Is A Bible College Covering Up A Pattern Of Sexual Assault?
Bob Jones University is a “Bible college” – more specifically, a degree-granting institution of higher learning (although I doubt they teach advanced evolutionary biochenistry) servicing the politicized fundamentalist Christianist movement. You would assume that such an institution would hold itself to a high moral standard – but instead, it looks as if they are going out of their way to bury a scandalous pattern of sexual assault on their campus…
…after summarily dismissing a consultant group investigating the way the school handled sexual assault accusations.
In 2012, the Greenville, S.C., school hired Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) to investigate how the university responded to reports of sexual assault, the New York Times reports. The group’s findings were set to be released in March.
For years there have been allegations that Bob Jones University had been stifling the reporting of sexual assaults, and the school’s decision to dismiss GRACE late last month — mere weeks before its report would be made public — has therefore been criticized by former students and others affiliated with the school.
“As always, they’re worried about protecting the church and the university, not the victims,” Camille Lewis, a former Bob Jones student and faculty member, told the New York Times.
Others associated with the school said they had always suspected the investigation “was too good to be true.” Speaking with local station WYYF News 4, former Bob Jones student Erin Burchwell said she had hoped the GRACE report would validate her allegations.
