Christian University Fires Group That Was Studying Its Sexual-Abuse Policies

Chronicle of Higher Education
February 12, 2014

http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/christian-university-fires-group-that-was-studying-its-sexual-abuse-policies/72691

Bob Jones University, a nondenominational Christian university in Greenville, S.C., recently fired without explanation the consulting group it hired in 2012 to investigate its handling of sexual-assault complaints. That decision, according to an article in The New York Times, dealt a blow to former students and staff members who had hoped that the study would improve a campus climate that they regarded as hostile to victims.

The university’s president, Stephen Jones, said administrators were concerned that the consultant—Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, or Grace—”had begun going beyond the originally outlined intentions.” He said the university wanted to discuss its concerns with Grace but felt compelled to fire the group first. He vowed to complete the investigation, with or without Grace.

Critics dismissed that statement as part of a pattern of “protecting the church and the university, not the victims.”