any of the BYU degrees it's due to the association with the church and their experience with a Mormon possessing soft skills or character traits like honesty, work ethic and maturity. Those are derived from the gospel..not an academic reputation.

I understand healthy pride. I wouldn't waste so much time here if I didn't love BYU.

I was proud to get into and graduate from BYU. I was competitive and it was a goal. But I stopped caring that I went to "the" BYU shortly after graduation when I matured and realized the 99% of non-mormons don't know or care. I was just proud to represent the church.

Beating the drum that I went to "the" BYU doesn't move the needle for my ego enough to get worked up about a BYU-I grad saying BYU. I'm not going to pretend it's a case of military stolen valor. I view them as teammates, not junior varsity.