Seventh East Press

Last updated
Seventh East Press
7EP logo.svg
TypeIndependent student newspaper
FormatPrint
FoundedOctober 6, 1981 (1981-10-06)
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publicationApril 1, 1983 (1983-04-01)
Circulation 4,000

The Seventh East Press (7EP) was an American student newspaper at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah that published 29 issues from October 6, 1981, to April 1, 1983. Its peak was 4,000 copies. [1] The newspaper was banned from being sold on campus in February 1983 after publishing an interview with Sterling M. McMurrin, a former institute teacher of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who stated that he never literally believed in the Book of Mormon. Afterwards, the 7EP's sales notably decreased, and it ceased publication later that year. Several contributors had their faithfulness questioned by their local leadership at the request of LDS Church leader Mark E. Petersen.

Contents

History

7EP contributors 7EP contributors.png
7EP contributors

Ron Priddis and Anthony Schmitt, both graduate students at Brigham Young University, founded the Seventh East Press to give an "alternative voice" to BYU faculty and students. [2] Maxine Hanks and Gary Bergera were co-founding staff members, with Hanks writing the "Thrills" arts and entertainment feature and Bergera writing the "Grey Matters" column on theological issues. [3] Elbert Peck, the periodical's first managing editor, [4] said that he wanted to "help increase intellectual dialogue on campus". The students wanted the paper's design to appear conservative, in hopes that its articles could be "more daring". [5] Priddis, Schmitt, Hanks, and Peck produced the first issue of the 7EP on October 6, 1981. Peck cut and pasted columns, Schmitt designed the layout and advertisements, and Hanks typed and pasted copy. Schmitt and Hanks hand-lettered the headlines. [6] Their initial print run was 5,000 copies, and subsequent issues had a print run of 5,000 copies as well. [7] Tim Slover became managing editor beginning with the April 12, 1982, issue. [8] Scott Wooley, a University of Chicago law student, succeeded Slover as managing editor, and Dean Huffaker started managing production in the October 12, 1982, issue. [9] [10] Dean Huffaker became managing editor starting with the January 11, 1983, issue that sparked the publication's ban from being sold on campus. [11]

Notable articles and campus ban on sales

The 7EP wrote an article about an apartment complex near the BYU campus that required the ecclesiastical endorsement of its occupants. Afterwards, "with encouragement from the American Civil Liberties Union", the requirement was rescinded. [12] In her article "The LDS intellectual community and church leadership: A contemporary chronology", Lavina Fielding Anderson cites several Seventh East Press articles as influential in the dialogue between LDS intellectuals and general authorities in the LDS Church. One of these noteworthy publications was the November 18, 1981, address to the BYU student history association by D. Michael Quinn, responding to Church elder Boyd K. Packer's August 1981 address. Packer had advised Church Educational System employees that they should take a selective approach to history to avoid having it challenge faithful members. Quinn argued that such a history "border[ed] on idolatry" by presenting LDS leaders as flawless beings. Quinn's address was later reprinted in Faithful History. [13] Priddis's story on the Ernest Wilkinson spy ring was reprinted in Utah Holiday. [14] [15] The 7EP also covered controversial issues that were not as weighty, such as whether the faculty refrigerators in the Office of Research Administration were being used for lunches or specimens, and how two English professors received a very nice carpet in their offices that was usually reserved for deans. [12]

BYU students demonstrate the use of fictional "shoe mirrors" Shoe mirrors.png
BYU students demonstrate the use of fictional "shoe mirrors"
Illustration of a shoe mirror Shoe mirror illustration.png
Illustration of a shoe mirror

In an interview published in the January 11, 1983, issue, Sterling M. McMurrin stated that he did not believe that the Book of Mormon was "authentic", even though he was an institute teacher more than 20 years before the interview. McMurrin said that elements of heresy, or unorthodox beliefs, were present in "virtually all of the orthodox". [16] Subsequently, on February 11, 1983, the university's public communications director, Paul Richards, told 7EP editor Dean Huffaker that BYU would no longer sell the paper at the campus bookstore or newsstands. [17] [2] There was a rumor that Ezra Taft Benson, then leader of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, believed that the paper should not be sold on campus. [12] Maxine Hanks stated that he was particularly upset by the articles on homosexuality at BYU, the article on the Church's Office of the Patriarch, and the McMurrin interview. [18] 7EP managing editor Dean Huffaker stated that he thought the ban "had to do more with the personality [of McMurrin] than what we said". [19] In response to the campus ban, the managing editor of The Denver Post , Tim Kelly, canceled a scheduled lecture to the Society of Professional Journalists at BYU. He later stated that the ban was not illegal, but that it was unethical. [20] In response to the campus ban on sales of the 7EP, Nelson Wadsworth, an assistant professor of journalism, left BYU for Utah State University. [12]

