Critics urge Rockhurst High to condemn alum Josh Hawley. Here’s what officials say
Rockhurst High School, the Kansas City all-boys Catholic school from which Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley graduated in 1998, has received calls from across the country requesting that it “condemn” the alumnus in the wake of the mob attack Wednesday on the U.S. Capitol.
In a letter to “The Rockhurst Community” Thursday, school president David J. Laughlin emphasized that the Jesuit school does “not endorse political candidates nor parties.” He did not condemn Hawley directly, but did condemn the siege at the Capitol and called on elected officials, including Hawley, to an “examination of conscience.”
“Indeed, calls have come to Rockhurst from across the Country to condemn alumnus Josh Hawley, filled with judgment for his actions, motivations, inspirations, and purpose,” the letter read. “All of these have been communicated to Rockhurst with factual certainty from the senders’ perspective regarding Senator Hawley.”
Hawley was born in Springdale, Arkansas, in 1979, and two years later his family moved to Lexington, in Lafayette County, about an hour northeast of Kansas City. While at Rockhurst, he was on the debate/forensics team and was a state champion in extemporaneous speaking, a Rockhurst spokesman said Friday.
He went on to graduate from Stanford University in 2002 and then Yale Law School in 2006. A former Missouri attorney general, the freshman senator is a steadfast supporter of President Donald Trump, who has claimed, without evidence or merit, that the election was rigged and stolen from him.
Last week, Hawley became the first senator to say that on Jan. 6 he would rise in Congress to object to the Electoral College’s certification of the election results, the final step to mark President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Hawley, in casting doubt on the legitimacy of the presidential election, has been roundly criticized, second only to the president, in fueling the riot, resulting in five deaths and the U.S. Capitol vandalized. And while after the insurrection, some other senators backed off their objections, Hawley maintained his stance, as did five other Republican senators, including Ted Cruz of Texas and Roger Marshall of Kansas.
On Thursday, former Republican Missouri Sen. John Danforth, who mentored Hawley in the early part of his political career, blamed his former protégé for sparking the insurrection.
“I thought he was special. And I did my best to encourage people to support him both for attorney general and later the U.S. Senate and it was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life,” Danforth said.
The letter from Rockhurst offered a broader criticism of the mob scene Wednesday.
“On behalf of our school’s educational mission, in conjunction with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and their January 6th statement, the actions that took place yesterday at our Nation’s Capital which crossed a boundary from freedom of expression to crime are to be condemned. The consequences of those actions ring loud and far. A growing society which shows contempt and intolerance for our treasured heritage of plurality, process, and dignified disagreement cannot continue.
“I call upon all of our elected officials, including our graduate Senator Josh Hawley, to conduct their own examination of conscience on this matter. If wrong occurs, one ought to seek atonement and reconciliation. These are the Christian principles Rockhurst teaches when wrong has occurred.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 1:49 PM.
