Trevecca Nazarene University has abruptly withdrawn access as the venue for a Homeland Security Summit scheduled for January 25 by Republican gubernatorial candidate and former State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) amid a complaint from “alumni,” Trevecca president Dan Boone told The Tennessean.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) praised the decision, characterizing the event and its participants as bigots.
“It’s kind of a who’s who of Islamophobes,” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told The Tennessean. “The themes are always the same – Muslims are about to take over the country and install sharia in place of the Constitution, and mosques are hotbeds of extremism,” Hooper said.
As the Washington Post reported in 2014, the United Arab Emirates has declared CAIR to be a terrorist organization for its role in financing the Holy Land Foundation in Texas, which in turn diverted funds to Hamas.
“Today Trevecca has abandoned the Biblical principles that they preach in order to embrace political correctness and promote the interests of those who deny Christ and stand opposed to everything the University has represented in the past,” Beavers told The Tennessee Star on Wednesday afternoon moments after Trevecca University announced it had caved to CAIR.
“The best indication that the Homeland Security Summit we were hosting is both necessary and important is the fact that CAIR doesn’t like it,” Beavers noted.
“CAIR consistently opposes efforts to improve our security and protect our communities from the terror attacks that are the weapon of choice of radical political Islam. Being the target of criticism from CAIR is a badge of honor, particularly when they never find any basis to criticize any other Republican candidates for Governor who all apparently meet with the approval of CAIR,” Beavers said.
“Nevertheless, I am very disappointed that with all the other liberal-oriented political events held on the Trevecca campus that they would cancel our Summit based on complaints from CAIR,” Beavers continued, adding:
CAIR seeks to silence any and all voices that do not bow to their claim that Islam is “peaceful and tolerant.” Sadly, the Yazidi women and children in Iraq who were targets of ISIS, the Coptic Christians in Egypt, the 300 killed by Al-Shabbab in Somalia in October, the dozens of victims at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the 14 murdered at a Christmas party in San Bernardino, the five service members murdered by Mohammed Abdulazeez in CHATTANOOGA, and the thousands who are killed each year throughout the world at the hands of radical Islamists might disagree with CAIR’s propaganda campaign. CAIR and the Southern Poverty Law Center are much more focused on designating and silencing any speech they disagree with as “hate speech” rather than confronting and condemning the truly evil and hateful ACTIONS that are produced by political Islam that they condone.”
“I grew up practically on the campus of Trevecca Nazarene University,” Beavers noted.
“I went to elementary school there. I graduated from college there. My husband attended college there. My dad and uncle brought the lumber from my granddaddy’s sawmill in Alabama to build the McClurkan Building,” Beavers pointed out.
Although the CAIR spokesman did not have any specific objection to the Summit that he was willing to share with the news outlet, event organizer and gubernatorial candidate Mae Beavers told The Tennessean earlier on Wednesday the reason she put together the Summit is because she is concerned about illegal immigration and that Americans and Tennesseans “don’t know who is coming here.”
“I think Islam is a threat to our country,” Beavers said, citing her belief that Islam’s horrific traditions of exclusion and absolutism do not end at the mosque’s doors, but that it also “is a political agenda.”
However, Beavers added that homeland security threats are not exclusive to the multitude of Muslim terror attacks that have taken place within our own borders. Other risks include “the crime and the gangs that have come here because of illegal immigration.”
Through spokeswoman Mandy Crow, Trevecca President Dan Boone released a statement to USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE that read:
Throughout our history, Trevecca has consistently offered political candidates of both parties the opportunity to use our campus for events. We strongly believe that our students benefit from proximity to the voting process, and that freedom of speech is a foundation of American democracy.
However, a recent event tentatively scheduled to be held on our campus appears to have an agenda beyond a political campaign. This event would distract from our commitment to community building, education, and support of a diverse enrollment. Our agenda of Christian education in the heart of Nashville requires that we serve the best interests of this mission. For this reason, the planned event will not be held on Trevecca’s campus.
Despite the eleventh-hour cancellation by Trevecca, the Homeland Security Summit’s Eventbrite page is still up and active as organizers scramble to relocate the event.
