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Show UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY in the Washington daily newspapers.” Wilkinson was skeptical: “We’d never get it approved.” “When are we going to learn the media is there for our use, too?” Wolsey pressed. “The militants know how to use it. What’s wrong with us? . . . You are not going to find the answer by expecting the past to take care of the future. What are you doing to do about it today?” “It was easier before you came to work for me,” Wilkinson quipped. “But go ahead. See what you can come up with.” 136 Accordingly, a lengthy statement, entitled “Minorities, Civil Rights and BYU,” appeared as a full-page advertisement in the Seattle Times on March 30 and in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on March 31.137 “Black members of the Mormon Church do not object to” being excluded from priesthood office, the statement read. “The objection is raised by Blacks who are not members of [our] Church and who, therefore, would have no desire to hold the Mormon priesthood. It is therefore obvious that this doctrine does not discriminate either civilly or religiously against those who are questioning it.”138 New demonstrations at Washington failed to materialize that spring, and faculty tabled a motion to sever relations with BYU. A year later, Washington officially renewed contracts with BYU. 139 Clearly, for some BYU administrators, the confrontations functioned to mitigate their views of the protestors and possibly of the reasons for protesting. If the tide of protests seemed to be turning, the momentum had not entirely dissipated. Toward the end of April 1970, San Diego State’s student council voted to cancel its football game with BYU later that fall, then reversed itself when two-thirds of students supported the match.140 Next, the University of Hawaii’s black student union vowed to go to court to prevent BYU from participating in 1970’s Rainbow Basketball Classic. Hawaii students subsequently voted to permit the match but not schedule any future games. Hawaii’s president countered that his school “would continue to participate with Brigham Young University in athletic events, regardless of student opinions.” Additionally, members of the International Association of College Unions considered expelling LDS schools from the association, a proposal they eventually rejected. 141 In June 1970, BYU trustees decided that students should only be urged to date within their own race but not be forbidden to do otherwise.142 Three months later, LDS 136 Wolsey, “Confessions,” 64-65. “BYU Policy Ad Runs in Seattle Newspapers,” Daily Universe, March 31, 1970. 138 Ibid. 139 Collison, “The BSU Takes on BYU” and “The Fight to Legitimize Blackness: How Black Students Change the University” (PhD diss., University of Washington, 2008), 62–110. 140 “Students Vote to Cancel Grid Game with BYU,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 30, 1970; “San Diego State Council Reverses Vote on BYU,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 21, 1970. 141 “Attack BYU Pact,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 21, 1970; “Hawaii BSU Tries to Block Game,” Provo Daily Herald, May 21, 1970; Board of Trustees, Minutes, June 3, November 4, 1970, March 3, 1971, April 5, 1972, and attachments; Wolsey, “Confessions,” 86–90. 142 Board of Trustees, Minutes, June 3, 1970. 137 226 |