The 7EP created a parody issue of The Daily Universe , BYU's official student newspaper, as an April Fools' Day joke. One column, in a satire of their own campus ban, discussed the banning of a fictional "shoe-mirror" that men could use to look up women's skirts. [21] The fictional interview with standards officer Carmichael Whitaker stated that it was not a violation of the First Amendment to stop selling shoe mirrors on campus, since they did not actually destroy any shoe mirrors. [21] Another satirical headline proclaimed: "No Censorship at BYU: Everything OK". [22]

Finances

The newspaper had financial difficulties. Priddis sold his car for $1700 to fund the paper, and most contributors were volunteers. [2] The Universe accused the 7EP of stealing their advertising. When an advertiser asked the 7EP to use the same advertisement they used in The Universe, the 7EP cut out the advertisement from the newspaper and reproduced it rather than paying The Universe for a photographic copy of it. Advertising revenue was not sufficient to pay for the newspaper's costs, and all but two issues were printed at a loss. [1] [5] The 7EP received donations from more than 200 BYU professors and alumni. [5] Their usual revenue from sales was about $500 per issue. [23] The price of a copy was raised from 10 cents [24] to 25 cents from issue 9. [25]

The newspaper's articles about controversial topics damaged relationships with advertisers. LDS-owned Deseret Industries stopped advertising with the paper after its two-part series on homosexuality. The BYU Bookstore likewise pulled their advertisement after a "Campus Chatter" item about the discount Bookstore board members received from the store. Gary Bergera's "Grey Matters" column, which examined controversial theological subjects, was unpopular with advertisers, but popular with readers. [5] After BYU Studies requested that their interns not write for the 7EP, Bergera stopped writing "Grey Matters". Scott Dunn was also an intern at BYU Studies, and continued writing for the 7EP under the pseudonym Dick Townsend. [26] Dunn helped the press with technical materials like a transcription machine and a photo-enlarger. [5] After the paper was banned from being sold on campus, the 7EP lost 40 percent of its revenue. [1]

Church investigations

Brent Metcalfe, a security guard at the Church Office Building, was questioned about his writing for the 7EP and Sunstone. Metcalfe stated that he was "forced to resign" from his job in April 1983. An anonymous source reported that Roy Doxey, then the director of church correlation, wanted to know about the papers Metcalfe was studying at the Church Historical Library, which were on Elias Smith and others. Doxey denied asking about Metcalfe. Metcalfe believed that his firing was because of a few people in church leadership who perceived him as a threat, even though he viewed his own work as apologetic and not scholarly. [27] [28] According to Anderson, Mark E. Petersen ordered investigations into vocal progressive members, including Gary Bergera, a contributor to the 7EP. His stake president asked him specifically about his interview with Gerald and Sandra Tanner and a piece he wrote on an anti-Mormon conference for Sunstone Review. [29] [30] Hanks was released from her calling teaching classes on Sundays in the Missionary Training Center. Anderson reported that Hanks's supervisor denied that her release was because of her writing at the 7EP, suggesting that it occurred because she was "perhaps a little too intelligent for the elders". [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BYU Jerusalem Center</span> Middle East site for Brigham Young University, East Jerusalem

The Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, situated on Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, is a satellite campus of Brigham Young University (BYU), the largest religious university in the United States. Owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the center provides a curriculum that focuses on Old and New Testament, ancient and modern Near Eastern studies, and language. Classroom study is built around field trips that cover the Holy Land, and the program is open to qualifying full-time undergraduate students at either BYU, BYU-Idaho, or BYU-Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey R. Holland</span> American educator and religious leader (born 1940)

Jeffrey Roy Holland is an American educator and religious leader. He served as the ninth President of Brigham Young University (BYU) and is the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Holland is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Currently, he is the third most senior apostle in the church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard R. Lyman</span> American religious leader (1870-1963)

Richard Roswell Lyman was an American engineer and religious leader who was an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1918 to 1943.

