Kathy and her husband, Zach, take care to hide their coffee machine when friends come over. The Brigham Young University students have a vacuum cleaner that squirts Febreze to hide the scent, because if anyone outside of a select few finds out the couple has lost faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, their bishop might withdraw his ecclesiastical endorsement. Without it, they would be expelled. The university would initiate proceedings to terminate their campus jobs. If they were still single and lived in campus-affiliated housing, they would be swiftly evicted.
At Brigham Young University, the Provo, Utah-based Mormon superschool that boasts a network of satellite campuses, impressive national rankings, and educates many LDS members, students are free to enroll as members of any faith, or even of none. Mormons pay a discounted tuition, but all others attend at an annual tuition cost of just $10,000—not bad for a private school ranked 62nd among national universities by U.S. News and World Report. But students who were members of the Mormon Church at any point in their lives are not eligible to attend the university if they leave the faith.
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