Seventh East Press

Seventh East Press

Type	Independent student newspaper
Format	Print
Founded	1981
Language	English
Ceased publication	1983
Circulation	4,000
Website	Seventh East Press

The Seventh East Press (7EP) was an independent student newspaper published in 29 issues at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1981-1983. Their peak circulation was 4,000.^[1] The newspaper was banned from being sold on BYU campus in February 1983 after publishing an interview with Sterling M. McMurrin, a former church institute teacher who stated that he never literally believed in the Book of Mormon. Afterwards, 7EP's sales were notably lower, and the publication went under. Several contributors were questioned about their faithfulness by their local leadership at the request of Mark E. Peterson.

History[]

7EP contributors

Ron Priddis and Anthony Schmitt, both graduate students, founded The Seventh East Press to give an "alternative voice" to BYU faculty and students.^[2] Maxine Hanks and Gary Bergera were co-founding staff members, with Hanks writing the "Thrills" arts and entertainment feature and Bergera writing a "Grey Matters" column on theological issues.^[3] Elbert Peck, the periodical's first managing editor,^[4] said that he wanted to "help increase intellectual dialogue on campus." The students wanted the paper's design to appear conservative, in hopes that its articles could be "more daring."^[5] Priddis, Schmitt, Hanks, and Peck produced the first issue of the 7EP. Peck cut and pasted columns, Schmitt designed layout and ads, and Hanks typed and pasted copy. Schmitt and Hanks hand-lettered the headlines.^[6] Their initial print run was 5,000 copies, and subsequent issues had a print run of 5,000 copies as well.^[7] Tim Slover became managing editor starting in the 12 April 1982 issue.^[8] Scott Wooley, a University of Chicago law student, succeeded Slover as managing editor and Dean Huffaker started managing production starting in the 12 October 1982 issue.^[9][10] Dean Huffaker became managing editor starting with the 11 January 1983 issue that sparked the publication's ban from being sold on BYU campus.^[11]

Notable articles and campus ban on sales[]

7EP wrote an article about an apartment complex near campus that required ecclesiastical endorsement of its occupants. Afterwards, "with encouragement from the American Civil Liberties Union," the requirement was rescinded.^[12] In her article "The LDS intellectual community and church leadership: A contemporary chronology", Lavina Fielding Anderson cites several Seventh East Press articles as influential in the dialogue between LDS intellectuals and general authorities in the LDS Church. One of these noteworthy publications was the November 18, 1981 address to the BYU student history association by D. Michael Quinn, responding to Elder Packer's August 1981 address. Elder Packer advised CES employees that they should take a selective approach to history to avoid having it challenge faithful members. Quinn argued that such a history "border[ed] on idolatry" by presenting LDS leaders as flawless beings. Quinn's address was later reprinted in Faithful History.^[13] Priddis's story on the Ernest Wilkinson spy ring was reprinted in Utah Holiday.^[14][15] 7EP also covered controversial issues that were not as weighty, such as whether the faculty refrigerators in the Office of Research Administration were being used for lunches or specimens, and how two English professors received a very nice carpet in their offices that was usually reserved for deans.^[12]

In the January 11, 1983 issue, Sterling M. McMurrin stated that he did not believe that The Book of Mormon was "authentic", even while he was an institute teacher over 20 years before the interview. McMurrin said that elements of heresy, or unorthodox beliefs, were present in "virtually all of the orthodox."^[16] Subsequently, on February 11, 1983, the BYU Public Communications director, Paul Richards, told the Seven East Press editor Dean Huffaker that BYU would no longer sell the paper at the campus bookstore or newsstands.^[17][2] The rumor at the time was that Ezra Taft Benson, then leader of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, believed that the paper should not be sold on-campus.^[12] Maxine Hanks stated that he was particularly upset by the articles on homosexuality at BYU, the article on the Church's Office of the Patriarch, and the McMurrin interview.^[18] 7EP managing editor Dean Huffaker stated that he thought the ban "had to do more with the personality [of McMurrin] than what we said."^[19] In response to the campus ban, the managing editor of the Denver Post, Tim Kelly, cancelled a scheduled lecture to the Society of Professional Journalists at BYU. He later stated that the ban was not illegal, but that it was unethical.^[20] In response to the campus ban on sales of 7EP, Nelson Wadsworth, an assistant professor of journalism, left BYU for Utah State University.^[12]

