Provo, Utah Business Community Forms Blacklist Of Protesting Students

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


First, the Provo School District denied a venue to Brigham Young University students who wanted a place to hold an alternative commencement ceremony. The students, who did not want to attend the official ceremony with speaker Dick Cheney, had been promised space at a local high school, but then a memo suddenly appeared, telling all principals to deny use of their schools for the event. An anonymous member of the Provo School Board says that, in denying space to the students, the board is violating its own rental policy.

But that was just the beginning of the story. A local businesswoman has tipped off the students that their names are now also on a “do not hire” list circuated by local businesses. “Many businesses are noting the names involved,” she says.

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate