code” which exists more or less to say “don’t cheat”. They are non-controversial.  BYU goes a little further than other universities by including some specific “LDS standards” such as alcohol use and premarital sex which apply even to the non-LDS students. For most LDS members, this isn’t very controversial either--most people don't have a problem with non-LDS students obeying LDS standards, especially when they do so of their own free will by attending a Church school (where their tuition is also partially subsidized by LDS tithing).

Statements from people about “I hate the BYU Honor Code” don’t usually mean they wish BYU students could cheat on tests or drink alcohol—this is usually proxy for complaints about strict rules about facial hair and dress.  About how BYU students are taught to judge by appearance rather than character.

I can sympathize.  As it happens, I, my wife, and just about every girl I knew at the time, admit that I look better with a beard than without.  I stopped shaving the day I graduated.  Still, when I was a student I did shave every day--that was part of being a BYU student in the first place.  In one aspect, many girls may prefer more 'variety' in facial hair to see what they like and what they don't, but in the end, it was really not a major issue for me, nor for most students.  Lots of people like me shaved at BYU (and on their missions) because that's the standard and we accepted it.  Then we graduated, and made our own decisions.

(One important note: it is *really* easy to get a ‘beard card’ at BYU.  One roommate tried it to see just how easy it was, and telling a doctor he had ‘sensitive skin’ was all it took. Ironically, he tried to grow a beard now that he was ‘legal’ but found he couldn’t, beyond some longer ‘lambchop' sideburns.  The point being, beard standards are not that big a deal in practice on campus.)

There are legitimate "Honor Code" complaints, although mostly about how things work in practice rather than the Honor Code itself in theory.  Most BYU students know that if your roommate is about to report you to the Honor Code office the best way to get away with it is to report them for something instead, even if you have to make something up.  The Honor Code office has traditionally been poor at finding out the truth, rather than reacting to whoever gets their ear first.

And friends of mine have stories about being called to account for (and pay fines for) really stupid things that even the most conservative General Authorities would admit is a little over-the-top.  There's plenty of room for improvement, even if the principle behind it is sound.

Conclusion:

In high school (in Idaho), I was good friends with a girl who said that even though she was accepted, she'd never attend BYU.  "I'm a fifth generation member," she explained, "My family are all members.  My extended family are all members.  All my friends are members.  All my neighbors are members.  I need to go somewhere else, where I can find out for myself what I believe and how I want to live without being constantly surrounded by Church members."

Ironically, as a convert and the only member in my family, I specifically chose BYU for the purpose of (for once) being "constantly surrounded by Church members".  That just shows the process for me "finding myself" was different than my friend's, as you might expect.

Basically, Church schools are what they are.  There's nothing really secret about the environment they present.  I enjoyed my time at BYU immensely, as have many others.  Many complaints about BYU's "culture" (oftentimes just an extension of LDS "culture") are fair, but BYU is what it is and prospective students should take that into account.

I believe all of the above advantages and disadvantages should be evident to anyone who's researching it and considering where to go--thus everyone should be able to decide whether going to a Church school is a good fit for them or not.