This article was originally published in the Academia print issue of The Daily Utah Chronicle, originally in stands in October of 2024. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date.
Compared to the overall demographics of the state, the University of Utah has greater diversity, both in terms of religion and ethnicity.
A survey conducted by The Daily Utah Chronicle in 2019 found about 36% of students identified as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, compared to about 62% in the state overall. While 78.7% of Utah is white according to the 2020 census, 62.5% of undergraduate students were white in fall 2022 enrollment data.
This contrast in demographics has created perceptions of tension throughout the U’s history between the institution and the church. Paul Reeve, chair of Mormon studies at the U, described this tension in a 2023 @theU article.
“When you have what is perceived as perhaps a monolithic kind of faith group that tends to be, especially since the 1970s, politically conservative, while in contrast, those who work at the University of Utah tend to be more politically liberal, you are obviously setting up a scenario for potential tension,” Reeve said.
Founding of the U
Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized a board to establish the U in 1850, originally named the University of Deseret.
“[At the University of Utah] we wish to teach our children in the way they should go in truth, light and intelligence, literature, arts and sciences, and everything that will tend to exalt them to honor, virtue, knowledge and renown,” Brigham Young said, quoted in “The University of Utah: A History of Its First Hundred Years.”
“To accomplish so desirable an object, no pains, labor or expense within our power shall be withheld, and, through the blessings of our Heavenly Father, we shall procure the wisest and best instructors the world can produce,” Young said.
While the school disbanded due to lack of funds and feeder schools in 1852, it was reestablished in 1867. After decades of lobbying to become a state, losing the practice of polygamy and theocracy in the process, a state constitution established clear boundaries between religion and education.
Though the church no longer exercises direct influence on the U, there are ties that persist through legislation and finances.
Academic Freedom: The Kingsbury Incident
While the U now makes clear the protections of academic freedom for faculty and students, this was not always the case.
The most notable controversy occurred in 1915 when students and faculty challenged the actions of university president Joseph T. Kingsbury.
In 1914, valedictorian Milton Sevy criticized the Board of Regents and the Utah State Legislature for suppressing “’young, progressive’ students.” Kingsbury blamed faculty for encouraging the behavior and felt it risked the university’s legislative support.
In 1915, Kingsbury refused to renew four non-church affiliated faculty members’ contracts with no explanation, causing almost a third of university teaching staff to resign in protest.
In 1916, after protests and investigations from government organizations concluding that academic freedom had been violated, Kingsbury formally resigned. The newly-founded academic senate’s influence grew in the process, strengthening academic freedom.
According to Fred Esplin, former vice president for institutional advancement at the U, “The university [faculty] could not, would not, give into that pressure.”
The U did not have a non-church affiliated president until 1991. Most of the members of the Board of Regents (now the Board of Trustees), a government-appointed position, have been members of the church as well.
Political Conflicts
During the civil rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called out the church for staying silent amidst a nationwide uproar.
“The LDS Church refused to acknowledge civil rights as a moral issue but took a political stand on another moral issue — the liquor bill,” the Youth NAACP of Salt Lake City said, according to a Chronicle article published in 1965.
According to a digital exhibit from the Marriott Library, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not give Black people the priesthood from 1852-1978, meaning Black men could not hold leadership positions. In 1970, the Black population in Utah was 0.6%, and student representation at the U was about the same.
During the ‘70s, Black students and faculty advocated for “more Black students and teachers, Black history classes and less discrimination.” It was during this time that the Institute for the Study of Black Life and Culture was created.
As a public institution, the U is largely influenced by the state legislature, as they are in control of school finances. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, in 2021 Utah’s state legislature was around 86% LDS, while 60% of the state’s population identified as LDS.
In June 2024, H.B. 261 prompted the U to close several student resource centers on campus, despite the university’s stance on diversity and equal opportunity.
Utah house speaker Mike Schultz recently called for a 10% budget cut for Utah colleges. Previously, he criticized U faculty for expressing support for pro-Palestine protests at the U.
Finances
The U has received a large amount of donations since its opening, including from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. Among the names listed on the U’s website tracking “major gifts” to the university between 2019 and 2020 are various Eccles foundations, the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation and Kem C. Gardner.
One large donation was the Trax’s red line expansion, which was partially funded by the church. The red line’s south campus station is located next to the church’s Institute of Religion building.
In 2020, the Freedom From Religion Foundation criticized an announcement from Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall that those with tickets to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints General Conference in April would be able to ride the UTA for free.
“While expanding transit accessibility and affordability for Salt Lake City residents is an admirable endeavor, extending this benefit to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in order to facilitate their attendance at a church event shows favoritism to Mormons and excludes the nonreligious and members of all other religions,” the Freedom From Religion Foundation said in a statement.
Anti-Church Sentiment
In 2023, Patrick Mason, director of the religious studies program at Utah State University, shared ways in which faculty and students who are members of the church may face biases. These included being left out of social settings and having assumptions made about them, including that they are less rational due to their beliefs or that they all share the same ideology.
“Sometimes it’s less about explicit bias or prejudice toward a particular group, but rather an assumption that everybody within that group is the same,” Mason said. “You can’t just assume you know everything you need to know about a person or what they think just because they’re a member of a particular group.”
Esplin also emphasized that reality can often contradict generalizations.
“It is easy to generalize because [non-members] see what is happening in the law, despite it not being an accurate representation,” Esplin said.
This is supported by research on how the behaviors and beliefs of younger church members is changing. According to Jana Riess’ book “The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church,” 41% of millennial church members are Democrats and 46% are Republicans, a smaller gap than previous generations.
