The BYU Daily Universe (DU) has published a couple of recent articles propping up the left-wing BYU Antiracism campus group. Another was published about club leadership in the BYU Arab Student Association (ASA) that defended the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel and the DU was sent evidence of this beforehand.
The Antiracism Club
A few weeks ago, the Cougar Chronicle wrote a piece on the BYU Antiracism Club plans as a club to write letters to Utah representatives in opposition of HB 257– a bill that would designate public restrooms to be based on biological sex and make provisions for unisex bathrooms – as well as SB 283, a bill prohibiting discriminatory practices in public institutions with DEI.
This event would have taken place on campus and in opposition to the BYSUA handbook which prohibits political activism in non-political club organizations. The Antiracism club is considered to be a “social” club within the BYUSA organization.
After the publishing of this report, the Antiracism club then took down their post announcing the event and the unofficial USGA club at BYU posted on its Instagram story, “Unfortunately, BYU Antiracism’s event tonight had to be canceled. Please come tomorrow night to write those letters and make your voices heard!”
A few weeks later, the Daily Universe penned an article that promoted the idea that the club is not political and cited the BYUSA club handbook policy that the Chronicle used in its last report that official BYUSA clubs cannot “promote a specific political agenda” or engage in activism.
The secretary of the club, Scott Sawaya, was interviewed for the article. He told the DU, “A lot of what we do doesn’t strike directly at politics. It’s more directed towards the principles that might inspire someone’s political leanings.”
A letter signing event happened the next week, but it was the BYU Democrats (a club that is officially politically affiliated) took up the torch instead, and quoted the Chronicle’s update, writing, “UPDATE: we rescheduled it.”
Club officers still insisted in the DU that the club is not political even though the politically affiliated BYU Democrats held the event that was originally planned for the Antiracism club.
Sawaya added in his interview with the DU, “We try to be kind and increase kindness on campus, and that’s not a partisan issue, that’s not a political issue.”
The DU published it with the headline, “BYU Anti-Racism Club dedicated to equality, kindness for all students.” This is despite the figure who popularized the term “antiracism” is Ibram X. Kendi.
Kendi has advocated for equality of economic outcomes through “antiracist discrimination,” “present discrimination,” and “future discrimination” among racial groups. He has written that he thinks unequal outcomes “MUST be the result of discrimination” and has said to remedy this through the formerly mentioned forms of discrimination.
[READ: BYU Classes Teach Ibram Kendi While he has Called Religious Missionary Work Racist]
The DU Was Given a Memo with Evidence a Club Leader Supported the Oct. 7 Terrorist Attacks, the Outlet Still Propped up the Leader’s Work in the “Office of Belonging”
Early Nov. 2023, the Cougar Chronicle published a piece on the supportive comments made by a student towards the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7. This was a BYU student and an Arab Student Association (ASA) club leader who was kept anonymous at the time and her name will not be mentioned in this article.
[READ: Official Arab BYU Club Leadership Posts Warm Comments for Hamas Terror Attack]
After being sent all evidence about the student’s support of the attacks against the Jewish people in Israel, the DU published a piece in January about how the student “contribute[s] to the Office of Belonging.”
Screenshots of comments from the club leader were CCed to the DU in an email on Oct. 29, 2023, because the BYU student newspaper had earlier made a piece about the ASA. The student wrote online the day of the attacks that terms and phrases like “militants” and “attack on Israel” used in western media were “buzzwords … meant to misdirect and mislead” people about the war.
The student also shared posts calling the attacks a “historic counteroffensive” against Israel as well as a post announcing a demonstration in support of the attacks the next day where the ASA club leader and others attended.
The puff piece from the DU begins with, “At the heart of BYU, where most students subscribe to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, [the student seeks] to foster belonging among students of all faiths.” The piece from the DU reported on two individuals, only one of them made the explicitly supportive comments about the Oct. 7 terror attacks online to the Chronicle’s knowledge.
The Daily Universe and others were reached out to for comment on Feb. 18 by the Cougar Chronicle. We have yet to receive a response and will update as necessary.
Written by: Thomas Stevenson
News Editor at The Post Millennial, EIC Emeritus and Co-founder of the Cougar Chronicle.
The Cougar Chronicle is an independent student-run newspaper and is not affiliated with Brigham Young University or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