In addition to Mae Beavers, headlining the Summit are nationally recognized subject matter experts on Islam and the imperative of jihad, Dr. Bill Warner, Cathy Hinners, and John Guandolo:
Bill Warner, Ph.D., is a respected expert on political Islam. As an international speaker, author, and video blogger, Warner analyzes Islamic doctrine using scientific methods and evaluations from the Islamic Trilogy of the Koran, the Sira, Mohammed’s biography and the Hadith, the traditions of Mohammed. Warner founded the Center for the Study of Political Islam (CSPI) to further explore and educate about Islamic ideology and its ramifications for Western Civilization.
Cathy Hinners is a decorated, retired police officer of 20 years. While active, she developed a course on Middle Eastern Crime, Culture and Community and delivered it to thousands of law enforcement officers across the country. Hinners was also a contract instructor with the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Domestic Preparedness, delivering training to the National Guard, New York Police Dept. and other law enforcement agencies on Weapons of Mass Destruction and bomb recognition. In June of 2015, Cathy was named by the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with 11 other women, who speak out against the implementation of Sharia law in the United States. Cathy is the founder of dailyrollcall.com.
John Guandolo is the Founder of UnderstandingtheThreat.com, an organization dedicated to providing strategic and operational threat-focused consultation, education, and training for federal, state and local leadership and agencies, and designing strategies at all levels of the community to defeat the enemy.
Mr. Guandolo is a 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who took a commission as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps. He served with 2d Battalion 2d Marines as an Infantry Platoon Commander in combat Operations Desert Shield/Storm. From 1991-1996, he served in 2d Force Reconnaissance Company as a Platoon Commander, Assistant Operations Officer, and the unit’s Airborne and Diving Officer. During this time, he also deployed to the Adriatic/Bosnia. He served for one year as the Unit Leader for the CINC’s In-Extremis Force, directly reporting to a Combatant Commander in a classified mission profile. Mr. Guandolo was a combat diver, military free-fall parachutist, and a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School.
[…] gubernatorial candidate told the Tennessee Star the “best indication that the Homeland Security Summit we were hosting is both necessary and […]
[…] on hand to take part in this morning’s march. Trevecca University president Dan Boone recently withdrew the school as a venue for a Homeland Security summit, citing concerns over complaints by one or […]
[…] gubernatorial candidate told the Tennessee Star the “best indication that the Homeland Security Summit we were hosting is both necessary and […]
[…] gubernatorial candidate told the Tennessee Star the “best indication that the Homeland Security Summit we were hosting is both necessary and […]
[…] gubernatorial candidate told the Tennessee Star the “best indication that the Homeland Security Summit we were hosting is both necessary and […]
In an email exchange with Dan Boone he said he wanted to distance the school from a “militant cause”. What! Mae Beavers may be a conservative but she’s no leader of a “militant cause”.
[…] gubernatorial candidate told the Tennessee Star the “best indication that the Homeland Security Summit we were hosting is both necessary and […]
I am beyond shocked at this news. I listened to the news all year about these colleges in the US bowing down to liberal protestors because a conservative speaker was scheduled for a mass meeting at their school. But now my alma mater (and 5 other family members ) is doing the same thing? And to read what President Boone wrote…it’s to protect the bicultural enrollment at Trevecca…Lord, please help us. We are heading down the liberal road where we will not be distinct from any of the other colleges out there. Can we not stand up for Right anymore,
because we might offend someone? My sympathies go to Mae Beavers as I imagine she is truly embarrassed and frustrated by Trevecca’s actions. TNU will be losing students over this bad publicity. Makes me sad.
Nice to see your comment… I hope you let them know with both barrels exactly how you feel about getting “bullied” by terrorists group cair. All the schools don’t want bullying on campuses to students… then they get panty-waist weak as leaders.
My sympathies are with the intended victims of a campaign of hatred and racism. Good for the University.
I dare say that the victims here are the students being exposed to liberalism at its utmost, along with the indoctrination of socialistic thought. To be perfectly honest, the university shouldn’t be a stage for political bias nor for worldly relevance either. However, the stance of the administration seems to pander to those who protest or have had to seek counseling due to a presidential election? Really? Counseling? Don’t let political correctness blind us from the true purpose of the university. There is a political agenda happening and we’re seeing it rear it’s ugly head.
