The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at Byu

If church-sponsored universities exist to instill faith in God and commitment to religion, then Brigham Young University deserves high marks. But in protecting the Lord s University from secularized morals, feminism, the emergence of an independent Mormon intellectual community, and the liberal side of American culture wars, the school has also defended its right to restrict free speech, freedom of the press, the right to assemble, and due process for faculty and students. With cultural conservatives nationally, the school believes that its institutional right to religious liberty supercedes the individual freedom of conscience and inquiry that traditionally characterizes university life. In charting the struggle between academics and religion, authors Bryan Waterman and Brian Kagel have assembled a vast archive of official documents and private interviews covering all sides of the issues. They chronicle day-to-day events administrative meetings, disciplinary hearings, student rallies, behind-the scenes faculty debates, private conversations, and P.R. posturing in a provocative history of two decades of turmoil at the nation s largest religious university.