Science Groups Pull Brigham Young University Job Ads

Members of two geology societies voiced concerns about the school’s prohibition of same-sex relationships.

kerry grens
| 2 min read
brigham young university byu geology geophysics AGU GSA discrimination ideology

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The American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America have taken down a job ad from Brigham Young University that was posted on their websites. Members of the science organizations had raised concerns about the school’s conduct code—which states that “homosexual behavior is inappropriate”—as a violation of the societies’ own ethical standards, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“I don’t see why someone’s sexual preference should have any bearing on their employment,” Peter Martin, a graduate student at Caltech who helped to get the ad pulled, tells the Tribune.

The advertised position at Brigham Young University (BYU) was for a tenure-track geology faculty member. Martin noticed the ad, which included mention of BYU’s honor code, on the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) website. After looking up what the code entailed, Martin asked the society to pull it. When the AGU initially declined, Martin and others started ...

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  • kerry grens

    Kerry Grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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