An Erskine student [name withheld by editor] attended a forum held by the Moderator’s Erskine Commission for members of the Erskine community on March 10^th; an English professor arrived late and sat next to the student in question. Immediately after the student asked commission members to respond to complaints that the commission wanted students to be indoctrinated, the English professor leaned over and called the student a “liar for Jesus.” He further told the student to “Enjoy Hell!” and that “the day of [the student’s] graduation was not soon enough.” These comments were received as derogatory, insulting, and intolerant, but the student also perceived this attempt of intimidation as harmful to his academic freedom because he was at the forum to learn about the events of the March 2010 Synod meeting and to form his own opinion about the matter. This professor’s unprofessional behavior violated the student’s rights to “learn and to expect an environment conducive to learning” which is granted to all Erskine students under the Erskine College Bill of Rights.

After these events, the student sought to address the issue with the then-Interim Academic Dean. The dean responded to the initial complaint by commenting, “I’ve had quite a few conversations with [the professor] since I’ve been Dean, and almost all of them have been something like this… I’ve cautioned him time after time… He has had a history, starting two or three years ago…where in class he would just go too far… I have noticed it over the years.” Even though this professor has a history of being “verbally hostile” and “verbally brutal,” the dean’s only response was that he would put this incident in the professor’s file, which—in the dean’s own assessment—would have little practical value.

The dean’s failure to address the complaint to the student’s satisfaction is disheartening, but even more disturbing is the fact that the dean “both defamed [the student’s] character and discouraged the resolution of [the student’s] grievance as well as the future expression of grievance by other students who will likely experience the same mistreatment.” The dean labeled the student as “dishonorable” for wishing more to be required of the professor than a simple apology, and also treated the student as if he had been at fault in this matter. More distressing than this is that the dean questioned the sincerity of the student’s faith in Christ, which the student saw as an attempt to shame and control him. After enduring this sort of treatment, the student did not wish to meet with either the English professor or the acting dean without a third party present. One of the last remarks from the dean was, “I’ve been involved in quite a few arbitrations in my time, and I can always tell when someone truly wants to resolve an issue and when they do not.  It is my view that you are not trying to reach a reasonable resolution; you are enjoying playing and dramatizing the role of victim.”

Following this treatment by the dean, an appeal was made to the president of the college for the actions of both the English professor and dean of the college. After two hours of listening to the student as he clarified his complaints, the president responded that both the English professor and dean had acted inappropriately and that actions of the professor would be dealt with first. The student appreciated both the president’s willingness to listen and the order in which the appeals would be handled.

Several weeks later, the president met with the student and presented a letter addressing the grievance with the professor, which stated the professor had apologized and promised never to behave thus in the future. If this had been the professor’s first offense, then it would have been an amicable resolution. However, in light of the professor’s long record, the student found this proposal unsatisfying. When the student asked what would be done should the professor repeat this kind of behavior in the future, the reply was that the president would be upset. Sometime after this meeting, the professor sent an email to the college faculty calling the culture of intimidation a lie. To date, the president has not contacted the student regarding the actions of the then-interim academic dean.

In appealing to the president, the student had exhausted the institution’s appeal process. The only other appeal process available that the student was aware of was an appeal to SACS. The student forwarded his appeal to SACS to the Erskine Board of Trustees for their consideration at their May meeting. The issue was never taken up during the meeting and no action was taken regarding the student’s grievance.

The professor’s rejection of the existence of a culture of intimidation at Erskine is unconvincing in the face of so much recent evidence to the contrary. Students should expect better treatment at an institution of higher learning, especially when that institution’s stated mission is to “equip students to flourish by providing an excellent liberal arts education in a Christ-centered environment.”

There are persistent, systemic problems at Erskine. The first is a lack of missional fidelity, including the culture of intimidation. The second problem, which enables and extends the first, is an institutional failure to address these problems facing Erskine. As long as these problems go unaddressed, students’ academic freedom and their right to a healthy, safe, and secure environment will be in jeopardy.

My name is [Name Removed - Eds.] and I am a 2008 graduate of Erskine College. I thoroughly enjoyed my Erskine experience and genuinely loved and appreciated my professors. It has come to my attention that some concerns have developed regarding Erskine’s commitment to integrating faith and learning in the classroom. These concerns were emerging while I was still a student, but now the situation has escalated enough to prompt current students and alumni to approach the ARP synod to ask for an inquiry into the conduct of Erskine College and its administration over the school’s mission. To summarize, Erskine College has compromised by allowing evolutionary, humanistic and secular concepts to be taught (without the criticism of a Christian worldview perspective) and by failing to stop such teachings when they first began. This, in turn, jeopardizes the students’ personal faith.

The faculty of Erskine is not stressing a Christian approach to scholarship and learning in the classrooms. Indeed, their lessons directly contradict the teachings of Scripture. According to the Statement of the Philosophy of Christian Higher Education of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, those academic institutes belonging to the ARP Church “have a responsibility to stress Christian doctrine as well as Christian ethics.” In addition, Erskine College’s mission statement expresses the desire of the school to integrate “learning and biblical truth.” However, Erskine has failed to integrate Christian principles in the classroom. For example, the science classes are permeated with Darwinian, naturalistic evolutionary theory where as nowhere in Scripture is this ideology evident. Instead, Scripture teaches that God created the world and all it contains in six days and rested on the seventh day. The faculty who teach this form of creation are bowing to the ideas of secularism and humanism that states God does not exist. By this, Erskine has undermined herself and her promise to adhere to the teachings of Christ.

Erskine College further compromised herself by failing to stop false teachings when they first began. The ARP Church’s philosophy on higher education states that the “church has the ultimate responsibility for the administrative, academic, and moral life of the college.” Thus, it is the responsibility of the ARP denomination and her leaders to ensure that Erskine College continues in the tradition of providing education based upon Scriptural truths, not the so-called truths of humanism and secularism. Despite this commitment, the ARP Church has not held the Erskine faculty and administration accountable to Erskine’s mission of providing faith combined with learning.

By teaching evolution, humanism and secularism, with no attempt to criticize them, the student’s faith is jeopardized. This jeopardizing of faith is accomplished by teachings that contradict Scripture and by professors mocking and criticizing their students’ faith (in the classroom). The ARP Church’s Philosophy on Christian higher education states that the “primary task of the College should be to guide the student into the development of a mature faith.” How can a student be given a strong foundation in the faith if he is taught theories, ideas and concepts that directly oppose the inerrant Word of God? What can be worse than to destroy the faith of a young adult? Matthew 18:6 says that “if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Erskine College is doing exactly that, causing young men and women to fall away from God by leading them away from the one true God. It would be better for Erskine to close its doors than to continue leading students down the path of humanism and secularism.

In the end, the root of Erskine’s difficulties lie in her failure to adhere to her commitment to integrating Christian principles with academics. This has lead to the presence of false teachings, the failure to stop such teachings, and the jeopardizing of the faith of students. However, before closing this letter, let me reiterate how much I love Erskine. I have a deep respect for the Faculty, Administration, Trustees and the ARP denomination. It is because of this love that I choose to write this letter. Please take these words and the words of current students and alumni seriously. I implore the Synod to examine the current state of Erskine College through a commission so that necessary changes will ensure that she is able to provide an education than integrates excellent academics with sound Biblical teachings.

Through the four years that I have spent at Erskine College I have grown in my Christian faith. God blessed me with friends, roommates, and a fiancée who share in the same faith and love for Him, and we have helped each other grow in our faith and love for Christ. Through the Bible Department at Erskine I also learned a lot about what God’s Word teaches, and it has encouraged me to have a faith that seeks understanding. However, I cannot say that Erskine College as a whole has done much to nurture my faith.

As a Biology major at Erskine, I learned much about the amazing design of God’s creation. From the atom, to molecules and cells and all the way up to the human body, it is fascinating to see how everything works together to give us bodies that can function the way they do. What a beautiful and complex universe God has created! If only that were emphasized in our studies of science at Erskine that God is the Creator and sustainer of life. There was never any emphasis on God being the Creator. In fact, He was hardly mentioned in the science classes I took at Erskine. Instead there was an evolutionary emphasis that gave no acknowledgment to God as the Creator. I understand that we need to be rigorously studying the theory of evolution, as it would be foolish and fundamentalist to simply ignore it, but we should be studying it from a Biblical perspective. While I do appreciate my science professors and much of what I learned from them, I do feel that I could have received a much deeper and more full-orbed understanding of biology had the professors taught from a perspective that acknowledges God as the Creator of the universe. The more I study biology and see the unbelievable complexity of the world at so many different levels, the more I cannot help but praise God for his wonderful and beautiful creation. I long for a Science Department at Erskine that encourages its students to do the same.

I also experienced frustration with my education at Erskine in the sociology department. In my sociology classes, ideas about social interaction, human relationships, and marriage were explained as if God did not exist. Furthermore, in learning about human sexuality, there was not a strong Christian perspective. Sex is a gift that God designed for a husband and wife, and this ought to be emphasized in a class that attempts to educate students about human sexuality. I understand that these issues will obviously be studied from a sociological angle, but conclusions that are reached should be in line with God’s Word. When talking about issues such as homosexuality, adultery, and marriage, God’s Word should be the foundation underlying all that is taught and discussed. However, this was not the case. Instead, Scripture was treated as an afterthought. A guest speaker even handed out condoms to our class full of unmarried students. What is that teaching Erskine students about sex outside of marriage? Once again, I think that these sociology classes failed to present material in light of Scripture, treating God as a mere afterthought if even mentioning Him at all. I realize the benefit of studying human life from a sociological angle, but believe that the teaching I and my classmates received was greatly lacking. Without God as the foundation of this teaching, how can one even make sense out of human relationships and sexuality?

One further example of the lack of Christian perspective in the classroom at Erskine comes from my English class. In this class, the professor taught with an extremely low view of Scripture. In trying to convince students of the veracity of the evolutionary theory, he spoke out against those who let their faith govern the way they do science. He claimed that the religious dogma taught by the Bible Department at Erskine or by the Church was corrupting our minds and thwarting our ability to gain knowledge. He even gave evolution text books out to all the students in my English class in an attempt to persuade them to accept theories of evolution. In class discussions led by the professor people could easily be led astray. I am thankful that by God’s grace, I am mature enough in my Christian faith to not be swayed by this professor’s Bible bashing. However, I fear that other students who are less mature in their Christian faith and those students who may be searching for truth could easily be led astray by his incessant and seemingly convincing arguments. At a Christian liberal arts institution this should obviously not be the case! I would consider this class a great hindrance to the nurturing of a Christian faith.

Apart from my Bible classes, the education I received at Erskine did not offer me knowledge from a Christian perspective. Instead, I had to take much of what I was taught and learn it in a way that was not offered by the professors. I imagine this approach to learning is similar to what I would receive education at a secular institution. I long to see Erskine College truly become a Christian liberal arts institution, one that encourages its students to be in the world but not of the world.

In Christ and for His glory,

Caitlyn Slattery

Class of 2009

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

I am afraid these words from James’ epistle could all too easily be addressed to Erskine College these days.  How so?  Well, let’s begin by talking about what friendship with the world means.  As my pastor explained in a recent sermon, in the ancient world, true friendship involved a sharing of interests, values, and goals.  True friends got along because they were thus aligned with each other.  It is not difficult for Christians and Christian institutions, whether intentionally or otherwise, to become so aligned with the world’s ways of thinking and of doing things that they begin to look more like their secular counterparts than like the redeemed children of God.  I believe Erskine is showing signs of this very problem.

Take, for instance, the new marketing tagline, “Forever Connected.” This is the phrase that recently adorned an Erskine welcome banner that, a year ago, could have been expected to display the words, “Christian Commitment and Excellence in Learning.” At a recent forum organized by the Student Government Association, Erskine’s Vice-President for Enrollment Management assured concerned students that Erskine is not “getting rid of” the old slogan.  The fact remains, however, that Erskine is now choosing to describe herself with this new tagline, the meaning of which is anyone’s guess, because according to the Director of Marketing and Public Relations, it sells better.  However, this new slogan tells the world nothing whatsoever about Erskine’s commitment to Christ; or, for that matter, Erskine’s academic standards

Now let’s look behind the banners and slogans to the actual day-to-day teaching at Erskine.  When, in my very first class at Erskine, the professor opened class with prayer, I thought I was in heaven.  After thirteen years in public school, I marveled to see the Christian faith unapologetically engaged in the classroom.  Unfortunately, I came to find that that professor was not the norm.  In my two years at Erskine, I have studied under twelve professors outside my major of Bible and Religion.  It would be generous to say that half of those have even mentioned Christ in the classroom, and only three or four can be said to have integrated Christianity with the content of their teaching in any meaningful way.  Most of my classes outside of the Bible Department have been taught no differently than they would have been in a secular public school.  For people who have been created and redeemed by God, who owe their lives and their very beings to Him, and who are called to do all things to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), this will not do!

Now, we can all imagine the potential differences between Christian and secular perspectives on subjects like biology or religion, but some may wonder what practical differences there could be in more seemingly neutral realms like history or math.  I believe the differences are fundamental.  The knowledge that the world we live in was fashioned and is sustained by an all-powerful, all-knowing, sovereign God should drastically change the way we look at any fact or concept.  Because we believe in a sovereign God, we know that the events of history are not random but, rather, are part of a larger, coherent story of the creation, fall, redemption, and (eventually) consummation of this world.  Only in light of this larger framework can we really understand the significance of historical facts.  We can know that one plus one is two only because we serve a God of order who has created an orderly universe and who has created human beings with the capacity to perceive and understand their surroundings in a meaningful way.  If we truly believe in a sovereign, creator God, we must understand that God is relevant to every fact (even the seemingly neutral ones) because every fact is ultimately irrelevant apart from Him!  “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).

We ought to acknowledge God and give Him praise in every class that is taught at Erskine College.  Unfortunately, it seems that many (dare I say “most”?) of the teachers at Erskine are unwilling to do so. Many Erskine professors imply, by the totally secular character of their teaching, that they do not believe that the Bible is the perfect, inerrant, inspired word of God or that the Creator of the world is Lord over the facts.  At least one professor has been openly attacking the authority of Scripture and its relevance in the classroom for years.  Erskine claims to acknowledge the lordship of Christ and to provide students with a “Christ-centered environment where learning and biblical truth are integrated,” but in actuality, we consign faith to one sphere of life and facts to another, holding them in tension rather than in unity.  We cozy up to the world in academics but try to hold onto Christ at arm’s length.

I say “we,” because I, as an Erskine student, have by no means done all I could to acknowledge God in my classes and daily life or to hold Erskine accountable for doing so.  That is why I am writing this.  I do not want to be, as Rev. Douglas Petersen put it in his baccalaureate sermon at Erskine, one of the “boo birds” who sit on the bleachers complaining rather than doing something to help—but there is only so much I can do.  I am not complaining.  I am pleading.  I am begging for the prayers of my brothers and sisters in Christ and for action on the part of the ARP General Synod.  Brothers and sisters, please pray that God will work in the hearts of the students, faculty, administration, and board of Erskine College.  Delegates to the Synod, please reach out to reclaim and restore this weakened arm of the Church.  And Erskine students and faculty, please prayerfully consider whether repentance is in order and how we all may more faithfully give glory to God in all that we do at Erskine.

The Erskine administration will probably say, as it has in the past, that the above concerns are only the concerns of a few and, therefore, not legitimate.  Even if it is true (as I do not believe it is) that only a few students are concerned about the unfaithfulness of Erskine College, does that make those concerns illegitimate?  Did not only two of the twelve men sent to spy out the Promised Land believe that God could give it to them (Numbers 13)?  Did not Micaiah alone prophesy truly to King Ahab, when four hundred prophets told him what he wanted to hear (1 Kings 22)?  If we serve a God who cares for the outcast and the oppressed, who chooses the weak to shame the strong, and who guides His children through the narrow gate when many pass through the broad, would we not do well to listen to the few?

An example of how I’ve felt that faith and learning have been separated in the classroom is best found in one of my experiences as a freshman in a History class. First, I must say that the class itself was of high academic standard. It was a challenge and a wonderful learning experience. However, when discussing world religions, the question, “Can there be a monopoly on truth?” was raised. Studying other religions allowed me to expand the way I think about my faith and whether or not I believe it is the truth. However, in concluding the lessons on “What is truth?” there never was an appeal that Christianity is the truth. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. This is what I thought Erskine supported as the institution of learning for the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. I understand that it is hard to integrate faith into every classroom session, and again, in no way do I want Erskine to be a safe haven of Christian students. However, in such a topic, I am concerned that even the fact that the institution stands on the truth that Christ is Truth was not mentioned. I have experienced this same neglect of integrating faith in learning in many other classrooms and other disciplines.

I have enjoyed my years at Erskine, and I do feel well educated. However, I at times regret that I did not seek out an institution that would have given me a much better Christian worldview to take into the world when I graduate next May. Erskine is a fine institution, but it needs to seek out being the institution committed to Christian commitment, not just excellence in learning, or excellence in the sports arena.

-Anonymous,
Class of 2010

Dear Mr. Moderator,

As a rising junior at Erskine College I am concerned with the direction of this academic institution as a whole. Specific incidents which I have experienced as part of the Erskine Community testify to an increasingly predominate attitude among Erskine faculty and administration where the true message of Christ meets diminishing attention and increasing scorn. I must assume that the majority of the members of the ARP general assembly have hitherto been unaware of the predominance of this attitude or have been unable to or unwilling to act upon their knowledge thereof. While I pray that awareness will lead to action, in this letter I hope to give some evidence for this attitude which I have spoken of. It should be noted that isolation, indifference, and silence do far more damage than any outright attack against Erskine College. Thus, I only offer negatives: I will attempt to point out where Christ should be and how he is not.

Christ should be in our finances. I must admit that I have little knowledge of the financial inter-workings of this institution. However, impressions are important, and I will give you mine. Large sums of money are marshaled for the entertainment of the students while the Christian ministries languish far behind in funding. Though I do not consider entertainment an illegitimate enterprise, any institutional philosophy emphasizing entertainment above Christian ministry cannot call itself “Christian”.

Christ should govern the administrative guidance of the students. Erskine Student Services recently put together a leadership development conference for the school’s student led organizations. The conference was designed to inform student leaders of their responsibilities and to motivate them toward effective leadership. Never in discussing this important topic (which is seen as a ministry by some) did the administration attempt to convey a Christian understanding of and motivation for effective leadership. This silence with regards to the Christian message represents what we as students have come to expect from our administrators. On the ground, this institution behaves as if without the truth of Scripture.

Christ should be in our classes. We at Erskine are blessed with some wonderful professors—professors who love and serve Christ to the utmost while expressing excellence in their fields. However, we also have many professors who (knowingly or not) teach ideas contrary to the message of Christ. Under these professors, I have studied history from a staunch humanist perspective and literature devoid of any biblical understanding of the human natures responsible for the studied works. In making this claim against the worldviews of some Erskine professors, I represent a much larger group of students who have independently expressed similar concerns dealing with professors outside of my experience; this is not a small problem at a professedly Christian institution.

Recently, one of our long-time professors publicly asserted that the ideological restrictions upon Erskine professors necessarily weaken the academic quality of the institution. Given a humanistic, naturalistic worldview, this claim is reasonable. However, a trust in God’s word produces a conviction that those who adhere to the Christian faith have, in their belief, a great advantage—even in academics—over those who do not. One need only look to Covenant College, PC, Wheaton, Belhaven, and the number of highly respected and thoroughly Christian institutions across the nation to answer the claim that too-few quality, Christian professors exist.

These are the concerns of one who, however failingly, strives to serve the Lord of the Christian faith as revealed in the Scriptures and through the witness of the Holy Spirit and the saints. For the edification of my own soul and the souls of all Erskine students I pray that Christ will continue to work through you, his servant, to draw glory to himself.

In Christ,

Hudson Smith
Class of 2011

I believe in the Christian Liberal Arts and I love Erskine’s commitment to Jesus Christ and to excellence in education. However, I would like to see us take those commitments from a dusty plaque on the wall and turn it into action.

I knew Erskine was in trouble before I came here. I was told by many people outside of Erskine and outside of the ARP that Erskine was in desperate need of change. I came here because I believe in God’s power to redeem this school and I wanted to be a part of it.

As a transfer student I was deeply discouraged my first semester here because in my classroom experience only one professor attempted to integrate faith and academics, and that was Dr. Weatherman. This lack of emphasis on the Gospel in the classroom and in the general college atmosphere is what I have perceived to be the norm at Erskine. But by the grace of God and reminders of his sovereignty I’ve learned to love Erskine. This doesn’t mean I love everything about it. I am learning to accept Erskine for what it is without accepting it has to stay this way.

