at one point) someone who disaffiliated himself from the Church (whether or not to join another religion or church) was under a different rule than someone who came to BYU as a non-member of the LDS Church. The latter individual could get an endorsement from a faith leader in a different faith, but the former individual wasn't eligible (as I understood it).

I know about the Luke Ashworth situation, but I understood that the official rules are as I explained them above. So I don't know how to explain Ashworth's situation. Perhaps it helped that he was a football player and had an organization to help him work through things. Or its possible that I'm completely wrong. But BYU students have claimed over the years that the endorsement rules required them to remain in the Church, even when they no longer believed it, in order to be able to finish their degree, and I believe some CB posters have posted those rules here at one point.