About us

I'm a BYU graduate, but for a number of reasons I am no longer comfortable associating myself with the institution under its current name. A few years ago, I deleted "Brigham Young University" from my professional and personal profiles and replaced the references with "Timpanogos University", the original name of BYU. Sure, Timp U is fictional, but so is the notion that God told Brigham Young to ban black people from the sacred rites of Mormonism. The modern LDS Church has disavowed its former explanations for the ban but still insists that the ban itself was God's will. That is systemic racism by definition, and we call upon all BYU students and graduates to drop Brigham Young's name from your profile until there is an acknowledgment that the ban itself was racist and wrong. Demand these five simple words from LDS Church leaders: "The ban was not inspired". The refusal to issue that statement indicates the opposite belief - one with which I want no affiliation! Combined with continued homophobic rhetoric and discriminatory policies invoked by the Board of Directors, BYU is marching toward a destination that has no place on my resume.