PROVO, Utah (ABC4 News) – Students running the grassroots Restore Honor movement to change the way Brigham Young University’s Honor Code Office handles infractions said changes implemented by the office earlier this week are a step in the right direction, but more should be done.

Tuesday, Honor Code Office Director Kevin Utt announced procedural changes to how the office handles the investigations process when a student is turned in or self-reports about an infraction. Utt promised more transparency will be shown to students under investigation about the process of any probes that may occur, and students will be told at the beginning why the Honor Code Office is investigating them.

In addition, students will be told (barring any safety concerns) who turned them in.

Restore Honor’s spokesperson Riley Madrian, a senior at BYU, says the latter point will stop students from weaponizing the Honor Code against fellow students.

“It is encouraging students to live the Honor Code,” said Madrian. “If you’re just turning people in – that’s not encouraging. That’s punishing – and that doesn’t create the culture we are looking for.”

Restore Honor representatives said Thursday they hope to see changes with the extent that ecclesiastical leaders are involved in investigations. Currently, the Honor Code Office gives students under investigation the opportunity to waive their clergy-penitent privilege in order to understand the nature of infractions that may have already been confessed to a bishop.

“We want a conduct office that doesn’t interfere with the ecclesiastical process here at BYU,” said Madrian, who also pointed out that many universities have conduct offices that operate “secularly.”

Many students have complained about a “tattle” culture at BYU, where students may interpret a call to “encourage” other students to live the Honor Code as a pass to turn them in for infractions. BYU’s Honor Code restricts students from engaging in premarital sex, homosexual behavior, and drug and alcohol use. Restore Honor has asked the office to have a more standardized way of investigating infractions, rather than operating on a case-by-case basis. The group has also criticized the Honor Code Office for the way LGBTQ student infractions (that relate to their sexuality) are handled.

Madrian said the organization would like to see lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students treated the same way heterosexual and cisgender students are treated when they commit a sexual or gender-related Honor Code infraction.

In the future, Restore Honor also hopes the Honor Code Office will provide resources to students struggling with various issues.

Madrian said Restore Honor is not trying to change the rules of the Honor Code, though the group would like to be able to have more open dialogues with administrators about rules that may seem outdated to some students, including the school’s strict dress and grooming standards which prohibit beards for men and multiple ear-piercings for women.

Most of the rules in the school’s Honor Code are directly related to teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the school. Still, students would like the Honor Code to be more aligned with the church’s standards – meaning, if a student is eligible to enter the church’s many temples, they should be able to attend BYU.

Critics of the movement have said it has gone too far off message by allowing outsiders to voice their concerns.

“If you don’t like the Honor Code, go to a different school,” BYU student Dayson Demuni said during a Restore Honor-sponsored protest April 12.

At that rally, students chanted “Let gays date,” and held five minutes of silence for LGBTQ students they said are particularly affected by the way the school’s Honor Code is enforced.

“I think the fact that the community cares and that alumni care speaks to how much we love BYU,” said Madrian, who also urged all who participate in the movement to stay on message. “We would love to have their involvement in a constructive manner. We want people to be in line with that mission.”

Last month, Utt released a Q&A clarifying and defending the Honor Code Office against many of the criticisms. Madrian said Restore Honor and many students involved in the movement feel Utt’s latest statement represents a clearer commitment to change.

“They are acknowledging [that they are] willing to change,” said Madrian. “‘These are things that we see a problem with and we are here to change it. We are listening to you.'”

In 2016, the Honor Code Office came under fire for the way sexual assault cases were being handled. Now, an amnesty policy is in place for survivors of sexual assault, who are not punished for rules that may have been violated at the time of the assault, but who are now referred to the school’s Title IX office.

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