Over the past several weeks, I've examined several key components of the debate surrounding freedom of speech on college campuses. However, I've waited until my final post to illustrate a perfect example of that freedom, and the controversy surrounding it, on our campus. That's right, I'm talking about the Willard Preacher.
Credit: Eric Weiss/Onward State
Penn State boasts a wide variety of famous faces: Coach Joe Paterno, Nike CEO Mark Parker, and comedian Keegan-Michael-Key, to list a few. Of them all, the Willard Preacher occupies a unique (and some would say infamous) place in PSU history, quite literally. Named after the building he delivers his sermons outside of every day, Gary Cattell has been preaching to Penn State students since 1982. For many students, he is a fixture of Penn State life, akin to the Creamery or Old Main as a part of the iconic Penn State experience, though it's debatable whether being called a whore for wearing shorts on a 90 degree day can be considered an honor for the females among us. Cattell originally enrolled at Penn State in the late 1970s , but only for two years. He told Onward State in 2012: "Back at that time I wasn't a Christian. I was doing a lot of partying and stuff. It came down to choosing between continuing to go to school, or continuing to party. I chose to stop going to school unfortunately.” Cattell didn't stay away from Penn State for too long, however; soon after converting to Orthodox Christianity, he returned and began preaching in November of 1982. Before that, he told the Daily Collegian, he worked with special needs children in State College, which inspired him to begin preaching to a larger audience, claiming he received a calling from God to spread the one true religion.
Interestingly enough, Cattell wasn't the first to hold the mantle of Willard Preacher: the name originally belonged to Bro Cope (seriously), who preached while Cattell was still a student. As the years wore on, Cope could no longer afford to continue preaching, and his departure paved the way for his now more famous successor. “I would be preaching where Gary is standing, and he would wander in,” Cope told the Collegian several years ago, describing Cattell as “a long-haired hippie freak.”
Though it's easy to dismiss Cattell as just another radical lunatic, he's much more of a State College fixture than most people realized. He was born and raised here, while his wife is a public school teacher, and has four children that were all raised in their family home just outside of town. Cattell covers a wide variety of topics in his sermons, though most people recognize the "partying and fornication" part immediately. Since he's so strategically placed outside Willard, which I believe every single student here has had class in at least once, Cattell is never short an audience, and will frequently alter his sermons if some brave soul wants to debate him. Cattell is obviously quite socially conservative, as anyone who's ever listened to him can attest, and many of his views come into conflict with what most of the students here believe in. Though he draws his fair share of criticism from students, and not unjustly, there's something to be admired about a man who stands in the same place for thirty years and is willing to speak his mind, rain or shine, even when he knows it's unpopular and can generate friction with a large portion of the campus community.
Wait, wrong blog...
The Willard Preacher covers a wide variety of topics during his sermons, including partying, student "nocturnal activities", current educational culture, ignorance of religion, and what he sees as the godlessness of many female students. His clashes with students and staff have become part of the campus culture (my personal favorite is down below), and his daily presence outside Willard is a sort of comfort to some, showing that all is right on campus for one more day. Love him or hate him, Gary Cattell is undeniably a key part of Penn State life, and no doubt helps contribute to the freedom of speech we enjoy as students. As long as he's free to say what he wants to us, we can say what we want, too. And think about; you can't get much more ridiculous than ranting about fornicating to college kids, so what's the harm in speaking your mind? Just this one time, take a page out of the Willard Preacher's book (though hopefully not word for word) and practice the wonderful right that we've all been afforded to enjoy.
(This is my political science professor, Dr. Errol Henderson, confronting the Preacher in January of 2013. Yes, that's exactly how he teaches, too, and yes, this video might be the best thing you've ever seen.)
