PROVO, Utah (ABC4) – Rise and shout, the Cougars are out – of a longstanding obligation to reside in only campus dorms or university-approved housing.
The announcement was made in a letter to students on Thursday that highlighted ‘significant changes’ to Brigham Young University’s (BYU) student housing program which would go into effect in Fall 2022.
According to the letter, all single undergraduate students are still required to live in either on-campus housing, an off-campus housing situation that has been contracted by the school, or with a qualifying family member. However, once two semesters have been completed by the student, they still then be able to live anywhere they choose.
The original housing program policy was believed to be a mechanism to encourage students to follow the Honor Code by living in housing both on and off-campus, where landlords and tenants would report violators of the Code to the university.
When the new guidelines go into place next year, it will be a heavy relaxation of this policy, although students will still be obligated to comply with the Honor Code, which prohibits drinking, drug use, and sex outside of marriage. The Honor Code is a written set of standards that are agreed upon by each student upon matriculation to the school.
The letter continues to state that students who are single and living in contracted housing and then get married will have provisions to break their lease, but that ability was already in place prior to Thursday’s announcement.
BYU is a private university owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as such, encourages and requires students to live by the standards of the Church, whether they are a member or not.