Dear Mr. Moderator,

Recently, I completed my second year at Erskine College. Over these two years, I have grown to love the campus, the professors, and my peers. However, these two years have also given me the chance to see many of Erskine’s problems. I write this letter to you, Mr. Moderator, because I believe these problems to be severe. As a member of the ARP Church, it is my desire to inform you of my concerns in the hopes that the ARPC will protect and shepherd God’s people and glorify her Lord.

I became especially concerned about the direction of Erskine after a conversation I had with a woman from my home church, First ARP Gastonia. She wanted to know what I thought about the campus. She said that after visiting the campus and hearing the President, she doubted whether she could send her daughter to Erskine in good conscience. She doubted that her daughter would find a healthy environment at Erskine in which her daughter could truly develop spiritually. I told her that although there are some faithful professors and the ministry of the Barn at Erskine, her perception was correct. I wish could have told her the opposite. However, because of my first-hand experiences I could not in good faith recommend Erskine to her. The following are some of my concerns about Erskine. I believe they are worthy of the attention of the ARP Church.

Recently, students were given the opportunity to voice their concerns to the administration. Although I was grateful for the opportunity, the forum only re-enforced my suspicions and furthered my fears about Erskine. I asked the Admissions office why they de-emphasized Christian commitment. As an interviewer for the presidential scholarship, I observed that the name Jesus Christ was noticeably absent. In response, the Vice-President for Enrollment Management said, “Faith was a question in the interview process, and I’m sorry if it wasn’t the wording you wanted.” Sadly, this response reveals much. My question was not about the wording but about a person –the Lord Jesus Christ. Or if one prefers that administrator’s rhetoric, why were the two most important words missing: Jesus Christ? What message does this send to current and prospective students, to our covenant children and to the lost we are trying to reach?

Please do not misunderstand this concern. I do not expect nor desire Erskine to be a closed campus, one that accepts only professing Christian students. My concern is that Erskine is shying away from implementing its stated Christian commitment, as I believe it is. Although I do not expect all students to have faith in Christ, is it too much to expect our top administrators to reflect strong Christian commitment which can be seen in the decisions they make and the policies that they implement at Erskine?

The Vice-President for Enrollment Management made another alarming comment during this forum. “As Dr. Ruble has said before, being a Christian liberal arts college is the hardest kind of school to be. Some want Christianity over academics, and there are some who want academics over faith.” Such a comment is very disturbing. First, this comment undermines and contradicts the College’s formal mission given by the ARP Church which supports Erskine through the tithes of its congregations. Secondly, this view misrepresents Christianity. Christianity is a unifying principle for all of life, not simply some compartment of life. The issue at Erskine is not Christianity vs. academics. Students should be taught how to employ both their minds and their hearts in light of Christ’s supremacy. However, that administrator’s statement implies that faith and reason cannot and should not be integrated. In other words, what one learns in the classroom can be divorced from God and the death of Christ. Clearly, this statement demonstrates that our administration does not understand the mission of Erskine College. Does Dr. Ruble support this mission-contradicting statement? If he does not share Mr. O’Cain’s view why, then, does Dr. Ruble support him? Is our mission unimportant? Is it of so little consequence that top administrators can deny it? Again, what message does this send?

Unfortunately, this failure to understand Erskine’s mission is not limited to the Administration. This failure can also be seen in Erskine’s professors and the classroom…Although there are some faithful professors – which I am indeed grateful for –the majority of faculty are in reality unfaithful to Erskine’s mission. My peers and I have found that often Christ is at best a footnote within the classroom.

Another event highlights the unfaithfulness that can be seen in the classroom. This past January I took a class on Atheism. This class was intended to be an honest yet critical study of the subject. The professor teaching this class faithfully instructed our class. However, a particular instance occurred during this class. One day, the class walked in to find an article scattered among room. The article was left by another Erskine professor who apparently felt disturbed by our critical investigation of the topic of evolution. The article was a political cartoon which depicted all those who do not accept evolution as flat out idiots. Shortly, after this event the professor who was teaching this class found a Darwin fish hanging on his door. On one level these actions taken against these students and professor are simply childish. However, on another level these actions are alarming. Are such actions conducive to a healthy learning environment? I think not. Students and professors should be given the opportunity to explore pressing issues without coercion.

Lastly, the ethos of the campus is one of general dissatisfaction. As a Student Life Assistant in the freshman dorm I am well-acquainted with the concerns of other students. Many students simply do not want to be here at Erskine. Many feel that Erskine promoted itself as something it was not. Some feel betrayed and deceived. Although not everyone agrees on the root problems here at Erskine, most are keenly aware that something is not right. The campus lacks school spirit and genuine community. Frankly, it seems that the one thing students do agree on is they are unhappy with Erskine and its administration. The dissatisfaction of students and the subsequent poor retention rate indicate a serious crisis of identity, one which has not been given the attention it deserves.

I would like to humbly suggest that the only way to resolve this identity crisis is for Erskine to (in the words of Dr. Weatherman in the May issue of The Erskine Mirror) “embrace the mission”, to faithfully implement it in accordance with the standards of the ARP Church and in submission to Scripture, the infallible and inerrant Word of God. Please help us toward that end.

In Christ,

Zachary Keuthan
Class of 2011