Demand that Baylor School pull cruel "African Safari" hunting auction item!

  • by: Megan Knauss
  • recipient: Auction Coordinator Ramona Glascock

Update 2/13/15: I have an exciting announcement to make: Baylor School has pulled the African Safari from its auction!  I am so happy to be able to share this news with you. However, we are not yet claiming victory. In order for that to happen, the following conditions, which I sent to Baylor's headmaster yesterday evening, must be met:

1) Baylor will publicly state that it will never again auction off or otherwise promote hunting trips.  As the Board may need to sign off on this policy change--other hunting trips have been auctioned off by the school in the past--the deadline for this condition will be six weeks from today.

2) Baylor will issue a public statement that the African Safari auction item has been withdrawn from the Celebrations Auction.  This statement will appear on Baylor's website--or in the next issue of Baylor magazine--and on Baylor's Facebook page.

3) Baylor will send a press release to the Times Free Press, stating that the African Safari has been removed from the auction.**
**Condition #3 has been met, as you can see here: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/feb/13/baylor-pulls-safari-trip-auctiafter-outcry/288159/.

Thank you SO much for your support. I honestly believe we will be able to claim this as a victory very soon.

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If you are a Baylor student, alum, parent, faculty, or staff member, please indicate this when you sign - thank you!

The Baylor School - a private high school in Chattanooga, TN - is planning to auction off a cruel "African Safari" on March 14. Let's send a message that we do NOT want our schools supporting this kind of barbaric, selfish activity!

I graduated from the Baylor School in 2006, and I love my alma mater. I have stayed involved over the years - but right now, I am appalled.

The African Safari is completely inconsistent with everything Baylor stands for, including its mission: "To instill in its students both the desire and the ability to make a positive difference in the world." Offering this trip is contradictory for a school that prides itself on environmental stewardship, ethics, and leadership.

Which animals are being hunted is somewhat unclear, but it doesn't matter. Whether it's a safari for "lions, elephants, and buffalo" as the school first announced (pictured above) or their more recent claim of "farm-raised, plains game animals such as wildebeests and warthogs," Baylor can do better. Canned hunting is just as barbaric a practice as hunting threatened species.

These animals cannot speak for themselves - we must be their voice. As the Generation Awakening YouTube narrator said, "For these endangered species, we are both their greatest enemy and their only hope."

Please sign my petition demanding the Baylor School pull the safari from its auction today!

Ramona Glascock 171 Baylor School Road Development Office Chattanooga, TN 37405 Dear Ms. Glascock, I consider it a true privilege to be a Baylor alumna. Every time someone asks where I attended high school, I feel a strong sense of pride every time I say the name of my alma mater. My education at Baylor involved a lot more than high-caliber academics. In having teachers who truly valued education, I learned to appreciate my intellectual curiosity. Courses such as Mr. Lockrow's Lower School ethics class taught me critical thinking skills, which I use every day in both personal and professional contexts. And, perhaps most importantly, experiences such as the Jamaica Trip and the Jim Pearce Leadership Trip taught me about being a good steward of the environment and helped me develop into someone who sincerely wants and strives to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Something I most assuredly did NOT learn at Baylor is the selfishness and callousness that would lead someone to derive pleasure from killing such majestic creatures as elephants and lions. That's why I was absolutely appalled and disgusted when I noticed the auction item, titled "African Safari," described in the most recent issue of the Baylor magazine. I immediately thought, "Is this really the kind of message we want to send our students, alumni, and donors- that the Baylor community supports, even encourages, participation in such a barbaric and harmful activity?" Surely you are aware that "big game" animals, such as elephants and lions, are facing extreme challenges to their survival because of recreational trophy hunting, loss of habitat and prey, retaliatory killings, wildlife trafficking, and other human-caused and natural factors. Surely you know that the money brought in by the trophy hunting industry does not actually make it to small, African communities. You must also know that eco-tourism-for example, photography-and other ecologically responsible activities involving wildlife, generate vastly more resources for local communities than do damaging, lethal activities such as the hunting of big game. Surely you have also heard that elephants and lions are keystone species- species without whom their ecosystem crumbles. Finally, you must have heard that elephants and lions are intelligent, social creatures, capable of pain and suffering. If you hadn't heard any of the above facts, I encourage you to do some research before you decide if the African Safari really is an item you're willing to promote in your "InspiRed" auction. If you are familiar with these facts but you chose to ignore them in favor of the money that this item could bring in, then Baylor is in a sad state indeed. I have never been the kind of person to resort to ultimatums, but when the stakes are this high, you leave me with no other choice. Either at LEAST consider pulling this item from the auction, or accept the fact that I will no longer attend any of your events or support you in any way (which, by the way, I am now in a financial position to do). You should know that I am already in the process of mobilizing the Baylor community to speak out against your morally bankrupt decision to include this item in your auction. I truly hope that you make the choice that is right for the entire Baylor community and for the world outside your walls. Come on, Baylor. You can do better than this. Sincerely, Megan Knauss Class of 2006

Update #19 years ago
I have an exciting announcement to make: Baylor School has pulled the African Safari from its auction! I am so happy to be able to share this news with you. However, we are not yet claiming victory. In order for that to happen, certain conditions must be met. You can access the full update on the petition page.

Thank you SO much for your support. I honestly believe we will be able to claim this as a victory very soon.

With gratitude,

Megan Knauss
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