If your goal is to reach lost students and encourage Christian students in the faith I implore you to take a good look at Erskine. I’m not sure why it’s so controversial at a Christian school to say but please help us make the gospel the center of Erskine College. Help us to bring God into our classrooms and love back to the campus.

1 Thessalonians 2:4: “…we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts”

In Christ,

Kathleen Smith
Class of 2011

Dear Mr. Moderator,

I am writing to you with concern about Erskine College. I am a rising junior Psychology major at the college, and I love the school dearly. As a student there, I have learned very much academically and joined several of the extracurricular groups, such as Student Ministry at the Barn, Judicial Council, and working at campus sporting events. There is no doubt in my mind that Erskine has the opportunity to send most of its students, if not all of them, out and ready into the world.

However, I also would like to tell you of the changes occurring in Erskine that may compromise its future. The college was founded to encourage growth academically and spiritually through the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, as a very involved student, I see little on the part of the Administration being done to encourage the Christian spiritual growth of the students. I would even go as far as to say that the Mission Statement as well as the motto, “scientia cum moribus conjuncta” (“knowledge joined with morals”) are just words used to dress up our school so that it seems more “Christian” to outsiders. It is almost near to adorning a house with new paint, shutters, and beautiful landscaping, only to find out the house is empty inside.

If you were to visit Erskine today, you would find that it is a house divided. Of course there will be separate groups within a college, like any other school, but this division falls deeper than mere cliques. Many people are unhappy at the school. The school itself does not know what to be when marketing itself to prospective students, so once students do arrive, they do not know what to be either. Erskine markets its roots with the church to the people it thinks are “church-going” individuals, and then markets its endless array of activities to the “other” crowd. While it is important for a school to have activities for its students, I guarantee that only a small percentage of the students are the ones that actually take part in most of the extra-curriculars, organizations, etc. This leaves the rest of the student-body twiddling its thumbs and packing up to leave on the weekends. While this does not appear to be a problem having to do with faith, it is! Our school is being vague in its identity. Without a true connection to the Lord being set honestly before them, our Admissions Department is being sent out to collect students either for or indifferent to Christ-centeredness, and both populations are showing up to Erskine and finding that nothing they were shown really exists! The Admissions office’s leadership has even gone as far as to script questions and answers to be performed by students in front of prospective students and their parents. In previous years, parents would ask questions, and a panel of current students would answer honestly.

Campus Ministry at Erskine College is struggling to survive amongst the Administration. The one department that should be supported, equally to Academics and over everything else, is hardly given room to breathe. Erskine Entertainment Board, which is admittedly important to student life, is given nearly eighty thousand dollars a year to entertain students with concerts, movies, etc. Campus Ministry at Erskine, even if given a small office budget, has to survive mostly off of donations given by churches and individuals. While this is generous, I find it difficult to believe that a school founded on Christian principles hardly supports its Campus Ministry at all.

Most of the students can agree on one thing: we are all disappointed that Dr. Don Weatherman, Dean of Academics and Vice President of the college, will be leaving us next year. Many of the students believed that he would do nearly anything for them to be successful in school. Additionally, he was one of the main supporters of Campus Ministry at Erskine. Without him there, I am afraid that the last string has been cut to keeping this college unified.

Erskine Admissions has a new slogan: Forever Connected. This is an undirected slogan that could be interpreted in any way. A slogan so vague gives just as much insight into the inner workings of the school as any letter written. As I graduate, I would like to be certain that I came from a school that joined Christian Commitment to Excellence in Learning. Are we headed in a direction where Erskine remains Christian affiliated? Are current students begging their younger friends to apply to Erskine? I believe not. Within the next few years I believe Erskine will not truly be committed to Christian values, other than a motto about morals. I believe the campus will become more divided as Erskine flounders about in trying to decide an identity. And I believe that the Administration will continue to let the students believe that they are making a difference at the school with countless forums, panels, and student-led discussion intended to placate the population.

So as you evaluate Erskine College, know that there are students who care deeply about the future of the school. Please hold Erskine accountable and do not let it fall into the category of another relativistic college. Academically, we have the strength to compete with any other school. Give us the added benefit of preparing us to minister to the world outside of college once we graduate. Challenge us to stand firm in our faith for Jesus Christ, and foster its growth within the Erskine walls. Once we graduate, we will have more knowledge and capability to reach out to others around us.

