Beefcake calendar-maker has BYU diploma yanked

SALT LAKE CITY - The Las Vegas man behind a calendar featuring shirtless returned Mormon missionaries has had his diploma yanked by the church-owned Brigham Young University.

Mormon beefcake calendar maker excommunicated

Chad Hardy said he finished his last four units for graduation in June. On Aug. 15, he crossed the stage with other graduates during ceremonies at the Provo school.

In between, he was excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A Sept. 30 letter from BYU Executive Director of Student Academic & Advisement Services Norman B. Finlinson states that a nonacademic hold was placed on Hardy's record after the university learned of the excommunication.

"If in the future you are reinstated as a member of the church in good standing, you are invited to contact my office regarding your possible eligibility for the awarding of a degree," Finlinson wrote.

Hardy said he'll challenge BYU's position.

"I intend to fight this tooth-and-nail," the 31-year-old entrepreneur said.

Hardy was excommunicated July 13 by a council of Las Vegas-based church leaders. Officially, the loss of membership was for conduct unbecoming a church member. The charges were rooted in his failure to pay tithing, a lapse in other religious obligations and, according to a senior church elder, his involvement with the 2008 "Men on a Mission" calendar.

Hardy questioned BYU's timing in withholding the diploma. He said he hasn't been on campus since 2002 and finished up four units of religion courses through an online program in June.

"I registered before all of this drama started happening and I finished (the classes) prior to getting served the letter about my church council. I was done," he said.

Hardy said he learned about the hold in a telephone call with his guidance counselor about a month after the graduation ceremony.

For reasons of confidentiality, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said she couldn't discuss Hardy's specific case. But Jenkins said all universities require students to be in good standing before a diploma is issued.

At BYU, that includes abiding by an honor code that dictates student conduct and behavior standards that mirror the religious principles of the church.

"This is not unique to BYU," Jenkins stressed. "We do make it clear that even though a student is cleared to walk at graduation, a student must still be in good standing from an academic point of view and an honor code point of view."

Hardy's "Men on a Mission" calendar sold nearly 11,000 copies at $14.99 each. The calendar features 12 returned church missionaries in mostly modest poses, minus their trademark white shirts, ties and black plastic name badges.

The calendar was intended to shake up the stuffy, cookie-cutter stereotype often associated with Mormons, Hardy said.

News reports of his excommunication helped sales of the 2008 calendar and have landed Hardy larger U.S. and international distribution contracts for the just-released 2009 edition, which carries a disclaimer that it is not directly affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Salt Lake City-based church.