University of Scranton Hires Pro-Abortion Politician

The University of Scranton, a Jesuit-run Catholic university in Pennsylvania, has made a baffling decision. They’ve hired former U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. as a “Distinguished Fellow in Public Service.” On paper, it sounds prestigious — a seasoned public servant mentoring students. But there’s a glaring problem: Bob Casey Jr. has a 100% pro-abortion voting record from NARAL Pro-Choice America in recent years. That’s not a minor political disagreement. That’s a direct, public rejection of Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life.

As someone who cares deeply about the integrity of Christian institutions, I can’t help but see this as part of a pattern. It’s not just Scranton. Across the country, schools that claim to stand on God’s Word are quietly compromising, whether to gain cultural approval, avoid controversy, or maintain financial and political connections. And the compromises are coming from different angles — abortion, sexuality, even the way we prepare students to face the real world.

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Catholic University Compromise Extends Beyond Abortion

Not long ago, Baylor University — the largest Baptist university in the world — accepted a $643,000 grant from The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ advocacy group. This wasn’t just a research donation. The funding was specifically for “inclusion and belonging” initiatives, language that’s a direct nod to affirming LGBTQ ideology. That’s ideology the Bible clearly rejects in Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6. Scripture is unambiguous that marriage is between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4–6), and any deviation from God’s design is sin.

Baylor eventually gave the money back after conservative backlash. But to me, the fact that they accepted it in the first place showed they were already willing to step over the line if they thought they could get away with it. That’s compromise. It’s a testing of the waters to see how far they can drift before someone notices. I wrote more on this kind of theological drift in my blog The Real Danger of Progressive Christianity — because the more Christian schools flirt with cultural approval, the faster they abandon biblical truth.

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Cedarville’s Over-Protection Problem

Then there’s Cedarville University. Their situation is different — they’re not embracing pro-abortion politics or LGBTQ ideology. Their compromise is in another direction. In recent years, Cedarville rolled out a strict “Biblically Consistent Curriculum” policy that heavily restricts what professors can show, assign, or discuss. Even literature, films, and class materials that aren’t promoting sin but that raise difficult questions have been cut off.

I understand the desire to protect students from harmful influences. But biblical discipleship isn’t about keeping people in a bubble. Paul didn’t tell believers to hide from the world — he told us to “test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). And Jesus Himself prayed, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one… As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:15–18). When we shelter students from anything uncomfortable, we risk sending them into the world unprepared to defend their faith in real conversations. That’s not protecting them; that’s handicapping them.

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The Common Thread: Fear Over Faith

In each of these cases, the details are different, but the root is the same. Whether it’s platforming a pro-abortion politician, aligning with LGBTQ activism, or over-censoring academic life, the underlying compromise is choosing safety over Scripture.

• Scranton chose prestige over biblical conviction on life.
• Baylor flirted with cultural approval on sexuality.
• Cedarville avoided the hard work of preparing students to engage with the real world.

When our Christian universities start making decisions based on fear of backlash, fear of losing money, or fear of students being “offended,” they’ve already lost sight of their mission.

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Why This Matters to Me

I’m passionate about this because Christian higher education has incredible influence on the next generation. If these institutions teach — by example — that Scripture can be bent or avoided when it’s inconvenient, we’ll end up with leaders who see biblical truth as optional. And if they compromise now on life, marriage, or the courage to engage the world, it won’t stop there.

Christian universities — Catholic and Protestant alike — must recover the courage to be counter-cultural. That means hiring leaders who actually live out the values they teach. It means saying no to money or influence that comes with strings attached to unbiblical ideology. And it means preparing students to face a messy, hostile culture with the truth — not sending them out in a bubble.

If we want the next generation to stand for Christ, we can’t keep sending them to schools that are quietly bowing to the culture. We need to hold these institutions accountable — and we need to pray that God will raise up leaders in higher education who fear Him more than they fear man.

Arch Kennedy
Bold, Unfiltered, and Unafraid