Wisconsin Lutheran College is affiliated with the very conservative Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). For clarification, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The smaller and more conservative group is the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (a nationwide body). Smaller and more conservative still is the WELS.
The college, located in Milwaukee, had invited Vice President Mike Pence as its commencement speakers for this Saturday. Pence left the Catholic Church to join conservative Protestantism and seemed a good fit for the college.
Wisconsin Lutheran College said the administration and the school's board of regents jointly decided to "present a different speaker instead" ahead of its Saturday commencement "after further review with careful consideration of the escalating events in Kenosha." The school said it will instead have the Rev. Mark Jeske, a Lutheran minister, serve as the commencement speaker.
More than 270 students and alumni of the conservative Protestant college had previously signed an open letter objecting to the vice president's visit. The group, which called themselves "Concerned Members of the WLC Community," said the decision to host Pence was "disrespectful."
"This administration has been divisive and degrading. As a governor and now as the vice president, Mike Pence has failed to promote policies that reflect Christian values," the letter read.
That letter predated incidents in nearby Kenosha, Wisconsin, where civic and religious leaders are seeking to de-escalate tensions. The Pence appearance would be counter productive as just last night the Vice President slammed peaceful anti-racism protesters and offered no words for racial justice or police reform.
Kenosha police shot Blake seven times in the back on Sunday evening, minutes after responding to a domestic incident. Blake survived but is paralyzed from the waist down, and the shooting sparked several nights of protests and violence. On Tuesday night, authorities allege that Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old Trump supporter from Antioch, Illinois, shot and killed two peaceful protesters and wounded a third.
It is notable that white conservative Protestants, as the WLC's students and faculty largely are, are showing increased opposition to the Trump agenda when educated by their own conservative theology. We also find this among graduates of conservative Catholic colleges such as Franciscan University of Steubenville.
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