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Dear Friend,
If the pictures we see on the news these days concern you — as well they should — I trust this letter will bring you some consolation.
In cities large and small throughout the country, we see rioters, many of them young, whose reason has given way to unbridled fury. Mobs topple monuments without so much as asking whose likeness they are destroying. They yearn for a justice they cannot define and whose source they cannot identify, calling to mind Chesterton’s assertion that modern man, by “rebelling against everything … has lost his right to rebel against anything.”
Like their counterparts in city streets, our students also grapple with matters of truth, justice, and human dignity, but with some rather important differences. Our students …
- … are driven not by hatred of their perceived enemies, but by a love of goodness itself.
- … regard reason not as an impediment to justice, but as essential for achieving it.
- … believe in rational conversation as a means of resolving differences and finding truth.
- … do not desecrate images of saints, but turn to the blessed for guidance and intercession.
- … do not despise the Judeo-Christian tradition that has given us our very notions of equality and human dignity, but plumb its depths so as to better live up to its ideals.
If, like me, you believe that the world needs more young men and women such as these — perhaps now more than ever — I encourage you to make a gift during our Week of Giving, which ends at midnight tonight.
The College is only able to do its good work because, for 50 years, benefactors such as yourself have provided for our Annual Fund, which sustains our financial aid efforts. Thank you for the prayers and support you have extended to the College in the past, especially if you have already given to this year’s Week of Giving.
If you have yet to make your gift, I encourage you to do so now. Friends have so far contributed $341,392 toward a matching gift from Dr. Melissa Buckley, who has made a heroic investment in our students. With your help, we can not only meet this goal but far exceed it, putting the College in a strong position as it approaches the upcoming academic year.
These may be dark times in the world, but with God, there are always reasons for hope. Our students, now learning in campuses on both coasts, offer hundreds of such reasons; and our alumni, thousands more.
May God bless you for your generosity,
Michael F. McLean
President |
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