The Buccaneer

Issue date: 3/10/04 Section: Opinion

Francis Kyle

By means of faculty-staff mass e-mails and the talk around campus, the Peninsula College Christian Student Fellowship (PCCSF) is fully aware of the "buzz" or stir that currently exists regarding some of our recently sponsored activities, and about the issue of our faith-based club having the legal right to even exist on a state-funded college campus.

In a general response to the many detailed issues currently being debated about our club by both PC students and staff-faculty alike, we politely state that our club has met all the Associated Student Council requirements to exist and function like any other club on campus. Since the founding of the club during the 2002 fall quarter, we have had nothing but cooperation and a mutual respect from the ASC, the PC administration, and the PC student body at-large. For this we are most grateful. We see no reason why such cooperation and a mutual respect would or should cease to exist in the future.

For any PC student or faculty-staff who may disagree with our existence on campus, or who may have a legitimate issue with any of our sponsored activities, we are open to and readily available for dialogue and discussion. I personally have had some great one-on-one discussions in the past two weeks with numerous PC students and faculty-staff; it seemed that many false impressions and rumors about me and/or the club were squelched once the facts were presented.

I and our club would like to believe that we are a pretty friendly and easy going bunch who are simply and politely retaining and exercising our American right of freedom of speech and freedom of religion as set forth in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution (1791), and as set forth in Articles 2, 18, and 19 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). We leave it up to others to decide if we are indeed a friendly and easygoing bunch who is working within the legal parameters of our federal, state, and local community college governmental bodies.

In the midst of an exciting and culturally diverse campus community, may freedom of speech and freedom of religion be honored and respected by all clubs and individuals. It would indeed be a shame, and quite honestly no fun, if we were all alike. To other current and future PC clubs, we heartily say with sincere Christian kindness and love, "We're glad you're here, adding to our school's rich diversity. May we co-exist together for the betterment and cultural enrichment of our lively campus community. Though we admittedly might not agree with you nor you with us on certain issues, your club nonetheless has our best wishes as you express your own individuality in the midst of our school's diversity."

If any questions or concerns about the PCCSF, I can be reached at 461-2849 or francisk@pcadmin.ctc.edu. Also,our club meets every Wednesday, noon to 12:45 p.m., Study Room J54 in the PUB. For copies of our club's ASC-required Constitution and By-Laws, contact me or see Rick Ross, PC Student Programs Director.

Francis Kyle
Christian Club Facilitator

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