As a Nazarene for nearly 50 years, I agree with others here in shock and disgust! This decision is bad for Trevecca and the COTN. I hope Boone reverses his decision or resigns!
DON’T BE SILENT ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL! They all get paid too much $$ for being such wussies.
Sure hope you are correct Dan. Shortly after finishing high school at TNC/HS in 1956 I think TNC/ U received its first ” outside ” grant from the Kellogg foundation , it seems the school has been going the wrong way since ! I have two grandchildren that finished there!
I too am a alumni of trevecca university. I’m appalled how what once was a Christian university has become a podium for liberalism and political correctness. When it’s leaders put importance in the green agenda and global warming instead of researching why nazarene churches are closing their doors left and right, there might
Be a need for concern as the direction the university is going. And now this????? My apologies to you Mae Beavers for you and your family legacy at trevecca. Another Christian university blending into secular society. Nice job guys. You’re gaining the whole world!
Agreed! Also an alumni of Nazarene schools, churches, camps, etc., etc., etc. Heart-breaking and embarrassing to say the least. Please don’t insult me by saying I don’t understand the issues, either. I have spent much of the last 10 years researching and writing on cultural diversity. Unless you were reared in all things Nazarene, the significance of this decision will seem as though it is steeped in something noble. Wake up church!
I like that -gaining the whole world-idea. I believe TNU and Dan Boone have lost their balance. This is beyond any subtleness, and hopefully support against his decisions will be so strong that he will be forced to change. To be a Muslim, one must publicly deny that Jesus is Lord, ironically, to be a Christian one must confess the opposite.
I should say, one must confess Jesus is Lord.
It is not a requirement that you publicly deny Christ. It is not a requirement for Christians to publicly deny Mohammed. You need to read before you write publicly
And such things as this is why I am no longer a member of the Nazarene faith.
I guess that’s no from TNU and ENC President Dan Boone on “A Charitable Discourse: Talking About the Things That Divide Us” written by Dan Boone.
Never have I been so ashamed, disillusioned, and angry with the Church of the Nazarene. Twenty-four years as a US Army Chaplain representing our Church in times of war and peace. In addition, I’m a 4th generation Nazarene. Our daughter & her husband are TNU grads. We have lost our collective minds. God help us.
As an alumni, I am more than disappointed in this decision. My desire to see my grandchildren attend my denominational school in Nashville has gone sour. I think Oklahoma Wesleyan is looking like the school I will steer them and my money towards. This was a horrible decision, that does not promote love of Christ, but acceptance of political correctness. Dan Meredith, based on this decision, I hope your prediction is correct.
Grow a spine Trevecca U. staff! You have openly let a known terrorist organization, CAIR, dictate to you when you are free to exercise your 1st Amendment right! DISGRACEFUL!
So the Nazarenes go full Dhimmi and bow down to the wishes of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Hamas affiliate CAIR. How far you’ve fallen Trevecca!
How sad is it that Trevecca believes more in the doctrine of Marxist political correctness and diversity than in John Wesley’s Protestant theology and its emphasis on the Great Commission. Wesley wrote about Islam and the Muslims: “A little, and but a little, above the Heathens in religion, are the Mahometans. But how far and wide has this miserable delusion spread over the face of the earth!”
Wait! What’s that thrashing sound? Oh my, it’s John Wesley turning over in his grave, wondering why Trevecca University isn’t teaching the doctrine of Islam to young Nazarene missionaries so they can convert Muslims rather than go to bed with them! And again, I say, “It’s so sad.”
As a patriotic, proud, American I am disgusted that some Americans, including this university’s leaders care more about CAIR than freedom of speech. CAIR also demanded that civil war statues be removed while continuing to build mosques, symbols of Muslim slavery. CAIR is an arm of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood-it isn’t a secret. It isn’t Islamaphobic to recognize legitimate dangers to our country posed by radical Islam. Sad to see the deterioration of many of our educational institutions too which are quickly becoming politically correct institutions of limited learning.
Prediction for next year; “Dan Boone? Oh, yeah, hes the guy that used to be at Travecca… whatever happened to him? Poor guy, i heard no one will hire him after that Muslim fiasco.”
Hope you are correct Dan!