The U.S. of A hs been sliding down the slippery slope towards the pit of tyranny for nearly 30 years now. Somehow a shocking portion of our citizens believe that the Constitution and Bill of Rights only apply to people who swear an oath of fealty to whichever 'conservative' point-men and women are appointed by the Republican PArty 'base' operatives. The students wishing to hold an alternative ceremony have a right to free assembly, using government land and buildings if they wish. And where in the world is the Equal Opportunuty Employment Commission (EEOC), which should investigate the charges of a 'No-Hire' list and impose severe punative penalties on any business found in possession of such a list, to include at least a few weeks in prison doing hard labor for the proprietors of such businesses. Next the folks from the agencies that enforce the Federal Fair Housing Act should decend upon these communities and investigate whether there are any plans afoot to deny home ownership or rental contracts to any of these protesters, or anyone else, for that matter. Right-wing knuckle-headed thugs: These actions would not be 'jack-booted storm troopers' from 'The Government' intuding into your lives and 'taking your freedoms away'...they would be true citizen-patriots enforcing the U.S. Constitution and the laws that spring thenceforth: No one has the right to deprive others of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness just because they disagree with their publically-stated political views. Do we now live in a dictatorship? Will we all have to bow down to Chancellor Sutton as he rants about the various enemies of the state and sputers 'England Prevails' while we all render the mandatory oath and hand salute to the sole righteous party of truth and power? I used to be a registered Republican...many years ago I realized that the party lost its way and became a mockery of itself. Register as Independents and refuse to be shacked by Party lines.

The answer to a "No Hire List" is obvious- a "No Buy List".

Look you Godless heathens, true Mormons “believe in their hearts” that God provides personal revelations. 80% of Mormons vote Republican BECAUSE Jesus directly tells them too! The other 20% aren’t true Mormons and THOSE are the ones on the “black-list”. Question the party? Question Jesus!! It’s pretty simple.

Nuts.

BULLY. That's basically what the Bush Administration is on a world-wide scale and now BYU and the Mormon community are mimicking that behavior on a smaller scale, trying to scare and intimidate these students out of acting on their principles and values. Dick Cheney and this White House do not represent my values (or even basic common American principles) and I'm shocked and horrified that they represent any religious institutions' values!

Good on those students for standing up and saying that they want a commencement speaker and a ceremony that honors their values and their hard work. I hope their parents and teachers have the courage to stand with them and that someone has the balls (or the ovaries) to start blowing the whistle on these School Board and EEOC violations!

Back to bullying, it's interesting that bullying, beyond guns and Marilyn Manson, has been found to be a primary cause for the Columbine and VirginiaTech shootings. And we have an administration that relies on bullying as their mode of operation. Hmm, I don't remember Jesus having to rely on bullying...

Any businesses that blacklist dissenters should be publically exposed and dealt with - that is outrageous. I am a lifelong Mormon, and a lifelong Democrat, and no one in my family would treat anyone that way. I would boycott any business that practiced blacklisting.

This is truly horrifying but not all together suprising. BYU was sanctioned by the faculty professional organization for firing a faculty member (who was also excomunicated from the churd)who did historical research about women holding the preisthood in the early days of the LDS Church about 15 years ago. Academic freedom has never been there strong suit. Not only that, they force landlords to uphold strict policies that violate privacy because all students are required to live in "BYU approved" housing. It should come as no suprise that the business owners who depend on BYU students for their bread and butter would turn on any "known dissenters" in order to secure their economic future. Suddenly this all starting to sound a lot like a Goerge Orwell novel . . .

Jeez, now they go after students too. If I were one of them I wouldn't want to be within 10 miles of Dick Cheney and I am proud of them for that. How petty, how sad, but when I worked with Mormons I remember offending a male by shaking hands with him in the businessplace - he was appalled. So what can you expect from Mormons? I know not all of them are that bad, but yuck.

Actually, it would be a good thing to know which businesses are boycotting the students. Having worked in hostile environments over the years, it would be a nice way of knowing where the rigid, closed-minded, unyeilding idiots do business - then, do not work there, do not buy there, do not do business there. Kinda like a "buyblue.com" kind of thing, eh?

Message to Alexis - it's more like Berlin in 1938 than fiction, sadly.

Can you post a list of these businesses so we the people can contact them and boycott them? This is how America works. We need to use what powers we have while we have them.

The only name I have is of businesswoman Denise Harman, who appears to be the ringleader of this movement.

Yes, I agree with several of comments above. I would like to know who are these people who say they believe in freedom and them have a DNH list. I can probably play dirty pool too. So, just who are these guys?

We must all remember that we live under an oligarchic rule and there is no room for freedom and responsibility. There is only room for do as I direct because I have your wellbeing at heart. I know what you need and there is no room for discussion or dissent. Remember national security is the norm and the "emperor" sets the agenda.

The positive aspect of this situation is that those students are learning what it's like in the real world, and now know that there are costs involved in taking stands. It is people who have been willing to do whatever it takes to advance one's cause that are mostly responsible for the social progress thast has been made in this or any other country. It is good for these students to learn early on that the civics approach to rights and principles generally taught in secondary school years are theoretical constructs. The reality is a lot more complicated - taking a stand requires commitment and may have serious costs. Thus this fight is no longer over a single event but may have implications for a lifetime. It is now up to these students and their supporters to make it costly for their opponents by methods such as those noted in previous comments, such as boycotts. I wish them well in these efforts.