My family and I are brand new to Utah. We moved to Orem from Alaska to be near our daughter at Brigham Young University, and because our younger children all want to go to BYU. We love this school and everything it stands for. As new residents, we barely know a handful of people here in Orem. On the other hand, I have no doubts that two well established, prominent men such as Dr. Ned Hill and Dr. Steve Albrecht have a lot of friends and supporters here, so I’m bracing myself for a negative response to this, nevertheless, I feel like someone has to say it: BYU needs to discipline Ned Hill and Steve Albrecht for their indiscretion.
To my knowledge, I have never met Ned Hill or Steve Albrecht. Dr. Albrecht was one of the authors of my accounting textbooks, and I read his book, Money Wise, when I was in my young 20’s and really enjoyed it. To me, they both seem to be outstanding men who I know I would very much enjoy knowing. Nevertheless, by all appearances, BYU seems oblivious to how egregious it was for Ned Hill and Steve Albrecht to use University resources to send a political advocacy email, and how these kinds of things may be perceived by people outside of Utah, and outside of our faith.
Here is where I am coming from.
I personally know two state workers in Alaska who were forced to resign over similar circumstances. They were the nicest of people, but one used her work computer’s hard drive to store non-work files, and the other used a photocopier to make non-work-related copies. I know that kind of thing happens in offices all the time, but when dealing with the public’s trust, you need to be on a strait and narrow path, you know, the one with few on it. The path with everyone on it leads to destruction, and BYU of all schools should understand this.
Likewise, the Anchorage Daily News recently reported the story of Randy Ruedrich, a prominent Republican and an Alaska state worker who used state resources to send political advocacy emails. In the end, he was forced to resign, pay a $12,000 fine and admit to wrong doing.
In other words, those of us who are not from this area are accustomed to seeing these kinds of issues dealt with in a manner far different from the actions BYU has taken. I am concerned that BYU doesn’t see this infraction in the same light as others may, and that this disparity may lead BYU to further embarrassment.
To be clear, I definitely do NOT feel Ned Hill and Steve Albrecht should be asked to resign.
However, the lack of any disciplinary action communicates that, in the University’s opinion, nothing too wrong has happened, and that isn’t how many people who aren’t from this area and don’t personally know these two men see this.
There is buzz on the Internet about how BYU’s political neutrality tilts to the right. If BYU professors have controversial yet legal theories which cast doubt on a Republican administration, they are pressured to retire, but if they break actual laws to promote a Republican, they don’t even get slapped on the wrist. That is utter nonsense and the kind of blatant manipulation the Church often suffers, — but unfortunately a lot of people can’t see that, and they certainly can’t see that BYU is doing anything that indicates it actually disapproves of the political advocacy emails.
It’s not enough to keep publicizing a position of political neutrality when there is a well publicized action out there undercutting the effectiveness of that message, “… for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words” (Alma 39:11).
After all, it was Texan Alan Gluth who brought the matter of Hill and Albrecht’s email to the attention of BYU; BYU didn’t catch it on its own. And rest assured Mr. Gluth is not the only Texan who sees it as an ethics violation — most Texans would, as would most people in Alaska, Massachusetts, and the rest of the country, including those sitting in IRS offices.
Speaking of Alan Gluth, he was being generous when he wrote that Hill and Albrecht’s e-mail was probably sent innocently. Everyone knows (or at least hopes) that part of their job is to know ethics. And with annual reminders over the pulpit that church resources are not to be used for political purposes, it is too much of a stretch to believe that Hill and Albrecht missed that message. In other words, most of us believe they knew better.
Look at it this way: if the NCAA oversaw business schools as it does athletic programs, you know BYU would be disciplined for these violations. Shouldn’t BYU’s standards be at least as high as the NCAAs?
As a father of six teenagers, I am well aware of the sacrifices people make to send their children to BYU. As a young LDS missionary and many times since, I have observed first hand the great sacrifices made by many destitute yet faithful people to contribute funds to the Church. What a slap in the face it would be then if the careless actions of two comparatively affluent men jeopardized the University’s tax exempt status, and the University didn’t take substantive measures address it.
No one wants to see two really great guys disciplined, including me, but it’s not just about them. Their misstep cast a shadow on Mitt Romney, the LDS Church, BYU, and because of the name of our business school, maybe even the poor Marriott Corporation.
As you know, BYU’s media coverage has been unusually controversial lately, and more importantly, the controversy hasn’t been about athletics or students, it has been about BYU professors! Same sex marriage opinions, World Trade Center theories, billion dollar law suits and now the newly alleged national covert political network of Mormons probably has people wondering about us. Why leave them wondering why BYU hasn’t disciplined Hill and Albrecht when it is generally the practice to do so in cases such as this?
Seeing how similar matters have been handled by other organizations, what would YOU think if you were looking at BYU from the outside? Would you wonder if perhaps BYU has a culture of casual ethics which created a climate where Hill and Albrecht thought it would be okay to use tax exempt resources for political advocacy, and now that lax atmosphere is letting these risky and inappropriate acts off easy?
In another story, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, the LDS church is taking “corrective action” against a church employee for using Church resources to forward a pro-Romney article. This wasn’t a person of tremendous influence using Church resources to endorse a candidate, he didn’t try to organize Latter-day Saints into a nationwide political force, he didn’t even write the article! He just forwarded it, and the Church is taking action.
BYU, why aren’t you doing the same?
Pertinent Links:
LDS Offcials distance Church from Romney, Deseret News, Tuesday October 24, 2006 by Stephen Speckman.
Call to back Romney raises a legal red flag, Salt Lake Tribune, Tuesday, October 24, 2006 by Thomas Burr
LDS Church acts against employee who used his church e-mail account, Salt Lake Tribune, Tuesday, October 24, 2006 by Thomas Burr
