A Message to BYU from Two Arab Students

Tala Alnasser and Sama Salah sat down with us to share their experiences at BYU and their feelings about Palestine…

A phone call from my mom:

“They prayed for you on the pulpit today.”

Huh?

“Well, really they prayed for me.”

What do you mean?

Sweating on a stationary bike, I

look over the pool, see out of nowhere,

You, on your knees, like you knelt facing me…

The Church is the same everywhere you go.

This mantra represents an idea that I once took great pride in. After all, Mormon scriptural canon is bursting at its seams with clear-cut commandments for sameness…

I recently came to a conclusion while driving through Nevada with some friends for the Thanksgiving break, which was that I think I hate Nevada. Maybe this is unfair to you, a reader with a deep and personal attachment to Nevada…

I once read a research article that entirely reframed my perception of human resilience. One of the findings that was wildly interesting to me is that there is a strong possibility that resilience can be linked to a specific genetic trait. What on earth does this have to do with anything?

A sticker-encrusted Nalgene, sweat-stained five panel, Synchilla, and Del Dia bag slung over a shoulder. It sounds like another language, but it’s just another BYU granola. Urban Dictionary opines, “Someone who is ‘granola’ tends to enjoy the outdoors, all while staying inside in their nice suburban middle-class white neighborhood…

Dust from unpaved road

Billows like fast-motion brown ground clouds

As Robert drives by.

Pickup truck,

Blue heeler in the back…

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States have a complicated relationship with the earth. A survey just released by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) showed that Latter-day Saints care less about climate change than almost all other religions…

A specter is haunting the left—the specter of cancellation. Naturally, hand-wringing and thinkpieces abound—is Gen Z a generation of puriteens? Is America too divided? Why can’t we just talk to each other anymore…

I am a queer, nonbinary Mormon at BYU. As I navigate this seemingly contradictory space, I am sure of one thing: this is who I am…

From soaking to durfing to NCMOs, there is no doubt that the dating scene at BYU is weird. Someone new to this culture could definitely…

While dating and relationships at BYU are generally unique experiences, the experience of women of color is even more nuanced. Racism, fetishization, and tokenization all play their part in leaving women of color at BYU out of this idealized, healthy dating scene.

According to the Bible, the first humans were created during the sixth creative period after the light was separated, the seas and mountains…

Parking in Provo may be a pain, but Provo student housing is the real racket. Too often, BYU students are overcharged, abused, and taken…

If you don’t fit the stereotypical BYU mold—straight, white, middle to upper-middle class, active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—you are subject to persecution for your enrollment. Students of color and queer students have reported time and time again that their institution makes them feel unwelcome…

When I first heard about the upcoming protests at BYU last spring over its recent assertion that LGBTQ relationships were still in violation of…

I'm frankly embarrassed by the number of conversations I’ve had with my parents over the last year that have ended with me crying…