美国国家公共电台 NPR Some Liberty University Grads Are Returning Their Diplomas To Protest Trump

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

A growing number of graduates from one evangelical university are preparing to return their diplomas to protest their school's support for President Trump¹. Alumni of Liberty University are organizing this effort following Trump's divisive comments about the deadly white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Va. As NPR's Sarah McCammon reports, they are specifically condemning² Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr.'s continued support for the president.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE³: Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., has long been associated with conservative politics. School President Jerry Falwell Jr. was an early evangelical supporter of then-candidate Donald Trump. Back in January 2016, just days before endorsing⁴ his candidacy for the Republican nomination⁵, Falwell praised Trump.

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JERRY FALWELL: In my opinion, Donald Trump lives a life of loving and helping⁶ others as Jesus taught in the great commandment.

MCCAMMON: Falwell's support for Trump has dismayed some Liberty students and alumni. Georgia Hamann is a 2006 graduate who's now an attorney in Phoenix⁷. She says she was troubled by Trump's comments about Charlottesville. After denouncing white supremacy⁸, President Trump later said there were some very fine people in the crowd of neo-Nazis⁹ and white nationalist protesters.

GEORGIA HAMANN: When Jerry Falwell Jr. characterized those comments as bold and truthful¹⁰, that really was - it felt to us like a slap in the face at a different level than what we had previously¹¹ been concerned about.

MCCAMMON: Falwell followed that statement with a second tweet of his own the next day, calling white supremacists, the KKK and other hate groups pure evil and un-American. Hamann says Falwell's continued association with the president is a betrayal of Christian¹² values, an embarrassment¹³. Chris Gaumer, a former Student Government Association president and 2006 graduate who still lives in Lynchburg, says he's eager to send back his diploma.

CHRIS GAUMER: The president of the United States is defending Nazis and white supremacists. And in defending the president's comments, Jerry Falwell Jr. is making himself and, it seems to me, the university he represents, complicit.

MCCAMMON: Yesterday on ABC's "This Week," Falwell responded to Gaumer's statement, as first reported by NPR.

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FALWELL: He completely misunderstands my support. My support for the president is his bold and truthful willingness to call terrorist groups by their names. And that's something we haven't seen in presidents in recent years.

MARTHA RADDATZ: Well, let's stay on...

MCCAMMON: But some graduates say they're not satisfied with that response. Andria Chappell of Douglasville, Ga., says she plans to sign on to a group letter from multiple concerned alumni. She wants to send Falwell this message.

ANDRIA CHAPPELL: We're just not going to sit down and just accept what you say because you're the president of the school. We do have a voice. And we want to be heard. And we want to be respected.

MCCAMMON: Liberty alumni are organizing their protests through word of mouth and a Facebook group that's been growing larger in recent days. They're planning to put their letters and their diplomas in the mail on September 5. Sarah McCammon, NPR News.

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1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

8 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

9 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

11 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。