Harry Potter and the Retched Honor Code

The E-mail
The Point of the Honor Code
The Curfew Rule
Is it that Big of a Deal?

"All BYU-Idaho students are to be in their own apartments .... every night" but who does this apply to and for what reasons, and how is Harry Potter involved?

The E-mail

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a huge fan of Harry Potter, but when I got the following email in my inbox, I was upset, not about the fact that I was forbidden to watch it, but I as well as all those that read the email was threatened with “disciplinary” action for violating curfew. Here is the email:

A wave of the magic wand and the names have been blocked.

I love it how the email is closed “with love” from both the Bishop and the Stake President.ᵗᵒᵖ

The Point of the Honor Code

• Academic Honesty
• Dress and Grooming
• Housing
• Church Attendance
• Ecclesiastical Endorsements for Continuing Students
• Other Standards

After searching the BYUI’s website for quite a bit of time, I found a paragraph that sort of defines the purpose of the honor code, but it lacks the clarity of why it exists, instead it just defines what it contains.  It says:

“[The Honor Code] exist[s] to educate students in an atmosphere consistent with the ideals and principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” ᵗᵒᵖ

The Curfew Rule

"All BYU-Idaho students are to be in their own apartments by midnight every night of the week except Friday, when curfew is one o’clock a.m. When attending university functions that end later than established curfew hours, such as plays and concerts, students should be in within 30 minutes after the event is over."¹

Isn’t it ironic that the rules can be bended for “university functions”? It is also important to note that it says that “All BYU-Idaho students” are to obey this rule so this would include married students too, but we all know that there is special treatment for them.ᵗᵒᵖ

Is it that Big of a Deal?

There is no credible reason to have a curfew at a university. I have a few reasons behind this:

One of the main reasons that the curfew was instated was to prevent premarital sex. While this cause may seem helpful to the weak, how hard is it for any student to tell their roommates that they’re going down to Utah for the weekend and go shack up at some hotel in Idaho Falls? It isn’t that hard to do. People that want to "get it on" are going to do it whether or not there are rules.

I image midnight showings of Harry Potter are like this.

Another reason would be the source of a rumor that has been circulated. The rumor stated the stake president’s very own daughter was seen at the midnight showing of Harry Potter. This may or may not be true, but if it is, it would be very hypocritical to enforce the curfew if the stake president’s very own child was violating curfew. If it wasn’t true, it still doesn’t dismiss the fact that plenty of BYUI students went to the midnight showing, enough to fill the seats of the theaters.

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