Sad

A sad event has recently occured at my beloved school. One of my favorite professors was asked to resign. He is not the run-of-the-mill Hope teacher, he is very liberal and outspoken about his views. I took a class from him called "Liberation Theology" and it pushed me to think about all aspects of my faith, strengthening it and stretching it to its limits. I grew so much in his class, and his perspective - being so different from so many people at Hope - truly changed my college experience. I would not be who I am or know what I know without his help. He is very outspoken about his beliefs, and though this challenged me positively, it proved to be his downfall here. He wrote an article in the local paper (he has a bi-weekly column) about a statement made by James Dobson of Focus on the Family about Spongebob Squarepants. In it, he pointed out the intolerance and power imbalance he felt was evident in Dobson's statement. Dobson soon after wrote a follow-up article to the paper, calling the professor mean-spirited, closed-minded, and rude. He closed the article with a statement about his fear for the students at Hope college, saying he was happy his children did not attend the school because they would run into men like this professor. Hope was obviously unhappy about the bad press time, and suggested to the professor that he retire. In some ways, this is understandable. Yet, it also silenced one of the few voices for human rights, the poor, and the oppressed on campus. Many other teachers agree with this man's ideas, yet none are nearly as vocal and hard-driven about it. I feel that the loss of this professor will have a large impact on the school. There is such a feeling of isolation and insulation here, with students coming and going out without learning much more about the world except where to find the best party and how to avoid the most work. This professor's abscence will be felt, by me and many others, and his voice will be sincerely missed in the community as well as on campus.