BYU Continues To Receive Coronavirus Funding

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_I have a question
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Re: BYU Continues To Receive Coronavirus Funding

Post by _I have a question »

Dr Moore wrote:
Thu May 21, 2020 1:33 pm
BYU made the right choice in the end, and I am very glad the administrators came to their senses: that well-endowed schools should take care of their students in a crisis, because there is no free lunch even with government money that sounds "free."

My understanding is that the money was made available, but never taken. So it doesn't really matter when the decision was made, does it?
As a kid the Church had a teaching going round that the mere thought of doing something wrong was just as bad as actually doing the thing that was wrong. Ergo, thinking about taking the government money is as bad as actually taking it, in the eyes of the Church.
BYU never formally accepted the funds, and so those funds are available elsewhere. Bravo, BYU.
I think the reasons/motivations behind making a correct decision are important. If BYU made the decision straight away because it was the right thing to do, great. But why wait a month to decline it? If BYU made the decision after waiting a month to see if they could get away with taking it without somebody noticing, realised they couldn't and then decided not to take it...well...that's something much less laudable.
Now if we can only ask BYU to get around to making the right decision about clarifying the honor code policy related to LGBTQ couples. Let's shift the focus back on priorities.
Wouldn't BYU just do that because it was the right thing to do? Why would they need to be asked?
_Stem
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Re: BYU Continues To Receive Coronavirus Funding

Post by _Stem »

Like Dr Moore, I will maintain my celebration of BYU making the right decision. I think to complain about it in some way is being overly critical, or critical for critical's sake. At some point you have to hand it to others, and there's no doubt, you have to hand it to BYU. This was a good move--good for everyone.
_I have a question
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Re: BYU Continues To Receive Coronavirus Funding

Post by _I have a question »

One wonders what decision BYU would have reached had the $100 billion secret stash remained a secret...
The University of Utah, in partnership with Brigham Young University, has been awarded $6.8 million from the U.S. Department of Education to support international education and language study over the next four years. The Title VI National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies grants will provide funding directly to the Center for Latin American Studies, Asia Center and their BYU counterparts and will earmark $4.6 million for student scholarships.
https://asia-center.utah.edu/news/flasgrant.php
This shows the ludicrously wealthy University was not against taking free cash when offered when the Ensign Peak hoard was not yet public knowledge. That's not necessarily the University's fault, because University management was unlikely to have known at that point just how big a pile of cash their Church Masters were sat on. But someone in the hierarchy knew. (I wonder how much public money BYU has accepted over the years its parent has been sat on that eyewateringly large pile of cash...)

And now University Management, along with the rest of us, know.

I don't believe BYU concluding that it didn't need the fallout from accepting $50 million of public money, against the current public backdrop of its parent having such a large stash of donated cash and already-circulating negative publicity about the offer, is a cause for "celebration". What other decision could it have reached during the month long deliberations about it? What was there to deliberate, other than "could we get away with it?"?

It is clear their first thought was to see if they could take the cash...
“BYU is in the process of determining how funds allocated for our students through the CARES Act can best be distributed. Assisting our students with their needs is our first priority right now. We have not yet made any other decisions in regard to CARES Act funding for the institution,” said university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins.
https://www.ksl.com/article/46742031/ut ... ef-funding
_Dr Moore
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Re: BYU Continues To Receive Coronavirus Funding

Post by _Dr Moore »

It's a good thing BYU/Church refused the money. The Catholic church is beginning to catch a lot of heat as Covid-19 aid recipients are scrutinized in context of need vs utilization of public funds.

https://apnews.com/dab8261c68c93f24c0bfc1876518b3f6
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