BYU students demonstrate the use of fictional "shoe mirrors"

Illustration of a shoe mirror

The 7EP created a parody issue of The Daily Universe as an April fool's day joke. One column, in a satire of their own campus ban, discussed the banning of a fictional "shoe-mirror" that men could use to look up women's skirts.^[21] The fictional interview with standards officer Carmichael Whitaker stated that it was not a violation of the first amendment to stop selling shoe mirrors on-campus, since they did not actually destroy any shoe mirrors.^[21] Another satirical headline proclaimed "No censorship at BYU: Everything OK."^[22]

Finances[]

The paper had financial difficulties. Priddis sold his car for $1700 to fund the paper, and most contributors were volunteers.^[2] The Universe accused 7EP of stealing their advertising. When an advertiser asked 7EP to use the same advertisement they used in the Universe, 7EP cut out the ad from the newspaper and reproduced it rather than paying the Universe for a photographic copy of the ad. Ad revenue was not sufficient to pay for the newspaper's costs, and all but two issues were printed at a loss.^[1][5] 7EP received donations from over 200 BYU professors and alumni.^[5] Their usual revenue from sales was about $500 per issue.^[23] The cost of an issue was raised to from ten cents^[24] to twenty-five cents in issue number nine.^[25]

The newspaper's articles about controversial topics damaged relationships with advertisers. Deseret Industries stopped advertising with the paper after its 2-part series on homosexuality. The BYU Bookstore likewise pulled their ad after a "Campus Chatter" item about the discount Bookstore board members received from the store. Gary Bergera's "Grey Matters" column, which examined controversial theological subjects, was unpopular with advertisers, but popular with readers.^[5] After BYU Studies requested that their interns not write for 7EP, Bergera stopped writing "Grey Matters." Scott Dunn was also an intern at BYU Studies, and continued writing for 7EP under the pseudonym Dick Townsend.^[26] Dunn helped the press with technical materials like a transcription machine and a photo-enlarger.^[5] After the paper was banned from being sold on-campus, 7EP lost forty percent of its revenue.^[1]

Church investigations in 7EP contributors[]

Brent Metcalfe was questioned about his writing for the 7EP and Sunstone. Metcalfe stated that he was "forced to resign" from his job as a security guard at the church office building in April 1983. An anonymous source reported that Roy Doxey, then director of church correlation, wanted to know about the papers Metcalfe was studying at the Church Historical Library, which were on Elias Smith and others. Doxey denied asking about Metcalfe. Metcalfe believed his firing was because of a few people in church leadership who perceived him as a threat, even though he viewed his own work as apologetic and not scholarly.^[27][28] According to Anderson, Mark E. Petersen ordered investigations into vocal progressive members, including Gary Bergera, a contributor to 7EP. His stake president asked him specifically about his interview with Gerald and Sandra Tanner and a piece he wrote on an anti-Mormon conference for Sunstone Review.^[29][30] Hanks was released from her calling teaching classes on Sundays in the Missionary Training Center. Anderson reported that Hanks's supervisor denied that her release was because of her writing at 7EP, but because she was "perhaps a little too intelligent for the elders".^[31]

References[]

Works cited[]

• Anderson, Lavina Fielding (Spring 1993). "The LDS intellectual community and church leadership: A contemporary chronology" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 26 (1): 7–64.

• Maxine Hanks, Ron Priddis, Gary Bergera, Dean Huffaker and Anthony Schmidt (2001). What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been: The Seventh East Press–Twenty Years Later (audio recording). Sunstone.

• Ostler, Blake (11 January 1983). "7EP Interviews Sterling M. McMurrin". Retrieved 1 July 2021.

External links[]

• Seventh East Press on archive.org