Mount St. Mary's University has invited Mark Shriver to be the 2019 commencement speaker at graduation this year, and he will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Mark Shriver is the CEO of Save the Children Action Network, an organization that promotes "family planning" that is in coordination with pro-abortion legislation and "sexuality education" that promotes contraception and other teachings contrary to the Catholic Church's stance on sexuality, marriage, and the dignity of human life. He was a pro-abortion rights politician for the Maryland House of Delegates, and received a 100% rating by NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland. As Catholics who are devoted to the Church's teaching and respect Mr. Shriver's beliefs; but we do not believe we are to honor him as a role model for the graduating class of 2019. We, the current students, alumni, and supporters of Mount St. Mary's University, do not believe that Mr. Shriver properly exemplifies the type of ethical leadership that we embody as a Catholic university. Through our Catholic liberal arts education, we are taught that life begins at conception and ends at natural death, a concept that Mr. Shriver publicly disputes. Though we respect Mr. Shriver's principals, we do not believe the Mount should be honoring and giving him a platform for his unethical foundational beliefs. 

We would like the University to rescind its commencement honor invitation to Mr. Shriver.