I had a terrible, terrible "professor" at BYUI and he told us that in the 90's there was a big prostitution ordeal at Ricks. He said that it was run out of the guys dorm's and they would hang a towel or something out of the window when they had ladies available. Apparently it was organized fairly well, no one really knew each other and there were a lot of guys for "protection" or whatever. Does anyone know if this has any truth to it? The hardest thing for me believe is that there were girls attending Ricks, a cheap school that were desperate enough for money that they, Mormons would become prostitutes.

Not many Mormons know that the last bordello in Salt Lake City was in a building owned by the church.

Hell, BY imported prosties from SF to spy on the officers of the Union Army and bragged about it in the JofD.

In 1970, at BYUH, there was a small prostitution ring in operation for a time. They were found out and driven away somehow. But my understanding is that the girls weren't outside talent, but were actual Mo girls, from Utah mostly.

Go fig, I guess...

Many practiced Clinton morality, if it wasn't vaginal sex, it wasn't sex.

For we gay me, we weren't violating the Law Of Chastity because the other guy was not "any of the daughters of Eve."

Man is that he might have joy but not Joy.

I went to Ricks in the (GASP) 60's.
this 'information' was still fresh then; it was said to be only a year or two old when I attended.

it was 'hosted' off campus at a place called "Queen's Row" which was also known as 'Studs Row'.

the people involved were said to be students.

Possible urban/campus legends? Without any direct proof such scandalous and "shocking" rumors have the feel of urban legend.

I WORKED at the Star Palace for several years...good times! I also frequented the Ice House and Uncle Mario's in Provo long before that. Best times of my life.

When I was attending BYU back in the mid to late 70's, it was rumored that the football players and cheerleaders had a wild prostitution ring going on in the dorms...mostly at DT if I recall. The secret signal was a rebel flag hung in the dorm window, it meant they were open for business. I never believed that, but University admin did have undercover decoys trying to out the gay population. I think all of their efforts were concentrated on gay students and if there was any prostitution going on, they were too busy harrassing and trying to "reform" gay students to take notice. Freaking Ernie Wilkinson...what a tool that guy was.

In the 80's the rumor at BYU was that if you came across a window that had two tennis rackets in it and they were crossed the girl in the room was busy. If they were not crossed then they were open for business.

Being the dumb, geeky farm boy that I was, a friend and I spent a few Friday nights trolling the campus looking for tennis rackets in windows.

Never saw a tennis racket, ever. I guess I would have been better off just going to the "Star Palace" and hanging out there.

Anyone Remember that dance place in Provo?

but there have never been any credible evidence of prostitution at BYU or Ricks. I think a guy could usually get what he wanted without paying for it.

There was a dance place in Prove called the Ice House.

Met my wife at the Star Palace. Go Funky Town.

Oh my god, I actually danced there in my youth.

Edited for stupidity in grammar usage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2012 12:37AM by toto.

The same rumor went around at the University of Utah among the houses on Greek Row. I took an excellent folklore class in college by Dr. Brunvand who taught me about urban legends. I love reading this thread because it's a classic example of this type of folklore. Keep the stories coming...

Oops, I'm so tired, I keep making mistakes on this thread. This post should've been placed at the bottom of the thread. Sorry.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2012 12:46AM by toto.

Dh and I met there, too. But that was when it was just The Palace, which was after it was The Star Palace. We also had our wedding reception there.

The name sounds familiar but I never went there while at YBU.

abl....I remember the star palace.

Yep back in the 80s the Star Palace was the place to go!!!

The Star Palace. Swoon. I used to dream about going there when I was a kid......couldn't wait to be grown up enough to go....lol.

When I finally was old enough, it was just The Palace. And I went on country night, and had a ball.....so, I guess one childhood dream came true. ;)

I lived on 800 E, right behind the Star Palace from 1986-1989! Never went there though...

Dan2:

iirc, some of the staff @ Ricks verified the rumor I mentioned.

That was around when I went there in the 80s. For kicks, I put a tennis racket in my window. Never got any action from it.

I wonder if there was any action at 335 (3rd North) Ensign Hall (my old room)?....always wanted to bed me a wench up there...but as I wasn't a RM I was fuckin' invisible to those chicks....

I don't have direct experience dealing with prostitutes, either as a costumer or in vice, but I have read some training material on the subject, and talked to some vice cops. From what I understand, prostitution rings on college campuses are way more common then most people realize, but it's not like it is going on in every dorm. The girls involved in that type of thing however, tend to be what are considered the high class type, who charge by the hour rather then the trick, and have going rates in the hundreds of dollars for a half hour session. It is extremely rare for such types to work with pimps, as they screen their Johns very tightly and live/operate out of secure environments.

