Baylor has told its students that posing for Playboy would have serious consequences.
The world’s largest Baptist university warned students that they could be disciplined if they pose for Playboy magazine, but some still showed up to meet photographers, a publication spokeswoman said. Playboy spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey declined to say how many Baylor University students were interviewed when the photographers set up at a hotel for two days this week, but said the turnout was less than at other schools “because Baylor is a religiously affiliated school.”
Baylor sent an e-mail reminder to students last week saying that “associating with a magazine that is clearly antithetical to Baylor’s mission would be considered a violation of the code of conduct.” Possible sanctions could range from a warning to expulsion, said spokeswoman Lori Fogleman.
Hennessey said Playboy was “not looking to get any of these women at Baylor in trouble or kicked out of school.”
Reaction among Baylor students was mixed. “I don’t know that they’re necessarily overstepping their bounds because when students come to Baylor, they’re agreeing to the rules in the handbook,” said Sarah Tinsley, a 23-year-old graduate student. “But I do think it’s a little ridiculous for the school to try to dictate what people do outside of school.”
But it’s a Baptist school! Indeed, to the extent having a religious denomination run a university makes any sense at all it is precisely to shape what sort of people its students are outside of school and after graduation.
Why would you go to Baylor if you wanted to pose naked for a magazine?
