March 2015

An Open Letter to Bob Jones University

Bob Jones University,

We are deeply grieved by your response to the GRACE Report. In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul calls us to godly sorrow, which leads to repentance. Our Bob Jones University education taught us that sorrow without repentance is worthless and that repentance requires a 180 degree turn an about face a stance that clearly, unequivocally communicates determined change. What we see in your response to a substantive two-year investigative report is, instead, shallow words backed largely by inaction. We refuse to tacitly affirm your response.

Over two years and countless hours were invested by wounded souls who poured their hearts into the GRACE Report, detailing how Bob Jones University treated victims of sexual assault not just in the past, but in the current student body. The Report powerfully documented our stories and ultimately wove together a tapestry of our lives displaying not only our greatest heartaches, but also our greatest hope: The hope that, through our stories, healing and change would be achieved.

That hope was shattered by BJUs official response.

As members of the Abuse Response Task Force, we were asked to be the voice for the hundreds of victims impacted by the GRACE Report. This Task Force, which consisted of 1 representative of GRACE, 2 representatives of BJU, and 2 survivors who had participated in the GRACE investigation, was formed to review the contents of the GRACE Report, develop a list of recommendations, and help transform the university into a safe, healing, truly spiritual institution (GRACE Report pages 23-24). We personally sat with you for days, pouring out our hearts and our personal stories. We provided a face to the stories described in the GRACE Report. We took this responsibility seriously and believed that BJU would take the hard, but necessary steps to change. We are angered that the official response was an attack and blatant disregard of the Reports recommendations. We are saddened that, despite days of meetings and impassioned conversations, our voices were not heard. Working with BJU on this committee came at an enormous cost: We were forced to relive one of the most painful chapters of our lives because we believed that BJU truly wanted to make things right. Your response has triggered intense shame at our alma mater, repeated nights of lost sleep, agonizing prayer, and a demand that we cannot remain silent. Although we have little hope of seeing lasting, deep-rooted change at the university, we must communicate truth that is being ignored and omitted. We remain committed to our responsibility to be a voice for the voiceless and to cry out for justice and accountability at BJU. True healing can occur only when we are willing to speak boldly for truth, no matter the cost.

Apology

If we confess our sins... The university has not provided a humble, transparent confession of wrongdoing. Instead, public statements minimize, obfuscate, and blatantly misrepresent facts. Why have no public apologies come from those who were implicated as causing harm? We also urge the many university individuals mentioned in the GRACE Report, albeit not by name, to show true repentance and apologize to those whom they have hurt. The university modeled that public sin warrants spiritual probation and a season of intense accountability. If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves andturn from their wicked way We believe that our God, who loves and cherishes His children, is also grieved by this situation and will not bless the school until humble repentance is present.

While some statements from the university sound good to the general public, they are couched within blame-shifting phrases like, those who felt or perceived which puts the onus back on the victim. Instead of apologizing for our feelings, own up to the full impact of your actions! The qualifying phrases have no place in a humble apology. We realize that some were helped by the individuals named in the Report, but that does not in any way nullify their responsibility towards those they have harmed. If one student had verbally bullied a student in the manner that was done to hundreds of victims, that student would have been immediately disciplined and most likely asked to leave campus. We ask that you hold your faculty, staff, and administrators to the same standard and take appropriate action. Because their actions caused public damage, we believe the actions the University takes in regards to these individuals should be public as well.

Listening

You referenced speaking with one victim and stated that she left BJU disappointed, deeply hurt, and confused. In meeting with you, the victim specifically described damage caused by the counseling received at BJUdamage so extreme that she was left suicidal and her faith was shattered. Your minimizing words show that you do not yet grasp the damage caused and the long-term impact that has resulted as a consequence of the Universitys actions. This is not the deep, heart-felt listening that the GRACE Report recommends. If those 300 pages of agonizing detail of our trauma were not enough to compel you to change, then what will? When the very counseling methods that caused the damage and the same individuals who perpetrated such damage are still in employ at BJU, how can any victim trust you?

The GRACE Report is filled with accounts from survivor after survivor who state direct damage as a result of the counseling they received at Bob Jones University. Your counseling, those who counseled, and the system that enabled it are flawed and have had devastating effects on many lives. We ask you to pause your counseling program and learn from the ones whose lives have been negatively impacted by it the survivors. It is time for you to become a student. Listen. Truly listen to the victims. We are your best teachers. This is not a time for you to self-repair and certainly not a time for you to lead.

We strongly implore you to outsource ALL sexual assault counseling. Due to the extensive damage your actions have caused, we believe that you should assist with the counseling expenses of those who were harmed by the University. This is but a small show of faith that you recognize the consequences of your actions and are willing to do what you can to help those who were harmed to rebuild their lives.

Recommendations

We feel your statement that BJU has not broken any laws was, at best, disingenuous. Christians are called to a higher responsibility. Isaiah 1:17 says, Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widows cause. When someone experiences abuse (whether in the past or present) compassionate human beings are propelled by love; we are motivated to do everything possible to ensure victims are safe, protected, and cared for. Whether or not the law requires a report does not eliminate the need to help the hurting by providing resources to heal and pursue justice. Just as physical healers are often within a non-believing medical community, emotional healers (i.e. professionals trained in this area) are often found outside of the university. Does BJU choose the letter of the law, without compassion? Or the law of love when caring for the wounded? We wish our university leaders were being the hands and feet of Jesus, but we are grieved, seeing this as another moment when BJU is turning away from abuse victims.

Our experiences, along with many others in the GRACE Report, led us to believe that the general campus philosophy was to hide, rather than expose abuse in order to somehow protect the cause of Christ. In contrast, we believe transparency helps the cause of Christ. Calling out sin, abuse, and wrong-doing in Christian churches is something the Apostle Paul modeled. If BJU follows the GRACE recommendations and demonstrates right actions, this institution can be transformed.

Our purpose in writing this letter is to bring healing to the university culture. We need to move forward in a God-honoring manner. Countless victims have had their lives impacted for years resulting in deep and ongoing sorrow, physical illness, relational impact and spiritual questioning. How can you, as spiritual leaders, hide behind organizational platitudes and surface changes and call this protecting your students and leading them to Christ? Is your loyalty to your constituents or the body of Christ as a whole? Will you become true leaders who face the truth even when it is uncomfortable? Leaders who recognize that your responsibility is relational, not just positional? Leaders who stand with the students you are called to serve?

We now present our voice publically and plead with you not to betray the hope that was established in the meetings. We are passionate about how you, as an institution, respond to this issue. We are not vague stories in a footnote. We are people who are valuable and loved by God. Yes, we were abused, but that is only a piece of our stories. We testify firsthand that, if victims are believed and supported along this journey and provided with healthy, trauma-focused counseling, all of us have the potential to experience thriving, amazing lives. We can be a tremendous gift to the Body of Christ and to the future of Bob Jones University. We are worth the effort.

Bob Jones University, will you take the hard steps to do right by speaking out against abuse, condemning known perpetrators, comforting the wounded, advocating for the defenseless, providing the finances for victims to receive necessary counseling, and specifically calling out the people within your institution who have done wrong?

Respectfully,

The Survivor Representatives from the Abuse Response Task Force