On April 4, Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan came to Elon as part of the Legends of Business lecture series. On E-Net he was portrayed as having “ethical business practices” and devoting his time to “nonprofit endeavors” after having sold the pizza chain in 1998.

All of his nonprofit ventures have the same goal of advancing ultraconservative beliefs which include opposition to a woman’s right to choose, contraception, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and an unquestioning attitude toward the Pope. Monaghan has described himself as a businessman who gets to the bottom line which is “to help people get to heaven.”

Two of the most important ventures that he is currently involved in are Ave Maria University and the town of Ave Maria.

Students cannot live off-campus, are prohibited from having televisions in their dorm rooms and might face fines if they listen to music deemed obscene by administrators.

Even more disconcerting is the town of Ave Maria, an exclusively Catholic community, developed on swampland in Florida. Monaghan has expressed his desire to ban pharmacies in the town from selling any type of birth control and prohibit the cable television system from airing “adult” content. This overt lack of separation between church and state is unconstitutional. The town follows Monaghan’s narrow and reactionary brand of Catholicism and does not welcome those in opposition.

It is concerning that Elon would invite such a person to our campus and hold him up as an “ethical” role model for future business people. Certainly what one believes in their private life influences how one runs his or her business. Elon is a place which claims to embrace gender, religious, ethnic, sexual and many other types of diversity. Inviting such a reactionary and intolerant individual to campus contradict this value.

If you are concerned about this, contact John Burbridge, dean of the business school and President Lambert to start a dialogue. While it is extremely important to be open to all kinds of opposing viewpoints, the message that Elon sends by inviting such a man to campus and framing it in a certain way must be questioned and dealt with.

Columnist: Charlie Remy - 04/19/07