August 18, 2006

President James Barker

Sikes Hall

Clemson University

Clemson, SC 29631

Dear President Barker:

Congratulations on the news that Clemson is now among the Top 30 Universities in the nation. This is indeed a significant accomplishment, and you and the Board of Trustees are to be commended for your tenacious quest. Clearly, you are on course for your destination as a Top 20 public university and we support your ambitious goal.

We are writing today, however, to express our grave concern about another matter.

From its founding as a land grant institution, Clemson has always been about teaching, research, and public service. The citizens of South Carolina have entrusted Clemson with their sons and daughters as a place for teaching not only about making a living, but about life. Without advice from Clemson Extension, generations of South Carolinians would have been unable to sustain themselves and their families.

That is why Clemson’s decision to demand that incoming freshmen (teenagers after all) read Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett is such a blow to our support for the University.

To truly learn how to think requires exposure to a broad body of literature. The marketplace of ideas and the consideration of myriad perspectives is a part of leaving high school and going off to college. This interchange is essential in the classroom, where thousands of pages from a variety of perspectives are digested and debated in any given course.

But a university-wide reading assignment is much, much more. Like commencement speakers, convocations, orientations and other required programs (just to name a few), a “big read” is a celebration. It sends a message about what a university values. Good writing is not sufficient. Because the book’s content is gratuitous and its focus is limited, a better book could have driven a better free-wheeling discussion.

This is especially disturbing given the choices made by Coastal Carolina University and the University of South Carolina. They were wise enough to publicly celebrate books that have a broader, less tendentious perspective than Truth & Beauty. The Citadel is at this moment, instead of reveling in gratuitous sex, instituting a values-based approach to combating alcoholism and sexual harassment on its campus.

Would Truth & Beauty be appropriate for an elective? Probably. Would it be appropriate for English 102 or Psychology 101? Along with a body of other literature, possibly. Should a book of this nature be featured prominently and stand alone? Should it receive the imprimatur of Clemson as it “welcome[s] [students] to the intellectual life of the University”? We don’t think so.

With family tuition dollars and state funds paying for the very existence of Clemson University, the institution should be very careful in the messages it sends.

We cheer your progress on the road to academic greatness. But there is no reason to abandon values and good sense along the way.

Sincerely,

Senator Larry Grooms ’87

Berkeley County

Senator Danny Verdin         

Laurens & Greenville Counties

Senator Kevin Bryant

Anderson County