Pimps, tend to work with the street hookers, and the pimp is both for protection and for promoting the hooker. Often times a pimps duel roles conflict with each other, and when they do he will normally side with what is in his own personal financial interest. Hookers are also not normally what one would consider conventionally attractive, as the street puts a lot of wear and tear on their bodies.

The high class girls, tend to work with madames, who focus more on screening and finding costumers who will both pay and not harm the girls. Since a girl who can attract a costumer willing to drop hundreds of dollars an hour is more rare then a drugged out floozie, she is a valuable asset, and such operations will go to greater lengths to insure that that asset is protected, often by insisting that condoms are worn, and refusing to take on high risk clients.

Street prostitutes make a lot of noise, and bring a lot of problems, and generally are not tolerated in their communities. High class operations, can be operating right next door, and most people might not notice it. As a result, the police rarely get informed about it, or have much motivation to crack down if they do.

Neither system is a good system. Both are built on the exploitation of women, and carry huge risk. One is preferable to the other, but much in the same way that the flu virus is preferable to cancer. Both are bad, but one is clearly a lot worse.

If you're going to be a hooker, why would you choose Ricks? I can't begin to imagine why someone would do that.

the 'same' rumor was around during the "I'm as old as Dirt" 60's.

there was a FM apt known as Queens Row; we called it Stud's Row.

I have NO first-hand information about it.
Honest, I don't.

I 'never' paid for nookie.

well, almost never.

the.end.

I'll do anything for money, well almost anything.

but when I was working at "Thiokol" around 27 years ago--I worked with a man who was a bishop here in Cache Valley. They had a prostitution ring here and it was younger girls who had a trailer they were using. I'm not sure if they were of legal age--but there were several priesthood holders who were excommunicated. He also said that he had had to excommunicate several swingers in his ward--and that there was a big group in Cache Valley.

Nothing would surprise me any longer.

Harmony apt complex was supposed to have been referred to as Harmony Whore House, but I've never met anyone who's actually verified it. I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of thing is still going on, though.

Whoa this thread is over a year old. I thought maybe it was a drive-by that resurrected it.

babyraptorjesus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had a terrible, terrible "professor" at BYUI and
> he told us that in the 90's there was a big
> prostitution ordeal at Ricks. He said that it was
> run out of the guys dorm's and they would hang a
> towel or something out of the window when they had
> ladies available. Apparently it was organized
> fairly well, no one really knew each other and
> there were a lot of guys for "protection" or
> whatever. Does anyone know if this has any truth
> to it? The hardest thing for me believe is that
> there were girls attending Ricks, a cheap school
> that were desperate enough for money that they,
> Mormons would become prostitutes.


Although prostitution can result from economic desperation, it can aslo be a result of one person deciding to abuse another. Theres a documentary called Very Young Girls that chronicles the average way of entry into prostitution- most women are prostituted because someone else decided they should be and used violence to keep them in that state. Most women don't get to keep the money either.

I went to Ricks fall of 1975. My girlfriend lived off campus at one of the nicer apartment complexes at the time right up the hill from The Sober Society pizza joint. In the apartment straight across the sidewalk from my girlfriend's apartment lived a group of girls who all paid their way through school prostituting. I knew them personally and talked to them almost daily. They had a constant flow of men in and out of their apartment, old and young, and they all drove very nice cars and had more money to spend than anybody I knew at Ricks except the guy in my complex who was from Alaska and who flew his own plane to school.

Just after Thanksgiving break when I got back and went up to see my girlfriend for the first time since leaving for the break I noticed that there was no body in the apartment across the sidewalk. I happened to be very good friends with campus police(another story for another time) and I called my buddy there and asked if he knew anything. Turns out they all got busted while staying at school rather than going home and they were all expelled and sitting in jail.

So yeah, there was that and just about anything else you can imagine at good ole Ricks in the 70s.

I attended 00-02 and heard the tennis racket rumor as well. I assumed it was folklore however. Heard it took place at Harmony Apts and yes they would call it Harmony whore house. I honestly don't know how anything like that could go on for too long. Rick's college was run like a Nazi camp with bed checks everynight and a tight control system. Roomates were always ratting each other out and spying on one another. I guess if you could find a group of like minded girls to live together it might be possible but I would assume the guys would have quickly ratted each other out through the Rick's gossip chain.