A college president has taken a stand against the wave of students across the country complaining about how things are run at universities in the United States.
Dr. Everett Piper, president of the Christian school Oklahoma Wesleyan University, said his letter was prompted by a student complaining to him that he felt “victimized” after a sermon on a Bible verse.
“It appears that this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love! In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable,” Piper wrote in the letter, which has since gone viral through various news websites and blogs.
“I’m not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic! Any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims! Anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them ”feel bad“ about themselves, is a ‘hater,’ a ‘bigot,’ an ‘oppressor,’ and a ‘victimizer.’”
Piper said that the feeling of discomfort is actually a good thing, because it helps people improve. He noted that instead of thinking about themselves as victims, students should strive to take to heart advice on how to live better.
He added: “At OKWU, we teach you to be selfless rather than self-centered. We are more interested in you practicing personal forgiveness than political revenge. We want you to model interpersonal reconciliation rather than foment personal conflict. We believe the content of your character is more important than the color of your skin. We don’t believe that you have been victimized every time you feel guilty and we don’t issue ’trigger warnings’ before altar calls.
“Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a ’safe place,' but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn’t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that’s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that’s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up!”
Piper concluded with the following:
“This is not a day care. This is a university!”
Among those that praised Piper was conservative commentator Glenn Beck, who said the “very politically incorrect” letter should be read at every table.
The letter comes after students at schools across the country protested alleged racism and injustice, claiming in part that there aren’t enough “safe spaces” to speak their minds and discuss sensitive issues.
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