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When Vargha Payandeh applied for college in his home country of Iran, he was turned down twice because of his religion.
"You have to get a university card in order to take an entrance exam," said Payandeh, a sophomore at the U in biomedical engineering. "I applied, but I didn't receive my card."
He went to the admissions desk to see why he hadn't received the card and was told it was because he is a member of the Baha'i faith.
Payandeh, who is originally from Tehran, received the card for a second university, but it claimed he was Christian instead of Baha'i. When he confronted someone at the school about it, the card was torn apart.
Like other Baha'i students who were denied access to a university, he eventually attended the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education in Iran.
"It was (the) year 2000 that I was admitted to it, for two years. It's an underground school -- there's no building," he said. "Classes were held in students' homes."
The institute was established in 1987, according to the Baha'i International Community. In the beginning, courses were based on instruction offered at Indiana University, which was one of the first institutions in the West to recognize the institute. Later on, course offerings were developed internally.
In 1998, the institute was subject to numerous government raids.
"We really didn't have classes most of the time," Payandeh said. "We had some introductory class where they gave us our resources and told us what to study and the next meeting would be two months later. Sometimes there was no next meeting, but a midterm or final exam."
When there was a class, Payandeh said only about four to 15 students attended and the instructor would carry a whiteboard to give the lesson.
Payandeh studied computer engineering at the institute. His educational experience in Iran gave him background knowledge to understand the material he is studying at the U, but his credits were never transferred.
The Baha'i Campus Association met with U President Michael Young last year and asked him to write a letter to the United Nations in support of the Baha'i students in Iran and if credit from the institute could be accepted at the U.
"We had a huge campaign...about how important it is to have an education without regards to religion," said Nobunari Isono, treasurer of the Campus Association. "We tried to explain what's happening and he said he knew and he'd be happy to write the letter. I was surprised he knew everything already."
Young, who once served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, is familiar with the struggles of the Baha'i faithful and wrote the letter. "It's one thing to be a person of the book in Iran -- meaning Jewish, Christian, or Muslim -- but when you take the fundamental tenants of Islam and incorporate other things its really looked down upon," said Young.
Young said that because the Baha'i Institute isn't accredited, it's up to individual departments to decide if they will recognize credits from the school.
"If they accept the credits then that is a great help," Payandeh said. "That's a lot of motivation that we know someone takes us seriously. If you are just studying and know that no one will give you credit later in life you lose your motivation."
Payandeh said he chose to retake courses at the U rather than go through the burdensome process of getting a transcript from the institute and appealing for credit. Because he snuck out of Iran through Turkey, Payandeh said it would have been difficult for him to get his transcript. But he hopes future Baha'i refugees that come to the U will be able to transfer their credits.
Despite discrimination against Baha'i students in much of Iran, Payandeh wasn't nervous that many of his neighbors knew he attended the institute.
"I can understand if some people were, but in the area where I was living people were more understanding. My neighbors knew I was Baha'i and there was some kind of Baha'i university."
The Baha'i religion follows the teachings of Baha'u'llah, a man who claimed to be the most recent messenger sent to earth by God. He taught that Abraham, Jesus, Buddha and Muhammad were also messengers from God. The religion is practiced by millions of people around the world.
A woman who asked not to be named to protect family members in Iran, said, "The (Iranian) government advertised about the Baha'i faith badly and many of my neighbors accepted what the government said. They soon realized that the government just made propaganda."
The woman described the day that government employees came into the institute classroom and took all of the computers and books. In another occurrence, the government took the class' homework that was usually passed along to graders in different towns.
"Our studying was under abnormal conditions. We studied but we had to cover (it up)," the woman said. "You couldn't tell (co-workers) that you studied. If someone knew and reported it, you could be arrested. It was very dangerous not only for students, but for everyone."
At times textbooks had to be copied by hand because students were only given one and were nervous to bring it to a copy store.
Payandeh said he also faced discrimination in high school.
"In many high schools faculty might resort to physical punishment for very rebellious students. I was very prone to it," he said. "There was not a week that I was not slapped in the face. Either I was a rebellious student or they were prejudiced, and I think it was the second one."
In a pre-college school, Payandeh said that he felt he had to keep his religion a secret. Although it was difficult to hide his beliefs, he said the prep school made him eligible to attend the institute.
"The biggest impact the institute had on me was that I really learned the best way of learning something, anything in life, is having an inner passion and a self-study approach," Payandeh said. "If you really went through what I went through, having the passion for study and not being able to fulfill your desire, you would develop a very grateful attitude for what we have in America."
j.winston@chronicle.utah.edu
