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The Emperor's New Clothes By Hans Christian Andersen

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The Emperor's New Clothes By Hans Christian Andersen
The Intellectual Imperative

One of the most compelling stories in children’s literature is Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. It tells the story of two charlatan tailors who promised to weave invisible clothes for the emperor. This robe they said will only be seen by people of high stature and will be invisible to low-born, uncultured citizens of the kingdom. The emperor “wore” the invisible clothes on the day of an important parade. Everyone in the kingdom, including the wisest men, pretended to be impressed by the Emperor’s robe for fear of chastisement. The king marched in the parade in gallant exhibition of his clothes until a young boy in the crowd shouted, “But the king has no clothes!” Sometimes it takes the impudent honesty of a child to speak the truth that even the most accomplished, well renowned and proficient among us are afraid to deal with. Truth is often a daunting if not a precarious subject. One of the primary tenets of the Blue and Silver is to “speak up for those who cannot speak, protect the rights of those who are poor, helpless and needy” (Prov. 31:9). This can only be done if truth is upheld in whatever situation, no matter how awkward or distressing the consequences of it sometimes are. This year’s theme for the 64th anniversary of PCU is “Declaring the Lord’s Favor”, a premise that resonates with magnificent
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This commitment to truth however must be within the boundaries of love and a quest to improve our university. Truth be spoken, we are indeed favoured of the Lord this year. What our university has gone through for the past 64 years is an epic example of the hand of God preserving an entity. We have weathered 64 years of shared joys and pains, triumph and pressures. Most importantly we have done so with dignity and

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