To President Pastides and the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees,
The University of South Carolina will confer upon Rev. G. Bryant Wright the honorary degree of humane letters at this year’s commencement exercises. As seniors preparing to graduate in just a couple weeks, we vehemently oppose this conferral and call on university officials to reconsider bestowing upon Rev. Wright the highest honor given any by our university, whose Latin motto, Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros, aptly sums up our belief that “learning humanizes character and does not permit it to be cruel.”
As president of the Southern Baptist Convention and as the founder of Right from the Heart Ministries, Wright leads a denomination that has used its religious beliefs to justify its opposition to hate crimes legislation that would provide gays and lesbians the same protections afforded other minority groups. He leads a denomination that has publicly opposed a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell that would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in our armed forces. In short, Wright leads a denomination that believes that gays and lesbians in this country are second-class citizens, undeserving of the same rights and privileges granted to others who live in a nation that believes that “all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Sure, we understand that there are many who oppose the aforementioned policies. As students who believe that reasonable people can disagree about issues of our day, we understand that people in this country have the right to be on the wrong side of history. We understand that Wright and others may never see the world the way we do. But we refuse to believe that a university that prides itself on being a place that “discourages bigotry” should bestow upon any religious leader, such as Wright, such an esteemed honor.
When Wright is presented with his honorary degree, it will not come from President Pastides or the board of trustees. It will come from the University of South Carolina — an institution of more than 28,000 students from every walk of life. As you think about what this conferral will mean, we encourage you to think about those gay and lesbian students who have invited their friends and family to join them on one of the most important days of their lives.
Think of how they must feel knowing that the university they have come to love sees fit to commend a religious leader who, through his work, has helped create a society that sees them as undeserving of rights afforded others, simply because of their sexual orientation. And if that is not enough to make you reconsider your decision, we encourage you to re-read the Carolinian Creed that you so often talk about. And if after reading it, you aren’t moved to pick up the phone and tell Rev. Wright that you have had a change of heart, we would ask that you consider re-writing the fourth tenet of that Creed.
Sincerely,
Taylor Cain, Fourth-year history student and former student body vice president
Hakeem Jefferson, Fourth-year political science student and senior columnist for The Daily Gamecock