The Universe is the official student newspaper for Brigham Young University (BYU) and was started in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest L. Wilkinson</span> President of Brigham Young University from 1951 to 1971

Ernest Leroy Wilkinson was an American academic administrator, lawyer, and prominent figure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was president of Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1951 to 1971, simultaneously overseeing the entire LDS Church Educational System (CES). He is credited with the expansion of BYU. Under his presidency, the student body increased six times to over 25,000 students due to the university's physical growth and his aggressive recruiting policies; the number of colleges at the university increased from five to thirteen, and the number of faculty members increased four-fold. Wilkinson focused on recruiting more faculty and convincing current faculty to receive education outside the university. As a result, the number of teachers with doctorate degrees increased from 50 to 500. Associate and doctoral programs were created for BYU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard S. McDonald</span> American educator and college administrator

Howard Stevenson McDonald was an American university administrator, and president of Brigham Young University and California State University, Los Angeles.

The Church Educational System (CES) Honor Code is a set of standards by which students and faculty attending a school owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are required to live. The most widely known university that is part of the Church Educational System (CES) that has adopted the honor code is Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. The standards are largely derived from codes of conduct of the LDS Church, and were not put into written form until the 1940s. Since then, they have undergone several changes. The CES Honor Code also applies for students attending BYU's sister schools Brigham Young University–Idaho, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, and LDS Business College.

Student life at Brigham Young University is heavily influenced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The school is privately owned by the church and aims to create an atmosphere in which secular and religious principles are taught in the same classroom.

Brigham Young University Press was the university press of Brigham Young University (BYU).

Richard Douglas Poll was an American historian, academic, author and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His liberal religiosity influenced his notable metaphor about "Iron Rod" vs. "Liahona" LDS Church members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Henry Chamberlin (philosopher)</span> American Mormon theologian (1870–1921)

William Henry Chamberlin Jr. was an American Mormon philosopher, theologian, and educator. His teachings and writings worked to reconcile Mormonism with the theory of evolution. He taught philosophy and ancient languages as well as science and math at several Latter-day Saints (LDS) institutions including Brigham Young University in the early 20th century. He was one of four educators at Brigham Young University whose teaching of evolution and attempts to reconcile it with Mormon thought, although strongly popular with students, generated controversy among university officials and the LDS community. Chamberlin has been called "Mormonism's first professionally trained philosopher and theologian."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1911 Brigham Young University modernism controversy</span>

The 1911 modernism controversy at Brigham Young University was an episode involving four professors at Brigham Young University (BYU), who between 1908 and 1911 widely taught evolution and higher criticism of the Bible, arguing that modern scientific thought was compatible with Christian and Mormon theology. The professors were popular among students and the community but their teachings concerned administrators, and drew complaints from stake presidents, eventually resulting in the resignation of all four faculty members, an event that "leveled a serious blow to the academic reputation of Brigham Young University—one from which the Mormon school did not fully recover until successive presidential administrations."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Understanding Sexuality, Gender, and Allyship</span>

USGA is an organization for LGBT Brigham Young University students and their allies. It began meeting on BYU campus in 2010 to discuss issues relating to homosexuality and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, by December 2012, USGA began meeting off campus at the Provo City Library and is still banned from meeting on campus as of 2018. BYU campus currently offers no official LGBT-specific resources as of 2016. The group maintains political neutrality and upholds BYU's Honor Code. It also asks all participants to be respectful of BYU and the LDS Church. The group received national attention when it released its 2012 "It Gets Better" video. The group also released a suicide prevention message in 2013. A sister organization USGA Rexburg serves the LGBT Brigham Young University–Idaho student community in Rexburg, Idaho.

Students identifying as LGBTQIA+ have a long, documented history at Brigham Young University (BYU), and have experienced a range of treatment by other students and school administrators over the decades. Large surveys of over 7,000 BYU students in 2020 and 2017 found that over 13% had marked their sexual orientation as something other than "strictly heterosexual", while the other survey showed that .2% had reported their gender identity as transgender or something other than cisgender male or female. BYU is the largest religious university in North America and is the flagship institution of the educational system of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —Mormonism's largest denomination.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1960s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1970s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.

