BYU has chosen to discontinue its Women’s Research Institute (WRI) in an effort to expand resources for and encourage participation in women’s studies.

No doubt many are wondering how discarding the sole campus entity dedicated to women’s research will facilitate this lofty objective.

“This reorganization acknowledges the fact that women’s studies at BYU and elsewhere is mainstreamed into the academic disciplines,” said John S. Tanner, BYU academic vice president.

In BYU’s attempts to go mainstream, they probably should have considered the implications of this decision and how it might affect LDS women who would like to believe that women’s issues are a priority on campus. The reorganization of women’s studies will add further fuel to the fire regarding beliefs of existing gender inequality within the LDS religion.

The proposed reorganization, to be implemented in January 2010, has reassigned the current director of WRI to the Psychology Department, while the Women’s Studies Minor will continue through the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences.

“The reorganization more than triples the amount of discretionary money available across campus for women’s research,” Tanner said.

The claim that all WRI associated funding will continue to be thus distributed is reassuring, but one must wonder whether included in this “tripled amount” is the new Emmeline B. Wells Grant money which will offer $25,000 for annual faculty research with additional $5,000 grants being allocated for women’s studies research specifically.

It seems as though this funding would not disappear if the WRI were to remain operative.

A petition has thus been created by concerned BYU students, friends and donors in an effort to compromise the reorganization process and its outcome.

They propose that the WRI be eliminated, but that a Women’s Research Council (WRC) made up of faculty from each college and students involved in women’s studies, take its vacant place.

They also suggest that the WRC be in control of the all funds affiliated with the former WRI in order to assist students, bring in relevant speakers, and facilitate women’s research domestically and internationally.

For more information regarding this issue and to sign the petition to preserve women’s research at BYU, visit www.supportWRI.org.

---

[Translate]

This is my final semester at Utah Valley University. I have been here for three years. I have fallen in love with this school for the same reasons that many of us choose this school: smaller class sizes, enhanced engagement opportunities, and practical experiences.

My original intention in coming back to Utah was to attend BYU. Nevertheless I stayed here and while I have been in the valley I have been able to examine the differences between these two schools and am entirely satisfied with my decision to stay.

One of the biggest reasons for my satisfaction is in watching the suppression of  student voice at BYU. Students are not in a position to express themselves in the same way that we are. Whether it pertains to faculty or administration, students there are definitely limited in expressing their views.

Something came across my inbox the other day that completely sustains this. I know a student at BYU who is involved with a Middle East peace organization. This individual had some concerns about a Hebrew Club advisor who (from the student’s perspective) seemed to be politicizing the club. This student, named Kfir, wrote an e-mail expressing his concern and cited several cases of perceived bias. I read the e-mail repeatedly and found Kfir to be extremely professional, though certainly firm in expressing his concerns. The essential message calls for a return to the tenets on which the club was founded, and departure from the divergent views being put forth by this professor. Reasonable, right?

The professor’s response was absolutely abhorrent and went so far as to call Kfir a “hyperbolic and fantastically arrogant condescending brat” just for bringing up his concerns

Believe me when I tell you that if you had seen the original e-mail sent by Kfir, you would be stunned at this response. I think my head almost exploded. There is absolutely nothing that would warrant this type of response from a faculty member. Even if the initial e-mail had an extremely aggressive tone, this response, coming from a professional BYU faculty member, is disgusting.

My purpose in writing this is not to debate Middle-East politics, or whether or not either party had a legitimate concern. Likewise, it is not my intent to typecast all BYU faculty members because I know that some are terrific.

But, I want to show how fortunate we all are to attend a university where our faculty is both accessible and approachable, and our administration is extremely receptive to us. This administration listens to the feedback of the students through the UVU Review, UVUSA, the classroom, and other student organizations. Further, I would NEVER expect to see a response like this from any member of our faculty. In short, I feel that UVU is set apart from the rest of the collegiate pack because we are much more student-centric.

So, for those of you that are debating between BYU and UVU, please take it from a future alum: Stay here, get involved, speak your mind, and enjoy every single second of it. You might not get that chance at another school.

---

[Translate]