As a student at Saint Louis University, I wish to speak to the comments made by our basketball coach. However, when I speak in public, I know that I am more then a student. Learning from past experience (at only 20 years of age), I must understand that, when in public, I always represent organizations in which I hold leadership, such as the Vice President of Students for Life or as a Senator from the College of Education and Public Service in the Student Government Association.
SLU is a Catholic, Jesuit university that has expectations for each student. High standards, opportunities to become men and women for others and the exploration of knowledge toward truth are some expectations that the university upholds for students.
That being said, SLU administrators have displayed a double standard through their failure to hold each other to the same level of expectations. When Coach Rick Majerus voiced his pro-choice opinions, he knowingly misrepresented SLU.
Biondi, in his 51st year as a Jesuit, recently wrote in the President’s January Message to all students, “Truly, I am proud of all that you accomplish and how well you represent our University.”
Limitations of representation are not defined as merely on the court, but they extend to every aspect of SLU’s community, no matter where this may be located or how small in which the community is represented.
The double standard has been proven through the university’s lack of action. Fearing further questions of academic freedom of expression, the University’s bashfulness appears to have led to a contradiction in their own teachings as a Jesuit institute. In Standing for the Unborn, the Society of Jesus in the United States writes, on the second page, that, “abortion is a human rights issue. It is also a social issue, and not simply a personal decision made in artificial isolation from wider social reality. Attempts to frame the issue as merely a question of personal preference or private choice ignore important features of abortion as a public policy.”
Therefore, a nationally known figure at SLU should not be advocating against the Jesuit mission merely because he defines it as a personal preference.
Reprimand is not what I seek for Majerus. I hope and pray that he may find conversion after having further explored the truths of the abortion issue. Rather, I seek a university that is willing to stand for its beliefs, values, and morals boldly, especially when they are called into question. I eagerly await SLU’s response to this opportunity to clearly articulate and uphold the principles upon which it stands by stating its views on abortion. Until then, I remain disappointed in my university.
Kevin Grillot is a sophomore in the College of Education and Public Service.
