Hey everyone, it's been a long time since I've posted, but I've got a son heading off to Utah State next month and I'm wondering if any Logan ex-mo's can help me out here.

A brief synopsis: I resigned from the church a few years back. Grown daughter just finished 4 years at UC Berkeley & no longer attends church, son heading to Logan is TBM but not obnoxious about it. Son is going from a liberal No. California university town to a definitely not-as-liberal college town (although I've been to Logan before and enjoyed the beautiful scenery around there. My hometown university and Utah State even have the same mascot, so that's kind of fun).

I know Logan is mostly Mormon; I don't know if it's oppressively so, or if there is any cultural variety and non-Mormons/ex-mos can live there without it being too overwhelming.

Another concern of mine is about the new bishop my son will have as a USU student. I found out his name is Rodney Meppen, and my son's stake president is Darrell G. Simmons. Just wondering if anybody has any info on them and if so, what my son can expect as a YSA member under their leadership.

Oh, and are any of you students or have some connection to USU? My son went to an orientation on the campus with his TBM dad, my ex, this past weekend. Maybe some tips on fun things to do and see that aren't church-related. He already came back with a ton of info from the Logan Institute, so I'd like to see what else is available for him.

Any insight and info from RfM'ers in the Logan area is greatly appreciated, thanks!

USU has big LDS gentile divide. They are some liberals there.

AND IT SHOWS !!!!

I worked with a number of engineers who graduated from there. Three or four nevermos and two exMos iirc. I only know two faculty members, and both are exMo. I know there is a UU group in town. So it is definitely not total Mormonville.

If he is going into engineering, there are some interesting companies in town with intern opportunities. Logan Canyon and Bear Lake are spectacular, and even the Tetons and Yellowstone and central WY are only about 4 hours away. Nippy in February, but gorgeous temperate summers.

I graduated from USU. (a long time ago)

At that time it was like all of the local HS kids from the valley going there plus quite a large number of foreign students and some kids from around Utah going there to move a short distance away from home. So I think academically it was ok but not very demanding. Although, the colleges of business, forestry and engineering were pretty good.

If he enjoys fishing he will love Logan canyon ----- good fishing year round and beautiful place to fish, hike, picnic, etc. etc.. One thing I learned at USU (not a regular course but taught on campus) that I have used all my life was fly tying/fishing.

We had a place at Bear Lake, where we went most weekends during the summer, for many years ----- very beautiful and relaxing high mountain lake. However, I sold my share to my brother as I have had a better deal at a variety of more convenient locations that I enjoy presently.

Skiing is also something for him to consider during the winter.

My thought is as one prepares for a job one should also prepare for life which includes what one has a job/making money to be able to enjoy.

I wasn't a spiritist then ---- doubt they have much spirituality in the valley but there are a lot of foreign students that may have some spiritually correct insight.

Unfortunately, USU is now oppressively tbm mormon. In my opinion, it is worse than it has ever been.

The young single adult program which the church implemented a few years ago is like a mass stalking assignment.
TBM students are "assigned" to the less active or non-mormons. This means they find out where they live, what their "interests" are and who they may be interested in dating. And where and when they work.

It takes a strong willed person to tell them to "fuck off".
My daughter's roommate was asked if all her roommates were mormon, when she responded no, the bishop asked her to leave her friends and find different roomies.

The mountains and lakes are beautiful, but Logan can have the worst air quality in the nation on cold winter days. Ozone can also be a problem in the summer heat.

There is a post-mormon group in Logan that meets on Sunday. And there is "the owl" where kids can get something to eat with a beer. Unfortunately, many of those kids are just temporary and plan on returning to the morgdom later on in life. There are also many tbm mormon coffee drinkers with the same attitude.

There are small pockets of non-mo's but your son will need to seek them out.

It is hard to be on the fence about mormonism in Logan because they will track you down.If your son sees a cute girl at a party he might be interested in they will use that to suck him in.
That is just kinda how it goes.

This is a list of YSA wards. See how many there are in Logan.

http://theldssinglessite.com/YSAsingleswards.html

When I worked for the USFS a lot of the foresters graduated from Logan. All but one was a DeadHead. So it would appear that there are some extra-circular activities available.

I am currently a usu student and honestly it's not too bad. I mean I have had a few missionaries knock at the door and some bad roommates, but it hasn't been horrible. But there are some fun places. First dam is beautiful and has some great hiking. There's the hot springs and bear lake. A few groups have monthly trips to the clubs in salt lake. I think a lot of people make it sound worse than it is. It's basically a matter of picking who you are around as best you can. The area is beautiful and I love it, even if there is a large mormon population, which I manage to avoid most of the time.

When I was there about a decade ago it was kids from Bountiful high and East Cottonwood, Brighton, all the wealthy utah white families that send there kids away to college, mixed with the local Cache valley families. But TBM to the max. There is a large asian population there for the cheaper tutition than UCLA. Lots of Indians as well, and some Africans. Very much a college town.

