Type of college and location
Clymer College will focus on in-person instruction in one physical location, while it is recognized that classes may have an online component. This will provide the unique experience that can be achieved only through face-to-face interactions between faculty and students and among students. Young people seek to thrive in an intellectual community where all viewpoints are valued, where they can meet like-minded individuals (or respectfully discuss divergent opinions), and where their love of country is solidified and enhanced.
We are currently searching for a suitable location in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The mailing address is in historic Moncks Corner, a small town 35 minutes from Charleston International Airport.
Students for Clymer College will be recruited from across the country. International students will be welcome. Consequently, student residence halls and food services are essential, with the possible exception of a start-up phase.
Why this college is needed today
Today’s higher education environment is dominated by strictures of ideology and a lack of tolerance of divergent viewpoints, as are the nation’s political power structure and public discourse. College-bound high school graduates have endured public school curricula shaped by a perspective which highlights America’s flaws while ignoring altogether the ideas and ideals that have made this the greatest country that the world has ever seen.
Yet despite efforts of the media, including the entertainment industry, to shape public opinion to their viewpoints, roughly one half of the nation’s voters expressed the desire in recent elections for a government that is closer to the traditional American values of individual freedoms and less government interference in daily life. When college-age members of this large segment of our population seek to further their education, they encounter further polarization and hostility towards their values at virtually all colleges and universities.
The few colleges and universities that could be considered more moderate and traditional in their views tend to be church affiliated institutions. While these are a great choice for members of the colleges’ particular faith communities, not all conservative, freedom-loving students wish to receive their education in an academic environment shaped by church dogma. They may be religious or spiritually-minded people of different faiths or denominations, or they may simply prefer a secular education.
Why the college is named after George Clymer
George Clymer (March 16, 1739 – January 23, 1813) was one of only six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. He was a native of Philadelphia, PA, and was elected to represent Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress of 1776 – 1780 and as a representative in the first United States Congress. He was the first President of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. [Wikipedia]
In 1796, he was one of three commissioners who negotiated a treaty with the Creek and Seminole Indians in Georgia, during which process he was "favorably disposed towards the Indians and sided with the Creeks against what he believed to be illegal and rapacious attempts to annex their land." [https://www.dsdi1776.com/george-clymer/]
Today, some of our Founding Fathers are being removed from public honors. For example, in Virginia, a community college named after the patriot Patrick Henry (“Give me liberty or give me death.”) was renamed, because he owned slaves (personal communication to the author by the Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, Dr. Glenn DuBois). It is important for our nation to remember our heroes, not for any moral short-comings they may have had, but for the courage and wisdom they displayed in shaping our nation.
George Clymer is a worthy recipient of the honor of having a college named after him. Furthermore, this will signify that the new college deeply respects our nation and honors our Constitution.
