Nathan Langford isn't trying to be weird when he stands outside, dressed in a cloak and singing between classes. He's just passing the time between classes.

Unfortunately for Langford, some people have found it annoying enough to call campus police.

"My cloak is what I wear to keep warm," said Langford, a math major from Wisconsin. "Sure it's a little bit different, but it works."

Expect to see a lot of cloaks today at 11 a.m. when a Facebook group of supporters turn out to sing outside the Joseph Smith Building, protesting his silencing by BYU police.

Students on campus used to see Langford standing outside the JSB or Joseph F. Smith Building, wearing his long, gray fleece-lined cloak and singing folk songs and hymns.

But he doesn't sing anymore. In late January, BYU police told Langford to stop singing.

"They told me I was disturbing the peace, and if I didn't stop, I'd be issued a citation," Langford said. "One thing that a lot of people don't get is that my principal reason for singing was to do something in between classes."

BYU students have formed a group on the social networking Web site Facebook, which supports Langford's right to sing on campus. The group has garnered support from more than 670 students in the last week, making it the largest BYU network group on Facebook.

"There's nothing against the Honor Code or any rules" about singing around campus, said Jeff Meadows, a computer science major and one of the group's administrators. "A few people chose to be annoyed by it."

Meadows helped organize the protest today. Protesters will be wearing cloaks and singing to show their support of Langford's quirky style.

Not all students support Langford in his singing.

"When people make it a point to draw attention to themselves, they distract from the university's purpose," said Lucy Brown, an American studies student who has seen Langford around campus.

She said non-BYU students often think there are a lot of "nerds and weirdos" at BYU, and people wearing cloaks and singing only reinforces that stereotype. She said people can enjoy doing different things, but doing them on campus can be distracting.

"It's embarrassing," Brown said. "I like to dance ballet, but I think I would be making a spectacle of myself if I wore points [ballet shoes] on campus."

BYU police received phone calls from concerned people reporting a young male standing in the cold, wearing a dark cloak and singing loudly. The first two calls came on Jan. 24, when Langford was singing outside the JSB. The officer who responded to the calls reported there was nothing wrong.

A week later, on Jan. 30, the same officer responded to a third call when Langford was singing outside the JFSB. The officer asked Langford to stop singing. Lemmon said Langford would probably not be cited just for singing and was unsure if the responding officer ever threatened to do so.

Lemmon said the police must respond to every call and decide whether any illegal activity is going on.

Utah state law states that the university can ask any person interfering with the "peaceful conduct of the activities of the campus" to leave.

"We're trying to be reasonable as a police department," said Lt. Arnold Lemmon of the BYU police. "We're trying to maintain here an atmosphere that is conducive to living and learning."

Even though the police asked Langford to stop singing that day, Lemmon said he was not banned from singing. Lemmon said dispatch employees saw Langford on one of the security cameras several days later singing again and the shift supervisor decided taking action wasn't necessary.

Lemmon said students should feel comfortable calling the police whenever they see activity they think is suspicious. He said the police needs citizen input in order to operate effectively.

"His singing is barely above a whisper and can't be heard unless one walks right past him," wrote Chris Stromberg of St. Louis in a letter to the editor on Feb. 28 in response to Langford's silencing. "If you find his singing that disturbing, walk a little faster. The 'disturbance' only lasts a few seconds."

Copyright Brigham Young University 5 Mar 2008