My Email to Regent University's Executive Leadership

Good morning,

I am an alumni of the Regent University College of Arts & Sciences. I am emailing Regent's executive leadership concerning the Trump rally that was held at the university last Saturday.

I am extremely disappointed in the University for failing to raise a voice of dissent against such a man as Donald Trump. In the news article accompanying the rally, the event is said to have been from a "desire to expose Regent students to a variety of thought-leaders within the political process." I understand the logic but ultimately think it falls apart.

First of all, a campaign rally 2 weeks before an election is not an exercise in exposing students to political thought and leadership. You gave Donald Trump a platform on which he could rally for support in the home stretch of his presidential run.

Secondly, you gave Donald Trump a platform. Donald Trump, who is play-acting as Christian in order to manipulate evangelicals to vote for him. Donald Trump, who has been accused of sexual assault by over a dozen women. Donald Trump, who has continually been vulgar and childish, and has again and again advocated dangerous ideas, like the use of war crimes and extreme discrimination.

Regent inspires to raise up “Christian leaders to change the world." You do not change the world for the better by supporting a tyrannical, self-interested fraud. You do not change the world for the better by supporting a sexual predator. You do not change the world for the better by supporting a man who spits at what is godly and despises what is Christ-like.

Humility. Service. Compassion. Love. Self-sacrifice. These are the characteristics of Christ. Trump has clearly demonstrated that he doesn’t care about them at all. How can you possibly give a platform to such a man?

Even worse, you let vendors sell horrifying merchandise on the Regent campus--shirts that say "Trump that b*itch!", shirts that depict Trump urinating on Hillary's name, posters of targets over Hillary's face that say "Killary Rotten Clinton." That you can be a Christian university and give opportunity to this kind of hate culture is absolutely astonishing to me.

I am incredibly disappointed in my alma mater. The world is watching, and instead of raising up a prophetic Christian voice, you gave a demagogue a platform. I can only hope that there were students and faculty and staff who protested. If there weren't, then I can be sure that there was no Christian voice heard at Regent on Saturday, October 22, 2016.