Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
The Young America’s Foundation (YAF) reported that the University of Northwestern, a Christian institution in Minnesota, didn’t want Star Parker, founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, to speak at a campus event.
The school’s YAF chapter president, Hayley Tschetter, asked the school’s administrators what was going on.
Tschetter requested details from UNW administrators, and on February 20, they responded via email, saying their “main concern is that it is an open event.”
Apparently “it would be different if you were having a speaker just come speak to your club. Speakers open to all UNW students would have more strictness” explained the email before turning to ad hominem attacks on Star Parker’s character:
“There were quite a few concerns about Star. Our staff has been very adamant about bringing speakers to campus who educate and expand worldviews, but we really don’t bring speakers who radically hold beliefs that UNW as a whole would not agree with,” states the email. “In the past UNW has stayed away from sensationalized speakers. I foresee us continuing to do this. After reviewing some of Star’s material online we didn’t feel she was a good fit for our community.”
They called Star Parker, a pro-lifer who believes in what makes America great — capitalism, Christianity, and the Constitution — “sensationalized” and not a “good fit” to speak at a Christian institution.
“I accepted UNW YAF’s gracious invitation to defend life and traditional Christian principles,” Star said in a statement. “Abortion has devastated the black community and is the moral crisis of our time. Christian universities are precisely where this urgent discussion should be happening.”
The school offered this explanation on its Facebook page:
The University has prayerfully considered how to best address the concerns over Ms. Parker’s appearance on campus. First, student clubs are not permitted to host community-wide, externally-focused events, and any outside speaker to campus must be approved by the University prior to the invitation. Unfortunately, the event was marketed to the public before a signed contract was in place, which makes the University look like it “uninvited” Ms. Parker. The University procedures were simply not followed.
We have a history of welcoming healthy dialogue from various viewpoints, but within an atmosphere that allows the University to guide the process and event. We passionately agree with Ms. Parker’s strong pro-life stance.
This is an unfortunate situation, and we are grieved that it has caused concern and confusion for our students and our broader community.
So which is it — was Star barred from speaking because YAF didn’t follow procedure or because she was “not fit”?
Most of the so called “Christian” universities are that in name only. This just proves the point!
I wish Star could speak to all young people Every Day!
LOL! Self contradicting statements from some “Christian University,” or any other university is surprising in this PC controlled culture? The day of the FREEDOM to express differing ideas at some “institution of ‘higher’ learning” ended shortly after Bernardine Dorhn and Bill Ayers (Weather Underground founders) were given ‘professorships’ at two “Institutions of Indoctrination” in Chicago. In the following decades, nearly every former institution of ‘education’ became a processing plant to brainwash/indoctrinate America’s young minds full of mush!