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President Coker condemns assault on nation’s Capitol

The following is a letter, titled “Upholding Truth & Democracy,” emailed Jan. 7, 2021 to the campus community from Maryville College President Bryan Coker regarding the assault on the nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6.

Dear MC Community,

Like so many of you, I was both saddened and angered by the blatant assault on democracy which occurred at our nation’s Capitol yesterday. I have struggled to find appropriate and acceptable words in the wake of one of the saddest days in American history. Perhaps the root of my semantic struggle is that, unfortunately, I was not at all surprised by yesterday’s events.

Surely, recent years have taught us that truth matters, words matter, character matters, and leadership matters. How we treat our neighbors matters. How we treat those who are different from us certainly matters. My fervent belief is that yesterday’s events were a result of the sustained demagoguery and dehumanization of others which our nation has seen and experienced in recent years.

What does all of this mean for a 200-year-old liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee? As a community founded upon Isaac Anderson’s notion of “doing good on the largest possible scale,” and a community centered by the Covenant Stone extoling scholarship, respect, and integrity, we must stand against such antidemocratic acts and stand for truth. American higher education was constituted upon the perpetual search for truth and to create an educated citizenry – a citizenry whose freedom depends on an ability to distinguish fact from fiction. Again, truth matters. 

From my office I am privileged to watch the American flag fly atop Anderson Hall each day. The current flag will be in need of replacement soon – it’s a little tattered along the edges and the colors have faded a bit from the time of its installation. But today, that weathered flag is waving a bit more vividly and enthusiastically than usual against a cold January sky. Yesterday was a dark day for our country, but as the day concluded, our democracy had prevailed, albeit weathered and undoubtedly tattered.

As we seek to move forward, let us all consider our collective roles in sustaining and advancing this great yet imperfect experiment in democracy – the experiment we call the United States of America.

Bryan F. Coker, Ph.D.
President, Maryville College

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”