I graduated from USU several years ago and went on to get a Ph.D. in science from a top school in the East and did a post doc at a top school. I worked for a fortune 500 company, etc etc. I got a very decent undergrad education at USU. In sciences, engineering, forestry and natural resources it's a very good school. The faculty have a lot of Mormons, but there are lot of liberal mormons in the faculty and very visible ex-mormons. I got involved with Sunstone and Dialog from liberal professors at USU, and had some wonderful atheists professors who used to cause huge cognitive dissonance with the uber-TBMS. John Dehlin is a local, and there are groups that meet that support those questioning the church.

Most of the kids on campus are LDS, many come from Cache Valley and tend to be TBM, most of the kids from elsewhere in Utah tend to be more "liberal" and more open and accepting. Most did not want to go to BYU and they did not want to stay at home with Mom and attend the U of U. Kids from out of state tend to be in natural resources and tend to be interested in the out of doors. I highly recommend dating lots of out of state girls to your son, that was my hobby my freshman year.

Logan Canyon is a few minutes away and offers world class back country skiing as well as mountain biking. There are lots of opportunities for hiking, fishing, camping. There are good spots for white water kayaking on the river and Oneida narrows of the Bear River. Bear Lake is one of the best lakes in the mountain west. Beaver Mountain is very underrated small ski resort with great runs. If your son is into the outdoors he will love Logan.

I married a Cache Valley girl so I am a bit biased but even the local TBM women did not want to go to BYU, so it's easy to find girls to date who are not uber -TBM. Many of the local TBM girls are eager to have their horizons broadened. Encourage your son to get involved with outdoor groups, music or drama groups.

My advice would be to avoid the student wards in Logan, let your son know he has your permission to explore who he is when he leaves home and find new friends from other countries and states. Avoid the family home evening groups. The Honors Program at USU used to be a great place to meet open minded Mormons and non-LDS. Not sure what it is like now, but he should check it out.

This may not mean much at all but my drag queen cousin was a hair stylist in Logan (with tons of clients) for years. He was an ex mishie. He got excommunicated on his mission for being gay and admitting it. The cult doesn't want honesty.....

SILLY me - they don't have ANY idea of what honesty even is being founded on lies and having never uttered one single word of truth, not one since 1830 - how repulsive!

I graduated from there a couple of decades ago. I was a convert who wanted a real education. Most of my roommates thru the yrs were either NOM or ex TBM or nevermo...even the ones from Utah... It was an adjustment coming from Midwest but got used to the U.S. vs them after first yr. I hung out with the them...even tho I was mormon... Had a blast, and went inactive there. Good times. It was known as a liberal Utah school when I was there even tho cache valley was 90% mormon. Teachers were great n not Mormons at all...but I was in a technical field (weird for a girl). Don't know what it's like now... But lots to do outside all times of year!

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I'll try to reply to a few things here. As far as the outdoors, I'm certain my son will enjoy it. I remember driving through Logan Canyon and seeing Bear Lake. My ex's mother was from Star Valley Wyoming, so we made the trip up there through Cache Valley and beyond when the kids were little.

@Villager: yes, I've heard that Utah State has become much more 'hardcore' with regards to its TBM population. A recent article claimed USU was "the 10th most conservative college in the US." I don't know how accurate that is, but it's been many years since I've been in the area; I expect visiting Utah as an ex-Mormon will be an eye-opener for me.

As far as my son's beliefs, at this point he's comfortable being Mormon. He knows there are issues, and we've talked about why I left, but he hasn't yet had anything happen to shake his own foundation. He definitely has a strong self-identity though and isn't down with the whole blind obedience thing.

@BG: it's good to know there are some liberal & ex-Mo faculty at the school; perhaps my son may cross paths with some of them. I'd forgotten John Dehlin lives there, that must have rattled quite a few shelves!
My son did notice in the short time he was on campus that there are a lot of "hot girls" LOL with some of them from out-of-town or out of state. And it looks like one of his roommates isn't Mormon and has had a lot of interesting real-world experience. One roommate is Mormon from Salt Lake area, the other two don't know about.

My ex's new wife has a sibling in Logan raising a family, and son's YSA residence hall is right in the heart of campus, so being around TBMs is kind of unavoidable. Son is a musician, plays multiple instruments. I've encouraged him to bring his electric guitar with him and he got a tour of the music department through an acquaintance who knows the dept. head. We're a family of musicians, actors & performers so that would be another great way for him to meet people.

More than anything else, I hope he has a good experience there, and gets a good education. He knows he can talk to me about things he can't talk about with TBMs, and I hope we keep that openness and heartfelt connection.

USU is a state university not a private college and your son is over 18 years of age, so he can politely choose to have nothing to do with Mormons. That's a good start!

