Dear Editor,

I am quite disturbed by your Oct. 8 editorial, “Garrett: Not the right fit.”  In your opening lines you admit that your dislike of Dr. Garrett is partly due to a presidential selection process in which you feel that KBOR infringed upon your first amendment rights as a free press. 

But when you get into the meat of your article, it seems like you have misunderstood another section of that same constitutional amendment.  Your argument against Dr. Garrett hinges on her “seemingly staunch religious views.”  You “find it hard to believe that separating church and state wouldn’t be the biggest challenge.”  To protect the campus from an imagined threat to our religious freedom, your answer is to promote discriminatory hiring practices based solely on an applicant’s religion.  That is exactly the type of treatment from a government institution that the freedom of religion is meant to prevent.

You failed to quote anything from Dr. Garrett that led you to your opinion.  You did not present any examples of how she has oppressed students, coworkers, or employees with her religious views.  Your editorial was purely innuendo and baseless speculation.  KBOR’s procedures did not allow much time for researching Dr. Garrett’s past, but their obfuscation does not permit you to dump a truckload of stereotypes and preconceptions on Dr. Garrett in lieu of facts.

Your sole evidence to support your argument seems to be the ACU mission, to “educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world.”  If their commitment to servant leadership does not meld well with ESU’s vision, “Changing lives for the common good,” then I don’t know what does.  I heard many things from Dr. Garrett about servant leadership but not one allusion to anything religious.  On the other hand, there were many speeches in which I heard Dr. Shonrock refer to his faith and his work with his Emporia church, but I know of no issues in which he had trouble removing his “religious views from the equation,” as you claim Dr. Garrett would be unable to do.

Your unmerited criticism of Dr. Garrett, based on a caricature of what you believe an administrator in a Christian university must be like, is not only unfair, but it is the definition of intolerance.  But fear not;  If she is selected and tries to Christianize the campus, our good buddy, the First Amendment, will be there to protect us.

Ever a fan of investigative journalism,

Joseph Kern