Monday, March 07, 2011

Davies

I'm bothered by the Brandon Davies saga. I think BYU did the right thing by suspending Davies, but what bothers me is the publicity. Here's a 20 or so year old kid who had consensual sex with his girlfriend and now the whole nation knows about his mistake and he's going to be known by many people as "that" Brandon Davies throughout the country. That punishment seems pretty harsh to me.
I can't figure out in my head a way where BYU could continue to uphold the honor code and keep the offender's discretions private, but even though Davies is a representative of the school and a very public face of the standards of the school, the punishment still seems pretty harsh.

On another note, my ward now lets women say the opening prayer in Sacrament Meeting since December. This makes my little feminist heart happy every Sunday.

12 comments:

Brenda said...

I don't think BYU released the details of his honor code violation, did they? I think it came out via other ways, if I'm not mistaken.

Although I too feel bad for him personally, I have to argue that a person's prominence/influence does impact the level of and extent of consequences he or she experiences at a time like this. If you are a public figure (or sorts) and mess up, news will travel. It's a natural consequence, and not something BYU inflicted on him. But, even still, I've got to feel bad for him.

Joy said...

Anonymous BYU official reported it was sex.

He is a public figure of sorts who agreed to the Honor Code. At the same time, BYU did publicize that he was kicked off for Honor Code violations. Would it have been better to say simply he was kicked off? I don't know.

Like I said, I don't fault BYU for following their standards. The University did the right thing. I just wonder when I hear others (and well, myself included) laud the school for sticking up to their standard we aren't as tactful as we could be.
Two kids screwed up and their families are affected by it.

I agree that public figures indiscretions are well known-it's part of the price they pay, but at the same time, this is a little different.

Brenda said...

I recall a few (many?) years ago when the local papers here would run stories about some of the thug-ish BYU football players who were getting bailed out of jail. It left me feeling as if the university was letting things slide in the name of sports, that the team didn't really represent the values that the university espouses, that the athletes BYU was recruiting didn't really fit the culture here, and that athletes were given a free pass when the rest of the student body would have been held accountable under similar conditions.

Maybe my perceptions and conclusions were wrong; in any case, I'm glad to see BYU raising the bar. I was equally glad to hear that Davies was courtside this weekend. That was cool.

As for BYU officials releasing it the info .... I hope not, really. They were probably caught in a catch-22. How do you bench a star ball player right before March Madness without an explanation?

Joy said...

Did the University bail the players out? Were the players allowed to play afterwards?

I'm not saying that BYU atheletes should be held to a different standard than the student population. I completely back the school up for kicking him off the team for a year, I just wonder if it

I don't know if the University has to say "honor code violation." People would still wonder what happened, but I don't think the school stating "honor code violation" or "academic violation" is mandatory.

Anyway, we both feel sorry for the guy.

Brenda said...

It's been so many years that I can't recall the specifics of the bailouts; I can just recall my impressions of the incidents. I don't remember them being kicked off. Maybe they were and I missed it??

Jillian said...

I do feel bad for the publicity of the whole Davies fiasco. And I have no problem admitting that I got a little misty eyed to see/hear the crowd still supporting him.

Also- I can not even wrap my mind around the prayer thing. I have never been in a ward where that has been an issue. In fact, I'm more likely to purposefully hide out until the meeting starts in an effort to avoid being called on. (I'm not particularly proud of that, but there it is) That is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard.

Smokey said...

I thought the first source who stated the violation, was one of Davies friend. I am pretty sure that is what the Tribune reported first.

If BYU didn't give a reason for I would think there would be a outcry over why BYU and the Church is so secretive in there operation.

Another reason there is so much talk about it is because BYU was highly ranked. If this was a normal year and he had been kicked off it would have been news in Utah for a week or two, but it would have not been national sporting news for more than a day. And they would have never said anything about it on national news.

Jules said...

Yay for women opening Sac. Mtg. prayers!

As for Davies, I hadn't seen the "Anonymous BYU official" source. Most of the national articles I read cited the Salt Lake Tribune...and I find it curious that whoever went to the paper went to the Trib and not the DesNews...

I hate that the exact violation was made public; in the age of "dismissed for violating team rules" that I hear so often in college sports, why was leaking the specifics necessary?

When Harvey Unga and his girlfriend left in August, it was barely a blip on the media's radar. The #3 ranking and possible Final Four appearance is what made this a frenzy. I think it speaks volumes, though, that Davies was on the bench Saturday, cut down the net, and has been involved in working with the team.

Unknown said...

I'm more bothered they wouldn't let women say the opening prayer in Sac mtg. What the...???

Steve said...

Thanks for filling me in since I haven't been following the Davies thing. I don't think he "messed up" as has been said on here and other places, I think he just got caught. Which makes you wonder how that came about!?!? If he were on any other NCAA team, he'd be playing, no questions asked. Good for BYU to stand up for their internal rules, but it isn't going to win them any recruiting battles for kids outside of Utah.

Joy said...

Steve-Here's why he messed up. He agreed to live by the BYU standards and then didn't. That's messing up. We don't know if he was actually caught or how it was brought to the attention of BYU.

Steve said...

Like they said on Weekend Update, "I think I know what he will do to make himself feel better!" hahaha.

I don't see it as messing up, I see it as a 20 year old guy in the microcosm universe of Utah being on the hottest story in Utah (even pre-scandal) sports falling victim to thinking he was above the law and/or just having a bad day. Again, curious as to HOW this became even known. My bet is that someone from State set him up! hahaha. Hey, the Soviets/Russians did/do that all the time to us US diplomats, ha.