George Robert Christensen started this petition to The President of Campion College and its Board of Trustees - 2025/10/03
Australia's smallest Catholic liberal-arts college was founded to defend truth. Now, it may punish two of its own scholars simply because a hostile newspaper demanded it.
On October 1, the Sydney Morning Herald smeared Associate Professor Stephen McInerney and Senior Lecturer Stephen Chavura as "far-right." Their supposed crime? Speaking outside of class about Australia's Anglo-Celtic heritage and warning that dramatic demographic shifts inevitably change a nation's culture.
These are historical facts, not hate speech. Yet instead of dismissing this obvious smear, Campion College's president instantly announced an "investigation," handing the mob the power to dictate what academics may think or say.
If Campion caves now, every lecture, paper, and seminar across Australia will carry the same unspoken warning: speak honestly and you will be destroyed.
This is punishment by smear. Worse, it betrays Campion's mission, its students, its donors, and its Christian duty to seek truth without fear.
The media outrage cycle will vanish in days. But if the college's Board of Trustees disciplines these academics, the precedent will last for decades. Livelihoods will be wrecked. Classrooms will go silent. Other universities will follow Campion's cowardice.
Academic freedom means protecting uncomfortable ideas or it means nothing. Today's target is McInerney and Chavura. Tomorrow's target could be any Catholic teacher, priest, or parent who speaks inconvenient truth.
Governance demands wrongdoing before punishment. Here there is none. Only opinions the media despises.
We call on the President of Campion College and the college's Board of Trustees to reaffirm their commitment to academic freedom and free speech, decline any disciplinary action against Associate Professor McInerney and Senior Lecturer Chavura, drop the investigation sparked by the Sydney Morning Herald's smear, and protect their academics publicly, not leave them twisting in the wind.
The Board of Trustees of Campion College cares about reputation, donations, and enrolment. They will measure backlash loudly before deciding quietly. Every signature adds visible pressure and courage to resist the mob.
Donors, clergy, alumni, and Catholic media are already signalling support. Parents choosing Campion need reassurance that truth, not fashion, guides the classroom. Politicians will hesitate to lean on Campion if thousands are watching. Bishops will take note if Campion stands tall rather than bowing to a hostile press.
Each signature is a warning to the college's Board of Trustees: defend your mission or lose the community's trust.
There are two futures.
Win: The investigation ends. Academics teach boldly. Students think freely. Donors and alumni rally with pride. Campion emerges stronger, a beacon of academic courage in Australia.
Lose: Smears become policy. Suspensions follow. Scholars self-censor or leave. Campion's reputation crumbles, and Catholic education across the country slides into silence.
We have only days before investigative committees act. Once they recommend penalties, reversing course will be nearly impossible.
This is the moment to flood the college's Board of Trustees with signatures and freeze the process before cowardice takes hold.
Add your name urging the President of Campion College and the Board of Trustees of Campion College to defend academic freedom, reject the SMH's smear, and protect Associate Professor McInerney and Senior Lecturer Chavura.
The choice is stark: stand with truth or let media mobs decide what Australians think and believe.