Special Report: Todd Hendricks and BYUSA
Posted by Ryan on April 5th, 2006
Todd Hendricks is at the center of a controversy on the BYU campus. It all started when Todd wrote a letter to the campus newspaper regarding student body elections at BYU and the role of BYUSA. Todd was gracious enough to answer some questions from Blogger of Jared. Below is the text of our email conversation:
Todd,
Unfortunately, I am an extremely lazy journalist, and as such did not study up too much on this latest controversy besides reading a couple news articles. I will however include links to information on the pertinent subjects.
To start, why/what are the students protesting?
I didn’t organize or orchestrate the protest. It seems the students want better, more accessible communication with administrators on campus. They want to speak out without having to fear repercusions.
In a nutshell, what was the problem your letter was addressing?
My letter addressed having greater transparency with student body elections at BYU.
Do you feel that much of the demonstrations are simply to support your isolated incident or is the free speech issue one that has been brewing at the “Y”? Any other examples of this?
The impression I received was that this incident was the one that motivated the protest. I’m not sure of other examples.
What has been the response from your colleagues regarding your letter and/or termination?
Many of my colleagues (especially outside the Department of Student Leadership) have offered support and thanked me for writing the letter. However, because they are worried about their own jobs at BYU (and BYU has changed its policy on firings as of March 20, making it easier to fire employees), these colleagues cannot go public or offer visible support.
Do you find any validity in the actions of the administration?
I can understand their perspective, but I disagree with their reasons and their actions. I am particularly hurt that much has been made of “other reasons” for my termination, when I have not yet been given information on those reasons. My employee file is glowing. My history of raises is steady. I haven’t broken the honor code or done anything illegal. I sense a lot of pressure on those who fired me to justify the firing, and I fear that pressure may have resulted in exaggerated reports of poor performance or insubordination, when those claims cannot be supported by anything that was documented (or even addressed with me) before the firing.
Are you pursuing any recourse (wrongful termination, violation of first amendment rights, etc…)?
I am trying the appeals process first. I have three opportunities to appeal, and we’re still in the middle of the first. I hope I don’t have to pursue wrongful termination or violation of first amendment rights.
If, by virtue of the uproar your termination has caused, BYU caved and offered you your job back, what would be your response and why?
Good question. I think I am a very good employee and work well with students. I would hope that BYU offered me my job back because of my past performance and not because of the controversy.
Anything else that journalism school would have taught me to ask you about?
I have been amazed at the overwhelming support of students, strangers, friends, and family. There have been offers of money, job leads, even baby formula, and words of apology, encouragement, and support.
I am thankful to my good wife who was supportive in not signing the settlement so we could tell the story.
Thanks for taking the time to speak with us Todd. We really appreciate it.
No problem. The Blogger of Jared has truly been an inspiration to me, I can’t imagine life without it. The integrity, aggressive journalism, tireless devotion to uncovering truth and dramatic scholarship is mind boggling. The Blogger of Jared… as a blog, one of a kind. As a team, one of the kindest… (golf clap)
Todd didn’t actually say that. But we’re sure he was thinking it.
This whole thing seems silly. Somebody getting fired over a suggestion of how to handle student body elections? It seems so strange. If there are other reasons for the firing Todd should definatly be told about them. If there are not valid reasons, I’m afraid somebody else should probably be fired.
Oh, and great job Ryan, especially the last paragraph or two. This was a nice pull, getting Todd on this timely issue.
Comment # 1 left by Eric on April 5th, 2006
I agree on the firing issue, in fact, that’s why I asked Todd if he could perhaps find some justification in all of it.
Seriously, the admin at BYU can’t be stupid enough to fire someone for voicing an opinion in a campus newspaper that would have been forgotten before it was used to wrap the fishies up. Either someone just didn’t have their head screwed on straight that day or there is more to the story here.
And I am loosely dismissing the idea of some conspiratorial corruption simply because at the end of the day, they are only student body elections!
Comment # 2 left by Ryan on April 5th, 2006
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Comment # 3 left by Wade on April 5th, 2006
there are a lot of people at BYU (administrators) who are wound up pretty tight.
