Ousted Mormon fights BYU for diploma

SALT LAKE CITY, Nev., March 6 (UPI) -- A former Mormon missionary wants Brigham Young University in Utah to give him his diploma.

Chad Hardy was excommunicated from the church 31 days before his scheduled graduation, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Church elders had learned that Hardy was the publisher of "Men on a Mission," a calendar featuring returned missionaries.

He was denied his diploma on the grounds that he had violated the university honor code.

"They're dragging this out and making an example of me. And I'm letting them do it," he said. "They control by fear. I'm just allowing people to watch."

Hardy said if he was dishonest he would claim to have returned to the church, at least for long enough to get the diploma. Instead, he is planning to go to court -- and to publish another calendar, "Hot Mormon Muffins: Taste of Motherhood."