Baylor University has made it clear that personal decisions by students will affect their academic standing, warning them that if they pose for Playbory, they may get booted out of university . . . Baylor students warned about Playboy posing . . .

Officials at the world’s largest Baptist university have warned students that they could be disciplined if they pose for Playboy. Photographers from the magazine featuring pictures of nude women spent two days this week at a Waco hotel interviewing students from Baylor University to pose in the Big 12 conference issue, which will run in October. Playboy spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey would not say how many women showed up but said the turnout was less than at other schools "because Baylor is a religiously affiliated school." Hennessey said Playboy is "not looking to get any of these women at Baylor in trouble or kicked out of school." Last week Baylor sent an e-mail to students reminding them that "associating with a magazine that is clearly antithetical to Baylor’s mission would be considered a violation of the code of conduct." Possible sanctions could range from a warning to expulsion, said spokeswoman Lori Fogleman, who said the university has "expectations of our students (regarding) how to handle ourselves on and off campus." In 2002, a Baylor student who posed nude in Playboy’s Big 12 issue was suspended, although her picture did not appear in the print version of the magazine. Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity also was suspended for one year after about 50 members were featured, clothed, along with four bikini-clad women in the issue. Reaction among Baylor students was mixed. Some said appearing in the magazine should be their choice, while others said a private university has the right to govern student conduct. "I don’t know that they’re necessarily overstepping their bounds because when students come to Baylor, they’re agreeing to the rules in the handbook," said Sarah Tinsley, a 23-year-old graduate student. "But I do think it’s a little ridiculous for the school to try to dictate what people do outside of school."

On the one hand, the university does have some right to dissuade students from representing the university . . . the "girls of" series specifically features the schools students are from . . . but on the other personal life choices like posing for a mens magazine are personal choices and none of the university’s business.

Baylor may be a private university and may have some rules on on-campus deportment but that control should stop at the campus gates. Personal off-campus life choices that do not affect one’s academic performance or on-campus life should NOT be grounds for dismissal. If students wish to pose for Playboy or Playgirl or Christian Nudes or Conservative Cowherders International, it is their choice. They are adults.