Dallin Oaks BYU: Why Mark Skousen Was Called into His Office
Dallin Oaks BYU was a formidable figure, and economist Mark Skousen remembers what happened when a controversial student newspaper editorial brought him face-to-face with the university president.
In the final installment of our four-part Gospel Tangents interview, Mark shares some remarkable stories from his years at Brigham Young University, including a confrontation with Dallin H. Oaks, his experiences in student journalism, and his unlikely home teaching partnership with historian Richard Bushman.
It’s a fascinating glimpse into BYU history, academic freedom, and the personalities who shaped modern Mormonism.
Don’t miss our other conversations with Mark Skousen: https://gospeltangents.com/people/mark-skousen
Copyright © 2026
Gospel Tangents
All Rights Reserved
Dallin Oaks BYU: “Don’t Ever Do It Again!”
Imagine being a young BYU student involved with the campus newspaper and finding yourself summoned to the university president’s office.
That’s exactly what happened to Mark Skousen.
Mark recalls a controversial editorial that caught the attention of President Dallin H. Oaks.
The message Mark remembers receiving was unmistakable:
“Don’t ever do it again!”
What was so controversial about the editorial? Why did Oaks intervene personally? And what does the incident reveal about the relationship between student journalism and university leadership?
Mark tells the story in our interview.
Home Teaching with Richard Bushman
One of the more unexpected revelations involves historian Richard Bushman, best known to many Latter-day Saints for his biography Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling.
Long before Bushman became one of Mormonism’s most prominent historians, he and Mark Skousen shared a distinctly Mormon responsibility: home teaching.
What was it like to serve alongside a future leading historian of Joseph Smith?
Mark shares his memories of Bushman and other influential figures he encountered during his BYU years.
Why Did BYU Take Control of Its Student Newspaper?
The conversation also explores a larger controversy involving BYU’s student newspaper, the Daily Universe.
Student newspapers can provide an important forum for debate, criticism, and independent thinking. But what happens when student editors publish material that university administrators find objectionable?
Mark reflects on the tensions surrounding student journalism at BYU and the eventual shift toward greater faculty oversight.
Was that a necessary safeguard for a religious university, or did it come at the expense of student independence?
It’s a question that remains relevant to discussions of academic freedom today.
From Jeffrey R. Holland to General Conference
Mark also recalls taking a Book of Mormon class from Jeffrey R. Holland and shares other stories about his encounters with prominent Latter-day Saint figures.
And there’s a surprising connection to the April 2009 LDS General Conference: a letter Mark wrote was quoted during the conference.
These personal experiences provide a different perspective on people who later became widely recognized leaders, scholars, and educators.
Watch the Final Gospel Tangents Preview
We’ve spent the first three episodes exploring Mark Skousen’s relationship with Uncle Cleon, his views on economics, the John Birch Society, and Joseph Smith’s economic experiments.
Now, in Part 4, we turn to the people and controversies that shaped Mark’s years at BYU.
What really happened in Dallin Oaks’s office? And what can Mark’s experiences teach us about academic freedom at a religious university?
Watch the teaser and join us for the conclusion of this four-part Gospel Tangents interview.
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What Do You Think?
- Should a university president personally intervene when a student newspaper publishes a controversial editorial?
- How much editorial independence should students have at a religious university?
- Are religious universities different from secular universities when it comes to academic freedom?
- Which of Mark’s stories about prominent Latter-day Saint figures surprised you most?
Leave a comment! I’d love to hear your perspective on BYU history, student journalism, and the balance between institutional identity and intellectual independence.
Don’t miss our other conversations with Mark Skousen: https://gospeltangents.com/people/mark-skousen
Copyright © 2026
Gospel Tangents
All Rights Reserved
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