Disinvite Pence to Speak at Graduation? This College President is Standing Up to Leftists

The president of Taylor University, a private, Christian institution in Indiana, has refused to cave to disgruntled leftists asking the school to rescind Vice President Mike Pence’s invitation to speak at the graduation ceremony next month.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins wrote in his Washington Update (emphasis added):

Despite the headlines and some manufactured hysteria, Taylor President Lowell Haines has no intentions of backing down. He praised the vice president as a “good friend to the University over many years,” and “a Christian brother whose life and values have exemplified what we strive to instill in our graduates.” Sure, there’s been feedback from both sides of the aisle, he explained. But he’s not about to let LGBT intolerance hijack his campus. “Taylor University is an intentional Christian community that strives to encourage positive, respectful and meaningful dialogue,” and “we look forward to hosting the vice president next month.”

Newsweek reported on the “backlash,” which prompted a petition to disinvite the vice president.

“Inviting Vice President Mike Pence to Taylor University makes our alumni, faculty, staff and current students complicit in the Trump Administration’s policies, which we believe are not consistent with an ethic of love,” the petition said.

People who identified as current students and alumni signed the petition, with one person commenting that the upcoming speech made them “ashamed” of their alma mater. Others expressed that they would no longer be supporting the educational institution. Another suggested Democratic presidential candidate Peter Buttigieg would have been a better choice.

Let’s hope Lowell Haines continues to uphold Christian values, stand against tyranny, and protect free speech and the marketplace of ideas.