BYU announces caffeinated beverages will be served on campus and at games

[Ygridiron4ever]

This fall when my wife and I took our son back to BYU, we made the obligatory run to target so he could get a couple cases of coke and mt dew to put under his bed at Heleman halls.

Glad to know that when he runs out he can now just head to the Cannon Center.

Oh, and this story made it on to the Washington DC local news, including a little history on the word of wisdom.

Hurricanes, earthquakes, North Korea, and caffeinated soda at BYU.

[blue42]

meh, I am a Pepsi guy. If they ever changed vendors I would be extremely happy

[BroncoBot]

Ha ha. This is hilarious. I honestly don't understand the excitement this has set off.

[nuk13]

I am wondering why this isn't in the lounge.

[BroncoBot]

I am wondering why this isn't in the lounge.

+1

[snoscythe]

There goes the stone-cold sober ranking....

[BoiseBYU]

I read that President Worthen was asked why the change and he said something like after having lost to UT 7 times he needed a stiffer drink to cope

[KingCoug]

I wonder if the day will come when there is beer on tap in the student cafeteria, a la Tulane.

I assume this is tongue on cheek as beer is obviously against the Word of Wisdom while caffeinated drinks aren't necessarily against it.

Not only are they not necessarily against the WoW, they definitely are not against the Word of Wisdom.

I drink them all the time, and they most certainly CAN be against the WOW. So can non-caffeinated drinks. Spirit vs Letter here folks. I don't think most of us even comprehend the money spend on diabetes and it's effects in the USA. I attribute the consequences to the amount of soda we drink (me included).

I don't get the big deal. I went to BYU and if I wanted caffeine, I drank it in the form of soda that I purchased off BYU campus. Did I need BYU's endorsement? Absolutely not. Does this really change anyone's view on cold caffeine beverages?

Now, if BYU replaces Jamba juice with a starbucks it'll raise my eyebrows.

final edit/hot take and I'm sure I'll take some heat here: if you're excited about caffeine drinks at BYU, you may have a word of wisdom problem...

Exactly. Hence the reason I said caffeinated drinks aren't necessarily against the Word of Wisdom. Not in and of themselves but, used to excess, they certainly are. At least on terms of the spirit of the law.

[SenorCougar]

i was asked by a nonLDS acquaintance years ago why I couldn't drink a cup of coffee? He then asked what coffee had that caffinated sodas didn't have. Was it the temperature of the caffine that caused the problem? Cold caffine ok,hot caffine prohibited He then asked if tabaco was prohibited, why was marijuana not specifically listed. Does that mean it is ok? Just an outsiders questions and points of view...

[Fido]

I'm excited about this change--though not because it justifies my level of consumption of caffeinated beverages. I have never bought the argument that was publicly presented as reasons for the absence of caffeinated beverages for purchase on campus that "there is just no demand for them". That always felt like a disingenuous statement to me. It runs in the same vein as justification for the dress and grooming standards as "this standard is what the students want". Many of these things came about in the 1960s--and while the grooming standards have eased in small ways, if you put up a booth in the middle of campus for a month and took a poll I'm not sure you would get much support for the clean-shaven, haircut measuring, clothes-style dictating dress and grooming standards. To me it is simply an effort to make BYU "different"--but I think it is already by being a religious school and the way it facilitates learning in a religious environment. I don't think you need to also make things superficially different by having such strict dress and grooming standards.

PS: Yes I attended BYU and agreed to abide those restrictions and generally did so with little issue except being turned away from a test or picking up my ID because I didn't shave daily (still don't by the way) or my hair was "touching my collar".