In Christ,

Catherine Howle
Class of 2011

Dear Dr. Ruble,

Greetings! As I prepare to leave Erskine, I have been processing my four years here as a student and the past two years of my involvement as a student leader. While I have seen God at work in many ways during my time at Erskine and appreciate the positive aspects of the Erskine community, I leave Erskine with the concern that Erskine is not headed in the right direction at multiple levels. I write to you today to share those concerns with you.

One of the reasons that I came to Erskine was because it advertised itself as a Christian liberal arts college where, as Dr. Weatherman would so often say, we bring together reason and revelation. I remain convinced that Erskine’s formal commitment to the integration of “learning and biblical truth” and to a “Christ-centered environment” constitutes a vision for an excellent Christian liberal arts education that seeks to equip Christians to faithfully serve Christ in their churches, families, and vocations and to reach unbelievers with the hope of the Gospel. Sadly, instead what I have observed during my four years here is a grievous gap that is steadily growing between that formal mission and the practical condition of Erskine in its administration, faculty, and community life.

Concerning the Administration, I have seen a glaring and consistent pattern of the evasion and suppression of Erskine’s mission. The starkest example of this concerned the 2008 Strategic Plan. With the approval of the new mission statement, there was a tremendous opportunity to move Erskine forward toward being more faithful to its mission. Instead, the mission was not practically front-and-center in the planning process. Given your frequent comments on the importance of being Christ-centered, why did not you provide stronger definition and leadership for what that would mean in the planning process? Why do we now have an Admissions process that emphasizes “faith” more than “Christ”, which substitutes vague and vacuous phrases such as “Forever Connected” for a vigorous attempt to market Erskine as a Christian liberal arts college? Such vagueness shamefully uses the name of Christ as a mantra to cover Erskine’s lack of institutional integrity…

Unfortunately, that is but one of the examples of the many gaps between Erskine’s stated mission and how things are actually done. While our mission commits us to the integration of “learning and biblical truth”, many faculty members (beside Dr. Crenshaw, who is only the most extreme example!) openly oppose or evade the integration of Christian faith with learning. Why is it that since our new mission was approved I have heard more and more reports from my fellow students about professors (not just in one department, but in many) who teach from a basically secular perspective? There are unfortunately too many stories I could tell of seeing Christian students come into Erskine only to have their faith weakened or destroyed because of how their professors compartmentalize Christianity and learning, and elevate reason and the individual over God’s revelation and the journey of faith in Christ. These things should not be so at a Christian liberal arts college.

Finally, during my two years as an SLA, I have seen our student body become more divided, more disgruntled, and more frustrated. Students are frustrated about many things across the spectrum, from rising tuition to the lack of Christian commitment to fearing that there is too much Christian commitment. Our campus culture is split between mediocrity and overextendedness. Why is there such fragmentation and division? Yes, we live in a broken and sinful world and we will never reach perfection in this life. But what else can we really have but disunity when the historical, living Christ of Scripture is not the center of our campus life, not the center of the vision of Admissions, and not the center of our classrooms? This is not to suggest that we should only have Christian students or that we should not engage human thought in its diversity; rather, it is to suggest that behind Erskine’s problems with retention, with the lack of school spirit, and with the general lack of a truly Gospel-centered campus life lies the failure of the Administration and the Board to be committed to implementing Erskine’s mission in the fullness of its Christ-centered vision.

I have prayed and will continue to pray for you, and for Erskine College. I have presented these concerns to you because I love Erskine, because I love our students, and (most of all) because I want to see Erskine be faithful to Christ as the ministry of the ARP Church in Christian higher education. Thank you for reading this, and for your acts of service to Erskine and to its students.

In Christ,

Joshua Grimm
Chair, Student Life Council, 2008-09
Student Life Assistant, Grier Dorm, 2007-09
Member, Steering Committee, Erskine College Strategic Plan, 2007-08
Editor-in-Chief, The Erskine Mirror, 2007-08

Cc: Dr. John R. deWitt
Cc: Mr. Steve Maye
Cc: Mr. Gordon Query
Cc: Mr. Scott Mitchell