Taylor University’s decision to host Vice President Mike Pence as its commencement speaker has not gone over well with many of its students and alumni.
An online petition on Change.org is urging university officials to rescind the invitation over Pence’s complicity in various Trump Administration policies which signatories believe are not in consonance with the “Christian ethic of love.”
“Inviting Vice President Pence to Taylor University and giving him a coveted platform for his political views makes our alumni, faculty, staff and current students complicit in the Trump-Pence Administration’s policies,” the petition reads.
Jennifer Bourland, an alumnus who signed the petition, expressed disappointment over the invitation to the commencement ceremony, which will be held on May 18.
“It highlights politicized rhetoric of the mainstream Evangelical church in the United States that is divisive and exclusive to minorities, including immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community, and people of color,” she wrote while signing the petition.
The petition has received 4,200 signatures as of April 16.
The university announced its decision to invite Pence last week, issuing a statement about his various achievements during his tenure as governor of the state of Indiana.
“We welcome the Vice President and his wife, Karen Pence, to this 173-year-old premier institution of Christian higher education, and thank them for their love and service for our nation, our state, and our institution,” Dr. Paul Lowell Haines, the president of Taylor University, said.
“Mr. Pence has been a good friend to the University over many years, and is a Christian brother whose life and values have exemplified what we strive to instill in our graduates,” Haines added.
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