I don’t know much about that. I don’t doubt that it’s true, what I am suspicious of, is some BYU admin reading Todd’s letter and thinking to themselves “What a jerk. I have an idea, I’ll fire him right after his opinion piece is released. That won’t raise any eyebrows.” At the very least they could have tried some type of constructive discharge.
I’ll be interested to see how the appeals process turns out. At some point the case will have to get past a bureaucrat and up to someone who has some common sense.
Unless, as I said before, there is more to the story than we are hearing.
I think you are right about the conspiracy thing, in fact, I was digging around on the internet and I found a document that sai—
**TRANSMISSION TERMINATED**
Comment # 4 left by Ryan on April 5th, 2006
Funny!!!
At the very least they could have tried some type of constructive discharge.
This is what I mean by being “wound up pretty tight”. A friend of mine, who is a graduate of BYU, tells a story about his experience there. Apparently some administrators forced him to change majors so he would graduate sooner than later. They told him he was “wasting Church funds” because he didn’t graduate after receiving a certain number of credits–he was aiming for a double major but cut off short.
Now, among other stories I’ve heard, it seems there are some BYU administrators who are loose cannons. I’m saying nothing about the school as a whole, I think it’s probably a pretty good thing for the Church and students. I’ve just heard some interesting things about some adiminstrators.
Agreed, it will be interesting to see if the controversy drums up some other stuff and if the firing was justified for other reasons.
Comment # 5 left by Wade on April 5th, 2006
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…the admin at BYU can’t be stupid enough to fire someone for voicing an opinion in a campus newspaper…
I think you may be surprised. I didn’t go to BYU (not smart enough). But this story actually correlates pretty well with what I’ve heard first-hand from some close friends. I get the impression there are a lot of people at BYU (administrators) who are wound up pretty tight.
I am loosely dismissing the idea of some conspiratorial corruption simply because at the end of the day, they are only student body elections!
I also think you may be surprised at how serious a lot of schools take student body elections. My undergraduate school (CSU) took it very seriously and the adminstrators kept a very close eye on who was pulling the strings. I think a lot of schools are concerned about student leadership that trys to actually have an influence over school policies.
Faculty don’t take too kindly to people who wish to expose or undermine their tactics in the ivory tower.
Comment # 6 left by Wade on April 5th, 2006
Thanks for posting that, Ryan.
Todd, you are a hero. I am very sorry that you are suffering for it. The people that fired you are damaging themselves a lot more than anything they can do to you.
I am also proud that some students at my Alma Mater act on their conscience.
Comment # 7 left by Hellmut on April 5th, 2006
I just find it funny that only about 100 people showed up. How many students are there? How many weren’t even BYU students? My guess is they are the same crowd (or kind of crowd) that show up to demonstrate everything on campus.
Frankly, I don’t think BYUSA should even be a paid position. I think BYU has the organization only because everyone else does. While a student I never heard about anything constructive they did or heard anyone care. My guess is that the incident won’t improve the BYUSA, but help its elimination.
Comment # 8 left by Jettboy on April 6th, 2006
I’ve been following this story very closely in the Daily Universe now that that fine periodical is easily accessible to me due to where I work, and I was wondering where one could see a copy of the original letter that was printed.
Also of the note that many of the protesters have taken to wearing T-shirts on campus with clever images like a mouth taped shut with BYUSA’s logo on the tape, or T-shirts that change the BYUSA logo to BYUSSR. Pretty clever.
The BYUSA elections have always been a circus it seems. When I attended BYU a candidate was disqualified over throwing a punch in an intramural game.
Also, I think what may have spurred Todd’s letter was the frontrunners getting disqualified for getting a sweet deal from a local copy store.
Todd? Care to comment?
Comment # 9 left by Brian G on April 6th, 2006
Todd,
If you are interested, I’d love to do a podcast interview with you on Mormon Stories Podcast (http://www.mormonstories.org). Please contact me if you are interested.
John
mormonstories@gmail.com
Comment # 10 left by mormonstories on April 7th, 2006
I’d love to see a paypal button so people could send Todd five or ten dollars to help him out.
Comment # 11 left by Stephen on April 7th, 2006