BcE

now let me get this straight ...

You are voluntarily turning your son over to the mormons ?

I got a graduate degree at USU and later worked there. As a student I had a blast. I really enjoyed my student days because I was able to form some great relationships with non-Mormons. And a lot of my teachers were not Mormon. However, there was a huge divide, and quite a bit of hostility, between the TBM Mos and Non-Mos in the community. It spilled over into the university as well. People tended to take one side or the other and stick with it. There weren't any middle of the road people at USU. There were some African American inner city kids (mostly athletes) who felt like they had landed on the far side of the moon and were clueless about Mormonism. They usually left or were miserable. Most other minorities were foreign students and they got along better.

During my working days at USU it was a different story. Faculty members were pretty cool but administration was a different matter. I was in administrative services and it was completely run like a church organization. Some called it BYU lite. Most non-Mo administrators left after a few years because they were denied promotions or treated horribly for not being or submitting to Mormon church like policies and procedures. Mormons got promoted fast track. Office parties were a real drag. And most of the Mos were jealous and suffered infighting as well. The atmosphere depends a lot on who is the President of the University. Non-Mo presidents send shock waves through campus. Mormon presidents like to take things back to the 1970's.

Voted one of the top 10 party schools by Playboy..

President Ford's son Jack leading some of the parties ...

Giant Nude Snow Sculptures on Richards Hall Lawn

George L.Tirebiter

Again, for the students and faculty, yeah, great. For people working in administration, not so much.

NorCal? Aggies? You live in Davis!

yep, Davis aggies! It was and is a great place to live and grow up. I'm still in the area and plan on going to the annual Sacramento ex-mo meetup next month.

I'm on campus a lot and it's not as bad as people think. Just think cliques. That's all. You're son will find the right clique and he's good to go.

As a Son of Perdition, I'm aware of the state of play between the two groups in Logan and Cache Valley. But, think of it like any other town with a university: The educated and literate rubs shoulders with the working-class, blue-collar-types, and a mix of religion and politics thrown in to make it more bumpy than most towns with an educated elite.

Oh, and the liquor store is open until 10pm, Mon-Sat. Caffe Ibis is open everyday. And Beaver Mountain operates on Sunday unlike the new ski hill in Richmond which is closed on Sunday. Why?

Cake

"I'm building a speedboat." -As played by Sean Connery as Noah.

My older kids call it BYU north, but there is still plenty more freedom than at BYU. The general socail scene is mormon, but you can still find plenty of non-mo or ex-mo freinds. Overall the faculty seems to have plenty of no-mos. Lots more liberals and much more diverse than BYU.

I'd call it good mix. Anyplace you go there will be a predominate something (liberal, conservative, catholic, mormon etc.).

If your kid can find a few no-mo or ex-mo roomates things will go good, but most mormon kids don't really care anyway.

As a recent ex-mo who has lived in Logan for over 10 years, I can offer my thoughts as well. I would tend to agree that USU has turned into BYU-North, only without the crazy rules/restrictions.

The general population is overwhelmingly TBM here, but there are pockets of non-mo and ex-mo scattered throughout the population. They will just be harder to find. Unfortunately, I didn't find these groups until I was about 22-23 years old and almost ready to graduate.

For a younger 18-19 year old student, its going to be hard to find friends that aren't still under their parents influence church-wise. Most of their roommates (and more-importantly girls) will be at church on Sunday. The number of YSA wards up here is staggering. His best chance is to find girls/friends from out of state. They usually are much more level-headed about their religion. The Mormon kids that were born in Utah are much more TBM.

When going to school here, I found it near impossible to find girls to date that weren't looking for a return missionary to date/marry (CULT). The heavy Mormon influence in the social/dating scene here makes it hard to be on the fence with Mormonism. You either have to be in or out. I went through a lot of bad relationships with girls here who didn't really believe in the church, but still felt obligated to go because they needed their parents support.

Finding a good job in Logan has been rewarding, but be prepared for most of your co-workers and superiors to be TBM. I have had to bite my tongue more times than I can count and have lied about my relationship with the church to keep myself on the fast track with my employer. Its not a pretty thing, but its the reality of the situation.

All those negatives aside, Logan is a beautiful, amazing city to live in. If you love the outdoors, there is SO much to do in the summer/fall here. So many beautiful hikes/trails in Logan Canyon. It has a legitimate college town feel, so many activities to do on campus. Aggie sports are so much fun. To top it off, the crime rate is almost non-existent. One of the most underrated college experiences you can have in any state.

The party scene is there, but not out of control like other schools. Lots of house parties if you know the right people. Unfortunately, the bar scene is almost non-existent. The Owl is cool, but leaves a lot to be desired. Utah Liquor Laws kill almost any chances of a decent bar in Logan unfortunately.