By Madelyn Braho · Staff Writer
Get ready Grove City — another politician is coming to town. This year’s commencement speaker is U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul hails from Pittsburgh and has been involved in conservative politics and the tea party since his childhood, attending the Republican National Convention with his father, presidential candidate and Texas Representative Ron Paul.
Of course, like any politician, Paul has said and done a variety of things that do not line up nicely with anyone’s idea of the perfect political stance. He is pro-life, anti-gay marriage and has sided with Bernie Sanders and Democrats, as well as been a repeat guest on Alex Jones’s Infowars. He has advocated for federal level medical cannabis legalization and has consistently broke the party line on bills, sometimes blocking legislation because of the potential financial cost.
While Paul will likely be a fairly inoffensive choice to many Grovers, the question remains: Why another politician? Former Vice President Mike Pence has taught classes at the college, and our own President Paul McNulty was deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush.
Grove City College has been a politically minded campus for a long time, but in the context of other recent changes, the choice of speaker is notable.
Between the statement of faith controversy and the new presence of Turning Point on campus, Grove City College is becoming even more politically vocal than before. But what is the point? Are we still fighting a culture war?
Trump is in office, the army kidnapped the president of Venezuela and Roe v. Wade has been overturned for years. Conservatism is not the underdog. And yet it seems like conservatives are posturing and afraid.
Moves like trying to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War and making it more difficult for the fewer than 10 trans college athletes to play do not seem like the actions of fearless people.
Christians are not called to act in fear or to lash out. When Peter cut off the ear of a man arresting Jesus, Jesus told Peter off and healed the man. Even when his life was in actual danger, Jesus did not retaliate. Attempting to get one up on political opponents or to win some kind of one-sided war with them is un-Christian.
Paul being our commencement speaker is not the problem, nor is it necessarily a problem at all. But considering all the political chaos happening in the country currently, why are we as a college trying to tie ourselves more closely to it? Why could we not have had a businessman, a pastor, a writer or some other notable person speak?
Do we really need more politics at Grove City? Could we not instead lean on our history as a Christian academic institution, and not push for further politicization? For me, when I don my cap and gown to receive my degree from Grove City College, my hope would be for a commencement speech that encourages a brighter future that we can make together, not more political division.
