Rights belong
to all involved
Students’ rights are important at a university,
but when should a student’s individual morals be
allowed to alter class requirements?
This is the issue in a case the 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals will hear on Tuesday. Former University of Utah
drama student Christina Axson-Flynn filed a lawsuit against
the university after she said she was asked to abandon
her religious beliefs as part of the requirements for
her theatre major.
She accused the university of being anti-Mormon and said
she was forced out of the program because she refused
to swear in dramatic roles.
We applaud Axson-Flynn for standing by her beliefs, but
we don’t believe she has the right to change someone
else’s expression because of her values. She is
free to express what she wants when she wants but the
playwrights of the pieces she performed have the same
right. Just as she wants her beliefs and standards to
be honored at the university, we believe she should honor
the beliefs and expression of the playwright.
We question if any right was taken from Axson-Flynn. The
Salt Lake Tribune reported Axson-Flynn’s lawyers
are debating religious discrimination. They say a Jewish
student was allowed to miss Saturday performances for
the Jewish sabbath, but she was required to say words
she objected to. We believe the difference between the
two was not the religions, but who the modification would
impact. The Jewish student missing Saturday performances
does not infringe on anyones rights to free expression,
but changing words in a work of art does.
Axson-Flynn chose to study theatre, and she chose to attend
the University of Utah. Certain majors and professions
require the performance of actions that may be objectional
to some people.
If a student absolutely refuses to perform these actions,
he or she should consider choosing a different area of
study.
There are several departments at SUU that require contact
with potentially objectional material.
In the English, theatre and art departments, potentially
objectionable material is often encountered. Kay Cook,
associate professor of English, told the Journal students
in the English Department have found some required material
offensive, and the department has a policy that sometimes
Smith Center. Visitors are welcome.allows accommodations
for these students. She said, as a
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playwright herself, she wouldn’t want to see her
work altered on stage.
“Words are powerful,” Cook said. “You
don’t ever fool around with someone else’s play
without permission.”
We agree with Cook. We think students have every right to
stand up for their beliefs whether they be religious, moral,
political or of any other view point. We simply ask that
they allow the rights of others to remain unaltered as well.
Almost every department on campus has something some students
might object to doing, and students must weigh their beliefs
against their desired majors. If a student refuses to dissect
a frog, perhaps biology is not an appropriate major for
that student. If a student cannot cover both sides of an
issue such as abortion in good conscience, perhaps journalism
would not be a good choice for that student.
If the professor and the department will allow modification
of class or degree requirments in the case of objectable
material, we encourage students to take these options. Otherwise,
we encourage students to look at their majors, professions
and beliefs carefully before commiting to a university or
program.
We think each individual should have the right to choose
what they will and will not do, but to take away another’s
rights in order to protect their own is not acceptable.
The opinion expressed above is the collective perspective
of the University Journal’s editorial board. The editorial
board meets every Monday at 1 p.m. in Room 172 of the Sharwan
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