Dear President Trump

Dear President Trump,

I watched coverage of your August 22 rally in Arizona on Fox News, and I'm reminded of what you promised the American people during the campaign: hope.

I truly believe Americans are more hopeful now than they were a year ago.

Today, I want to bring your attention to the communications area. The 2016 Presidential Election has showed Americans have to be able to think critically for themselves when it comes to receiving the news.

This is an important topic now more than ever because Millennials should know that not all news is fake news. They should also be able to use social media to find credible news articles as well as to stay in contact with friends and family.

When I attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, I majored in Journalism and Mass Communications for my undergraduate degree. In my news writing classes, and this might surprise you, the professors actually taught students to be fair and balanced in their writing. They told us never to use "anonymous sources" in our stories because that only ruins our credibility as journalists.

If you go onto campus and meet the students, faculty, and staff at Benedictine College, you'll find that it is a small private Catholic college that cares about living the faith and treating others fairly. The students there, as well as its alumni, get along with each other because we're part of the community on campus and in Atchison.

We are part of the Benedictine College community. Most of us share the same beliefs and strive to do our best in whatever path we choose to take. As the old saying "Once a Marine, always a Marine" goes, so, too, does the phrase every Benedictine College Raven knows: "Once a Raven, always a Raven."

So, Mr. President, I challenge you to visit Benedictine College and meet the student journalists who make up The BC Circuit staff, along with their fellow classmates. They are the ones who will be the next journalists and communicators of "true" news—people who will get all the facts they can. They are the hope for journalism and news broadcasting in America.

The importance of reforming the Boy Scouts from within

As men, we are called to live our vocation in life everyday of our lives, whether it is marriage or the religious life.

As fathers, men are called to love, teach and guide their children.

They should want what's best for them and to help them become better men.

They should want their sons to be surrounded by other young men who share the same values and beliefs that they do.

But does that mean having them join the Boy Scouts of America (BSA)?

This wouldn't have been a major issue ten years ago. Back then, the Scouts valued such things as honor and commitment to its founding principles, not emphasizing sexual orientation.

Seemingly caving in to pressure, the Boy Scouts of America in has decided to allow openly gay and transgender scouts into its organization (2013 and 2017 respectively), along with openly gay scout leaders as of July 27, 2015.

Scout troops sponsored and formed by religious organizations such as the Catholic Church do not have to follow these BSA policy changes.

I want to make one thing clear: I had a great time in Scouting. I made good friends there and I had to persevere in order to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

I believe scout troops run and organized by religious institutions should be free to raise that troop’s members in an environment that matches the beliefs of that institution. It is why we have the Religious Freedom Clause in the First Amendment.

President Donald J. Trump encouraged scouts to be bold and daring when he spoke to scouts at the National Scout Jamboree on July 24, 2017.

As reported by Fox News, Trump told the scouts that whenever they say the Scout Oath, they promise to do their best to help other people and to be “great American patriots.”

“In life, you have to know whether or not you continue to have the momentum. But you have to know about the word momentum. Never quit, never give up. Do something you love,” Trump said in his Jamboree speech.

Regardless of whether you support Trump or not, those who were involved in Scouting should not turn their backs on an organization that taught us leadership, true manly character and to be better men. 

When I get married and have sons, I'm not going to deprive them of the chance to become Eagle Scouts and the obligation that comes with that rank. On my honor, I’ll be there to help each of them on their “Trail to Eagle” and lead them on campouts, as well as help them earn their merit badges.

I will also be active in their patrol that is in line with our own beliefs, making sure a Catholic parish runs it. 

I will teach and train my sons to be good men, giving them all I got. They deserve to know that I will always have their best interests at heart.

I won't give critics the satisfaction of emasculating young men and boys and tearing down the Scouting movement in the United States. The values of the Boy Scouts, the ones I learned in Scouting, are far too important to abandon.