<i>Nothing Very Important and Other Stories</i> Stories about Mormon missionaries

Nothing Very Important and Other Stories is a collection of interconnected short stories written by Béla Petsco and self-published in 1979 with illustrations by his friend Kathryn Clark-Spencer. The stories are about missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints working in Southern California. Signature Books reprinted the book in 1984 under their Orion imprint. Petsco wrote the stories for his master's thesis at Brigham Young University (BYU). The book won the 1979 Association for Mormon Letters award for short fiction. The stories were adapted for theater and performed in 1983, but without BYU's endorsement.

Béla Petsco was an American writer who was the author of Nothing Very Important and Other Stories, a collection of connected stories about missionary work in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born to Hungarian immigrants and grew up in Queens in New York City. He converted to the LDS Church after watching the film Brigham Young. He served an LDS mission in the California South mission.

Brent Lee Metcalfe is an independent researcher and writer of the Latter Day Saint Movement.

Below is a timeline of major events, media, and people at the intersection of LGBT topics and Brigham Young University (BYU). BYU is the largest university of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before 1959 there was little explicit mention of homosexuality by BYU administration.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bergera, Gary James; Priddis, Ronald (1985). "Chapter 3: A Brief History of The Universe, BYU's Student Newspaper". Brigham Young University: A House of Faith. Signature Books. ISBN   0941214346.
  2. 1 2 3 Chad Orton (1984). " Seventh East Press collection ". Prepared for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections , Provo, Utah. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  3. ↑ Hanks 2001, 1:06:27-35; 10:20; 14:20.
  4. ↑ "Seventh East Press credits". Seventh East Press. October 28, 1981. p. 6.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "7EP Revelations: Staff Tells History". August 24, 1982. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  6. ↑ Hanks 2001, audio text description; 10:28.
  7. ↑ Hanks 2001, 16:58-17:20.
  8. ↑ "Seventh East Press credits". Seventh East Press. April 12, 1982. p. 8.
  9. ↑ Hanks 2001, 46:50.
  10. ↑ "Staff". Seventh East Press. October 12, 1982. p. 12.
  11. ↑ Hanks 2001, 50:28.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Bergera, Gary James; Priddis, Ronald (1985). "Chapter 6: Student Government, Social Clubs, Newspapers". Brigham Young University: A House of Faith. Signature Books. ISBN   0941214346.
  13. ↑ Anderson 1993, pp. 17–18.
  14. ↑ Hanks 2001, 36:03.
  15. ↑ Priddis, Ron (14 March 1982). "BYU Spy Case Unshelved". Seventh East Press.
  16. ↑ Ostler 1983, p. 6.
  17. ↑ Anderson 1993, pp. 19–20.
  18. ↑ Hanks 2001, 1:02:50.
  19. ↑ Phippen, Carri (February 10, 1983). "Officials question content: Seventh East Press banned". The Daily Universe. Brigham Young University. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  20. ↑ Warner, Cecelia (March 8, 1983). "Will the Ban Roll On? A Biased View of a Controversial Subject". 7th East Press. p. 6. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  21. 1 2 "Shoe-mirrors banned". The Seventh East Press Parody of The Daily Universe. Seventh East Press. April 1, 1983.
  22. ↑ "No censorship at BYU: Everything OK". The Seventh East Parody of The Daily Universe. April 1, 1983. p. 2.
  23. ↑ Hanks 2001, 29:42.
  24. ↑ "Seventh East Press price". Seventh East Press. 15 December 1981. p. 1.
  25. ↑ Hanks 2001, 30:38.
  26. ↑ Hanks 2001, 28:08.
  27. ↑ Anderson 1993, p. 20.
  28. ↑ "Mormon says he was fired for newspaper articles". The Sun-Advocate (Price, Utah). August 24, 1983. p. 7A.
  29. ↑ Anderson 1993, p. 22.
  30. ↑ Tracy, Dawn (May 22, 1983). "Membership in Jeapordy (sic): LDS Bishops Want 'Faith-Promoting' Articles". The Daily Herald. p. 3.
  31. ↑ Anderson 1993, pp. 21–22.

Works cited

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.