Interview with U President Young
I spent part of the day up at the Hinckley Institute taking advantage of the Hinckley Forum “Religious Freedom and Human Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy", The Guest was President Michael Young, President, University of Utah. He was talking about the problems with Religious restrictions and human rights problems in countries that the United States and other Western countries have monetary, strategic, or energy trade agreements. This was the first time I had any interaction with President Young and I came away very impressed. The University of Utah was truly blessed to snatch this find from GW Law School. The mp3 stream should be available on KUER FM90 podcast later this week at http://www.kuer.org/2005Hinckley.html .
After speaking on the subject for nearly 30 minutes he opened up the session which was filled with Political Science students and members of the media including myself. One of the first questions asked was “What can the US and the other Western countries do to stop this” and President Young’s response was very non political, and straight from the hip “nothing really”. He said trade sanctions don’t work, and the UN is a mess that need’s total reorganization, and for all practical purposes most of these countries would simply sell their goods to other middle man countries that would simply repackage and resell to those countries that were embargoing in the first place. How refreshing to get an honest answer for a change. I wish our elected Federal officials could be more forthright when asked direct questions on issues of Immigration, national security, and the war against terror in Iraq and elsewhere in the world.
After his talk I spoke with him privately for about 20-30 minutes. I asked him about such subjects as the accreditation inquiry at BYU, and the involvement of Law School Professors in the Legacy Lawsuit. He indicated that BYU has nothing to worry about as this issue is settled Law. Concerning the Law School Professors, he supported their actions in as much as any citizen can become active in an issue that concerns them. He said as long as University staff or equipment is not used, any Professor should be able to be involved outside of the classroom. He also mentioned that there have been about 65 briefs submitted from the U Law Professors to assist the State in Legal battles.
I asked if he was concerned that the Law School had fallen out of the top tier of School’s in the US and now currently ranks 57th. He indicated that the rankings will be one of new dean, Hiram Chodosh’s top priorities.
In conclusion I found President Young to be very engaging and without puffery. His credentials speak for themselves, and his knowledge of Asian culture is remarkable. But the best thing I can say about him is character. Never did I get that feeling during his presentation, or when taking questions from the students, or even from this reporter that he felt superior in intellect.
I will conclude by saying the U got the deal of a lifetime, I just hope he can patch some of the animosity with the Legislature, and move the University forward to great things.
2 comments:
Very good post..... Go Utes! Where is BYU's Law School rated?
I have known Mike since we were missionaries studying Japanese together in Hawaii and have followed his career from afar. I had a chance to visit with him when he was dean at George Washington Law School and I, an alumnus, was visiting one of my old friends from the Air Force who was teaching there. He has always had a sense of proportion and sense of humor about life, which is at the base of his honest answer about what the Us can "do" about denial of religious freedom in other countries. Of course, he was being typically modest about it. While it is impossible to compel other governments to modify their policies, he has been active in persuading them to rethink their practices, both by meeting with them to express the viewpoint of the US commission he headed and by speaking in public about the plight of people denied freedom by their governments. While I was in his office, he was called for comments on a news story about a man being confined in China over his religious beliefs. Mike has also participated in meetings convened by the LDS Church at BYU in which Mike and other LDS scholars have discussed religious freedom with invited guests from foreign governments. The contacts have brought people from governments friendly to the LDS Church together with those who are skeptical, and has ameliorated much of the hostility toward LDS missionaries and members. So while there is no coercive solution, there is a persuasive one, and Mike has been in the forefront of that.
The University of Utah Law School (of which I am also an alumnus) has lost many nationally prominent scholars over the last decade, professors who taught my class of 1978 and have now graduated to the big Faculty Lounge in the Sky. Hiram Chodosh is an expert in international law, and I believe that, with Mike's international experience backing him up, they can give the U Law School a prominence in international law comparable to its developed role in natural resources, environmental and public lands law.
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