To the president, board, major donors, faculty and staff of Grove City College:

The backlash from students, faculty, and alumni over your recent (last-minute) decision to host Dr. Ben Carson at the 2016 Commencement speech is unwarranted, childish, and does not reflect the intellectual and moral integrity of the institution.

Dr. Ben Carson, unlike so many in the political climate today, is a decent man of incomparable talent who has done much to advance the study of medicine and the name of Christ in his lifetime.To think that such a man would be lambasted and denigrated by members of the Grove City College family because of a recent political endorsement is surprising enough. To hear there is a petition to oppose this man speaking at commencement is sickening.

Blinded by the red haze of self-righteous political opinion, these enraged petitioners seek to overlook the character and quality of Dr. Carson in a cheap attempt to thumb their noses at the supposed vast right-wing conspiracy and possibly get some media attention while doing it. All the while, they ignore the purpose of higher education. Aristotle writes of the importance of "unity" and "diversity" (where we get the term "university") to beatify diverse ideas in a single environment.

This free exchange of opinion and ideas makes us stronger. My senior capstone paper at Grove City College was to write a Marxist critique of the American Dream, finding it to be more of a nightmare for the working class. As a card-carrying member of the patriarchy and the vast right-wing conspiracy, I was not comfortable with analyzing literature through such a lens. Indeed, at times I was offended! But I am a better student for it. To paraphrase Sun Tzu and Aristotle in trans-cultural matrimony: Know thy enemy; understand without agreement. The aforementioned petitioners however, see such exchange as offensive.

How sad is it to see the college that helped shape me into a man fall prey to such impotent and childish behavior. To generate fabricated outrage over an endorsement that is but a speck of dust in an extensive and impressive career is laughable. Please ignore any and all attempts to bully you into changing your decision.

If Faith and Freedom truly do matter, we must at all costs defend the college's freedom to select whomever they wish for commencement. Heeding the reactionary petition of the vindicated few would send Grove City spiraling down the beaten path of safe-spaces and other left-wing drivel that is purported by university leadership paralyzed by the sanctimonious sensitivities of their student bodies. What makes Grove City so special is that it is not Brown University, or Mizzou, or any other college that has been ravaged by Social Justice Warriors. It pursues truth, and that truth sets us free.

Lastly, to the "outraged" students, faculty, and alumni of the college: Get over it. If you don't like it, you don't have to donate. Stop behaving like a gaggle of petulant Social Justice Warriors and engage those whom you disagree with reason.

Let President McNulty and the Board do the job they are hired to do.

With warmest affection and deepest respect, we pledge our lives, our land, and our sacred honor (what's left of it)

Ethan Mitchell '15

Evan Burns '15

George Barr '15

Sadie McNulty (name withheld for protection of identity) '15