DiscussMormonism.com

Hello all,

this is a cut and paste from Barak Ale(sp?) over on the MAD board. Food for thought if the topic below is valid.....



In a recent Interview (podcast) by Sunstones president John Dehlin with Doctor Ted Lion, after being reminded he was going on record Doctor Lion stated the following, quote:

"When most of the Children of the General Authorities went to the University of Utah rather than going to BYU. That's changed now. Children of General Authorities get Free Tuition at BYU and Automatic Entrance. And so Ah, most of them are coming here now. Did you know that? You don't have to even do well in High School and you can get into BYU if you are the Child of a General Authority" end quote.

The following quote and interview is avialable via podcast on John Dehlins "Mormon Stories".

Doctor Ted Lion, is the son of the renown Mormon scholar T. Edgar Lion. He has served as President of the Chile Mission, President of the Mission Training Centre in Chile he was also the personal spanish interpreter to Apostle Holland over a 3yrs while in Chile. He is currently serving as the Temple President of the Chile Santiago Temple.

I encourage a high degree of scrutiny of this post for any errors, as I am curious to know what the precise truth is in this matter. If anyone can contribute by either refuting or confirming this I am very interested. I recently e-mailed a large number of professors and faculty at BYU to inquire if this is indeed true, so far only a few have responded. BYU Admissions have so far been currently unavialable for comment. Five faculty members including four professors had no knowledge of the policy for granting free education to children of General Authorities. One Professor that was aware confirmed that it is true and that it extends to the Children of Mission Presidents and General Authorities and that as far as he is aware the policy has been in existence for over the last 20years at church run BYU.

One question I have is whether BYU is a tithing funded University? I would imagine if it is then some LDS that have applied to BYU and been knocked back may have mixed feelings about their tithing paying for the education of the Children of LDS General Authorities, while they may receive none even if they pay tithing or contribute to the perpetual education fund.

I would imagine if this policy exists then it would be kept extremely confidential. I find it hard to believe that such a policy exists as I would think many LDS would view it as anti-eggalitarian, ecclesiatical elitism and nepotism, and if it is true and does exist then it would give endless ammunition to the Anti-Mormon Community all over the world wide web. I am quite concerned we may not have an apologetic answer for this one.

Most schools give free tuition for children of faculty, board of directors, etc. Standard practice.

charity wrote:Most schools give free tuition for children of faculty, board of directors, etc. Standard practice.

Oh? So BYU faculty children get a free pass on tuition and waive entrance requirements too? WOW!

Most schools give free tuition for children of faculty, board of directors, etc. Standard practice.

And a bypass of standard admission requirements?

CFR.

charity wrote:Most schools give free tuition for children of faculty, board of directors, etc. Standard practice.

If I remember correctly, children of faculty get 1/2 tuition and spouses get free tuition. Or, it could be the other way around now that I think about it.

I have NO problem giving immediate family members of faculty tuition breaks. It's a perk of the job. The private school where my wife teaches gives faculty tuition breaks. This is very common practice.

GA's are employed by the owner of BYU, so it makes sense that they too get tuition breaks.

I do have a problem, however, of giving automatic admission, if this is in fact happening. But then universitities all over the place have preferential admission standards, and the world operates through good ol' boy networks. So in the grand scheme of things, this is pretty minor.

But since I don't pay tithing and do not intend to send any of my children to YBU (when you can be a clone), I really don't care all that much.

dartagnan wrote:

Most schools give free tuition for children of faculty, board of directors, etc. Standard practice.

And a bypass of standard admission requirements?

CFR.

The colleges and universities I have been associated with had such policies. My kids got free tuition because I was faculty. They would have met the standard admission requirements, but I don't know that was even looked at.

From the time I was a student at the Y, I have always thought, (known), that relatives of GAs and other high ranking leaders get free tuition and automatic acceptance to BYU. I knew a handful of children of GAs and this policy was not secret knowledge at all, If I recall correctly. In addition, about four years ago, I was talking to a young man who was applying for the Y and possibly not going to get in, he clearly stated that if he didn't get accepted his relative (If I recall correctly, grandfather), would be able to get him in since he was a GA.

One of my best friends is the daughter of a GA, I'll double check with her. Actually, isn't Liz related to an apolstle?

I'm surprised this policy seems to be shocking.

;-)

~dancer~

Since most of the GA's are pretty old, this doesn't seem like it's going to currently cost much.

Now if it covers children of the children, then that's a different story.

charity wrote:

dartagnan wrote:

Most schools give free tuition for children of faculty, board of directors, etc. Standard practice.

And a bypass of standard admission requirements?

CFR.

The colleges and universities I have been associated with had such policies. My kids got free tuition because I was faculty. They would have met the standard admission requirements, but I don't know that was even looked at.

So in other words, you cannot substantiate the notion that instant admissions is "standard" practice elsewhere.

I'm not talking about tuition breaks. I'm talking about automatic admission due to bloodline.

The Church has always been run like a corporation on every level and this, if true, would only put a final nail in the coffin of the counter-argument. Nepotism rules supreme and you see this everywhere, from MADB to the LDS Missions. My mission president told me point blank, that one Elder was made zone leader simply because his father was a mission president in another country. Nevermind the fact that this same Elder was caught swimming with a girl a month earlier, and dancing at a night club a week prior to that. It isn't what you know, it is who you know. Every evil of corporate America has resonated in the Church just the same. As J. Golden Kimball said, if his last name weren't Kimball, he never would have become a General Authority.

I agree with Guy. In fact, I have no problem whatsoever with it. It's a private school. It's funded by the gullible who pay 10% of their income to the church in hopes for a ticket to the Celestial Kingdom. The overall scam bugs me, of course, to see my family struggle when that extra 10% would help them. But in the end, whether the church feels the need to build another Dracula's castle, put up Nelson in a 5 star hotel, or send a GA's kid to BYU, it's their choice. Like an army of robots, the members sustain the GA's every year as, among other things, prophets, seers, and revelators. If a prophet -- who is infallible to the extent that if he were to do anything contrary to God's will he will be killed -- lets the practice continue, then who is anyone to question God?

The ones who really care are the ones who still sit on the fence and want to see change and fairness prevail. But fairness has prevailed, because fairness is dictated by the fiat of the Lord through his CEOs.