Gonzaga administrators ask students not to dress as LDS Church missionaries

PROVO — BYU’s trip to The Kennel in Spokane might look a little different this weekend.

Gonzaga University administrators have issued a call to students of the university to not dress up as Mormon missionaries during the Bulldogs' game Saturday night against BYU, a stance first reported by the Bulldogs’ student newspaper.

"Those costumes don’t really represent who we are as a university and it shines bad on us and doesn’t show a welcome community that supports everybody,” assistant dean Colleen Vandenboom told the Gonzaga Bulletin. "So every year it has come up and we have been talking a lot with Kennel Club and they agree — it’s not cool."

BYU, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has a lengthy history attracting fans mocking parts of the Mormon faith, usually in good nature. San Diego State’s student section — dubbed "The Show" — became famous for its portrayal of LDS missionaries, dressed in bike helmets and all, when the Jimmer Fredette-led Cougars visited the Kawhi Leonard-led Aztecs when the two were Mountain West rivals.

The tradition has carried over to the West Coast Conference, which the Cougars joined in 2011. But few student sections have taken it to the level of Gonzaga, whose students pack the 6,000-seat McCarthy Athletic Center with dozens that don the white shirt, dark pants and bike helmet attire traditionally associated with missionaries of the LDS Church.

Even if he doesn’t appreciate the religious banter, BYU guard TJ Haws, who served a mission in France, said he enjoys playing on the road in front of a packed house — Gonzaga included.

"The more fans you play in front of, the better. It’s fun to have a lot of energy, and it’s fun to go into a place like that where it is hostile," Haws said. "It really makes it feel like college basketball. That’s the kind of stuff you watch on TV growing up: big arenas, lots of crazy fans, lots of crazy students, and that’s what you get at Gonzaga."

According to the Bulletin, Gonzaga students will be monitored as they enter the Kennel for Saturday night’s 8 p.m. MST tipoff. If they are deemed to be wearing religiously insensitive apparel, they will have "conversations" about the wardrobe.

"We can’t stop anyone from doing it, but we need to put it on people’s radars," Kennel Club president Claire Murphy told the student paper. "A lot of times, people just need a little reminder or (to have) a morality check of 'What do I actually stand for? Why am I wearing this?'"

One of Gonzaga's players, freshman guard Jesse Wade, recently returned from a two-year mission for the church in France. The former Davis High sharpshooter was also the 2015 Deseret News Mr. Basketball honoree who played against BYU's Zac Seljaas (Bountiful) and Haws (Lone Peak) in high school.

"As a family, we have seen students dressing up as Mormon missionaries to mock the missionary program of the church at many different schools, Gonzaga included, and even though it doesn’t bother or offend us, we wish it wouldn’t happen," said Eric Wade, father of Jesse, in an Instagram post. "Seeing the Gonzaga administration and Gonzaga Kennel Club re-emphasizing this now means a lot to us and gives us just one more reason to be proud to be a part of the Zag family."

BYU coach Dave Rose smirked when told of the apparent policy change Tuesday after practice in Provo. The Cougars will play at Loyola Marymount at 9 p.m. MST Thursday night before the showdown in Spokane.

"Students are great. That’s one of the best things about the game of college basketball are students at the game," Rose said.

He did offer one piece of counsel to any Gonzaga students who might curtail the policy and dress in their best white-shirt-and-tie combo.

"I served a mission years ago and I never wore a bike helmet," Rose said. "Maybe keep the bike helmets at home."

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