An Open Letter to Whitworth
Dear Whitworth Family,
First of all, how is life? I hope that this year is going well so far and that this year turns out to be the best that Whitworth has ever had.
Second, I've heard that the Westboro Baptist Church is going to be coming to Spokane and protesting Whitworth. This makes me very sad. Whitworth helped shape who I am. I am a strong Christian, I am a strong man, and I am gay. Whitworth helped me realize that these things can all live in harmony. Before Whitworth I did not know who I was. I went through high school very lost. I hated myself and spent a good portion of those years convinced that I was going to hell. I knew in my heart that I could not change being gay, and I also knew that that meant God would forever hate me. I wound up being a self-mutilator, a cutter, for a few years. I got the tattoos that I have on my wrists in college to cover most of the scars. I ended up in therapy and was just not happy. I want to go ahead and say that I love and adore my family and I know they love me, but I was convinced that God didn't and so my family couldn't reach me. Although I know now that I wouldn't let them reach me.
Whitworth helped me through all of this. The student body rallies around you and helped fight for our version of a Gay-Straight Alliance, Open Conversations. The faculty cares and becomes a second family to everyone there. I want to highlight three. First Kathy Storm. Her ability to connect to the students and work productively with them and the faculty and board means that positive and permanent change comes to the campus. She was an integral part of getting the club going. She can help meet all the needs that you could possibly have while complying with the board at the same time. She helps make Whitworth function. Dr. Mike Sardinia is the campus father. No one is more personally motivating than this man. I won't type it all out here, but the talk that he gave to our class after a gay student was attacked while I was a student at Whitworth made me feel more connected and secure at Whitworth than anything else and every word is forever in my mind. He loves each and every student. Lastly, Tami Robinson in the library gave me more advice and help than any other person on that campus. She was my guide all four years there and I am a better person because of her. And she can do the same for every single person on campus. But there are so many more. My family included the three mentioned above as well as Brooke Kiener, Diana Trotter, Barbara Carden, Bill Robinson, Jenn Reid, Craig Tsuichida, Lee Ann Chaney, Frank Caccavo, and Finn Pond. But the entire campus also functions as a family and every faculty member there becomes a parent.
What I have told you in this letter is not something that I have ever told anyone. Not my parents, not anyone at the school, not my therapist, not a soul, not even that post secret event that comes to campus where you send in anonymous postcards. The truth of it all though: Whitworth made me see that God does love me. Even if I’m gay. He cares, and people who follow him care. Hate is not a word in his vocabulary.
Now, it is time to rally together again. The fact that all this is now under attack by these zealots makes me sad and angry. The type of fear mongering that they spread is the reason I was the way I was in high school. Their message makes people, specifically homosexuals, hate themselves. Their message, and the message of people like them, teaches that God won’t love them if they are different. I urge you and all of campus to make a positive and loving but above all a LARGE response to them. Let the entire campus know that the gay students are here to stay as part of the Whitworth family. Let the gay students know that they will be embraced, protected, and empowered. More than anything, let the campus know that it is their unity and commitment to each other, which makes Whitworth what it is. And you can’t let anyone take that away. And let Westboro know, that the kind of hate that they spread is not welcome in our home.
I know I’m not a student there anymore. But I am who I am because of Whitworth. Don’t let even their shadow touch what you and that school offer to the world.
With all my love,
Douglas Griffith class of 2009
First of all, how is life? I hope that this year is going well so far and that this year turns out to be the best that Whitworth has ever had.
Second, I've heard that the Westboro Baptist Church is going to be coming to Spokane and protesting Whitworth. This makes me very sad. Whitworth helped shape who I am. I am a strong Christian, I am a strong man, and I am gay. Whitworth helped me realize that these things can all live in harmony. Before Whitworth I did not know who I was. I went through high school very lost. I hated myself and spent a good portion of those years convinced that I was going to hell. I knew in my heart that I could not change being gay, and I also knew that that meant God would forever hate me. I wound up being a self-mutilator, a cutter, for a few years. I got the tattoos that I have on my wrists in college to cover most of the scars. I ended up in therapy and was just not happy. I want to go ahead and say that I love and adore my family and I know they love me, but I was convinced that God didn't and so my family couldn't reach me. Although I know now that I wouldn't let them reach me.
Whitworth helped me through all of this. The student body rallies around you and helped fight for our version of a Gay-Straight Alliance, Open Conversations. The faculty cares and becomes a second family to everyone there. I want to highlight three. First Kathy Storm. Her ability to connect to the students and work productively with them and the faculty and board means that positive and permanent change comes to the campus. She was an integral part of getting the club going. She can help meet all the needs that you could possibly have while complying with the board at the same time. She helps make Whitworth function. Dr. Mike Sardinia is the campus father. No one is more personally motivating than this man. I won't type it all out here, but the talk that he gave to our class after a gay student was attacked while I was a student at Whitworth made me feel more connected and secure at Whitworth than anything else and every word is forever in my mind. He loves each and every student. Lastly, Tami Robinson in the library gave me more advice and help than any other person on that campus. She was my guide all four years there and I am a better person because of her. And she can do the same for every single person on campus. But there are so many more. My family included the three mentioned above as well as Brooke Kiener, Diana Trotter, Barbara Carden, Bill Robinson, Jenn Reid, Craig Tsuichida, Lee Ann Chaney, Frank Caccavo, and Finn Pond. But the entire campus also functions as a family and every faculty member there becomes a parent.
What I have told you in this letter is not something that I have ever told anyone. Not my parents, not anyone at the school, not my therapist, not a soul, not even that post secret event that comes to campus where you send in anonymous postcards. The truth of it all though: Whitworth made me see that God does love me. Even if I’m gay. He cares, and people who follow him care. Hate is not a word in his vocabulary.
Now, it is time to rally together again. The fact that all this is now under attack by these zealots makes me sad and angry. The type of fear mongering that they spread is the reason I was the way I was in high school. Their message makes people, specifically homosexuals, hate themselves. Their message, and the message of people like them, teaches that God won’t love them if they are different. I urge you and all of campus to make a positive and loving but above all a LARGE response to them. Let the entire campus know that the gay students are here to stay as part of the Whitworth family. Let the gay students know that they will be embraced, protected, and empowered. More than anything, let the campus know that it is their unity and commitment to each other, which makes Whitworth what it is. And you can’t let anyone take that away. And let Westboro know, that the kind of hate that they spread is not welcome in our home.
I know I’m not a student there anymore. But I am who I am because of Whitworth. Don’t let even their shadow touch what you and that school offer to the world.
With all my love,
Douglas Griffith class of 2009