Brigham Young University Ban On Caffeinated Soda Fizzles

PROVO, UT — Brigham Young University on Thursday ended a six-decade drought on caffeinated soft drinks in its dining hall. The Mormon church-owned university announced the change on Twitter with a single can of Coca-Cola and the words: “It’s happening.” The university said it was bowing to consumer preference on the sale of caffeinated drinks by its dining services, not financial pressure.

Students were buzzed, though one noted on Twitter that sneaking Dr. Pepper into a game won’t be as much fun as it once was. However, BYU officials are drawing the line at highly-caffeinated energy drinks, as essential to some American college students as a laptop computer and backpack.

BYU said on its website that it never outright banned caffeinated soft drinks in official university policy, but a decision in the 1950s by a dining services director not to sell them remained in place with no complaints until recently. “Consumer preferences have clearly changed and requests have become much more frequent,” the university said. (For more news from Salt Lake City Patch, sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The university did not change the longstanding policy in 2012, when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints clarified the use of caffeine for its 16 million members worldwide, saying “the church does not prohibit the use of caffeine.” The health-code put in place in 1833 by founder Joseph Smith doesn’t extend beyond hot drinks like coffee and tea, the LDS church said. The dictum also banned wine, alcoholic drinks and tobacco. That has not changed.

The university’s tweet announcing the change was met with applause by students and alumni.

“Terrifying,” BYU tweeted in response. “Maybe lay off the soda for a bit.”

“It’s about time,” Sara McLaws, a junior advertising and graphic design major from Park City, Utah, told the Associated Press. BYU is a great school but it's behind in some ways. Just the small change of allowing caffeinated beverages — because it’s not against our religion — it’s high time.”

BYU alumnus Amber Whiteley joked on Facebook that she “can die happy now having publicly defended my human right to consume massive amounts of Diet Coke” after she was quoted by CBS News in a story about the decision to offer caffeinated soft drinks to BYU’s 33,000 students. Whiteley, who attended BYU a decade ago, had commented on a Facebook post of the announcement that “you youths will never understand the struggle we went through.”

Whiteley told CBS that she got reprimanding looks when she brought Mountain Dew to campus as a student. Some older Mormons in her Salt Lake City congregation still frown on the consumption of any drink containing caffeine, she said.

Another alumnus, Christopher Jones, 43, now a visiting BYU history professor, told the AP he drank caffeinated soda as a student, though he couldn’t buy it on campus. “I never thought I would see the day, so it’s exciting,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Greg Bird fills his cup with Coca Cola on campus at Brigham Young University on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017. According to an online statement from Dean Wright, director of Dining Services, some locations on campus have started serving caffeinated beverages and it will be offered at sporting events. (Sammy Jo Hester/The Daily Herald via AP)