I am one of those awful atheists Greg Craven slandered in his recent article in the Age, and just wanted to note my horror at realizing that he is not just some frothing-at-the-mouth bigot in the street, but rather the Vice-Chancellor of a university and a professor in law. This sets a terrible example for any institution at which he serves, and makes the following passage from his profile page on the ACU website ring very hollow:

Australian Catholic University (ACU National), established as Australia’s only Catholic, national, publicly funded university, is open to all. The University empowers its students and staff with a strong sense of social responsibility and concern for the moral and ethical dimensions of their study and their professional and personal lives.

There is nothing open or inclusive about only respecting those who agree to shut up and never criticize you. The invective spewed towards atheists (without any examples, merely hyperbolic exaggerations) was so much worse than anything I have seen from an atheist (even the “brash, noisy and confident” kind he references). Someone who holds such a high and representative office at your institution should be held accountable for such hateful public invective.

Yours with more respect than your VC would ever grant me,

Mark Pursey

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If you’d like to contact the ACU and let them know your thoughts about their publicly funded Vice-Chancellor, you can reach his office at vc@acu.edu.au.