Dear Mr. Moderator:

I am writing to you because of my love for Erskine and for everyone that is involved with Erskine College in any capacity. Erskine is a great college that I thoroughly enjoy attending, but there are a few issues that have been brought to my attention and that I have seen develop while I have been there.

The Education Department has a verse that created their motto of producing “Transformational Teachers.” Romans 12:2 says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” I have seen and heard that the Education Department seems to be more concerned with molding their future teachers to the standards of this world even though this verse is placed on bulletin boards and in the minds of all Education majors from the first day of class. I understand that there are standards and procedures that students must learn in order to be effective in the schools that they are going to teach in, but without the students’ minds being transformed and renewed by Christ, these future teachers will not be as transformational as they are meant to be.

This is an issue for me because in other areas of Erskine it seems that the goal is to please man rather than God. What exactly does the motto, “Forever Connected” really mean? The students had no idea that a huge banner was going to be proudly displayed with those words. What happened to “Christian Commitment and Excellence in Learning”? Can we not proudly hang that banner up on pedestrian highway anymore? The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ should radiate on Erskine’s campus. Our love for the Lord should be contagious enough that we shouldn’t have to change our motto to something more modern or general to influence others to come. The community and fellowship of us as followers of Christ, no matter what denomination, should be inviting to others. And at the current time, it doesn’t seem as if that is what Erskine is about.

I truly love Erskine and am so glad God called me to the small, liberal arts school in the little town of Due West. I have grown in my faith and have learned from professors, janitors, other faculty and staff, community members, and fellow students. But I question at times what drives Erskine. What is the passion of Erskine? What do others see when they look at Erskine? If it is not Christ, then something needs to change.

Thank you for reading my concerns and I ask that my name be held in confidence because of concern over retribution at Erskine.

Sincerely,
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