The president called the college’s guidance “solid,” leaving punishment victims doubting that the college will alter

The blistering report on what Bob Jones University has handled intimate punishment reports is still warm the presses off and some victims already are skeptical that the university is happy to acknowledge the severity of exactly what it exposed. They state BJU’s reaction reeks of harm control.

With its two-year separate investigation, the nonprofit Godly a reaction to Abuse into the Christian Environment unearthed that intercourse abuse victims regarding the Greenville, sc, campus had been usually advised to get the sin behind their rapes, pressed to repent for just about any pleasure they could have observed in their assaults, and encouraged to achieve off to their abusers and show forgiveness or ask forgiveness from their store. The college’s counselors were unlicensed and had no training that is formal therapy.

Some pupils, the GRACE report discovered, had been penalized for reporting their punishment. Very nearly half stated these people were encouraged to not ever get the authorities. The dossier that is 301-page paints a campus tradition where intercourse abuse victims had been built to feel just like “damaged products.” Within the year that is past America Tonight has interviewed five previous Bob Jones pupils whom reported their punishment to college officials and all sorts of state they’ve yet to recuperate from just just how BJU managed them.

Report: Bob Jones University shamed victims of sexual attack

For a long time, Bob Jones University, a self-described fundamentalist Christian university, has advised intimate punishment victims not to ever go right to the authorities and counseled them to repent for the fault it stated they share, in accordance with a thorough separate research posted the other day.

BJU President Steve Pettit is appointing a committee to examine the report within the next 3 months in which he publicly apologized to those that “felt they would not get from us love that is genuine compassion, understanding, and help after putting up with sexual punishment or attack.” But in a chapel solution Monday, leaked into the site BJU Information, he told students that the report was not an exact representation associated with college today.

“In appropriate viewpoint, i’d like you to appreciate that many of those instances were items that took place to individuals before you were also created or once you had been a kid,” he stated, little armenia mobile site before urging students to reassure their own families if they’re house on the holiday breaks that the college is safe.

“I happened to be an extremely current graduate and I became quoted at size within the report. Plus the tradition from the time I became pupil hasn’t changed,” stated one rape target whom graduated within the last few 3 years and asked to stay anonymous away from a concern with retaliation. “truthfully, i am simply actually saddened. It results in like they usually haven’t also browse the report, considering that the report very plainly states that it has happened recently.”

Another previous Bob Jones pupil told America Tonight year that is last whenever she reported her rape to administrators in ’09, she ended up being accused of lying after which expelled in the middle of the night time.

Recent BJU graduate and punishment target

Katie Landry, whom reported her alleged rape towards the school, additionally found Pettit’s responses offensive.

“we have always been a ten years eliminated, from the chronological-time point, but from a discomfort standpoint, that guidance nevertheless affects me today,” she stated. “It ended up being the very first guidance we received. It absolutely was the counseling that is only received for over seven years. All we thought ended up being that we’d done something which caused my rape. for over seven years”

GRACE reported occasions that are many BJU did not inform police force of punishment, in breach of mandatory reporting laws and regulations. But inaddition it notes that the college has enhanced on that front side within the last years that are few. Jim Berg, who had been dean of pupils and counselor that is chief three years, told GRACE detectives that their failure to report intercourse crimes to police in the past ended up being according to “pure ignorance.”

But BJU’s guidance philosophy just isn’t one thing regarding the past that is distant Berg continues to be a faculty user. GRACE urged BJU to ban Berg from counseling totally and also to remove the campus bookstore of any such thing connected to him and lots of other leading thinkers that are BJU. In addition suggested the college to mention all punishment victims to licensed experts with injury expertise.

In the current chapel message, Pettit said the college had a “solid approach toward counseling people.” The institution recently hired a women that are new therapist, but she isn’t certified, is not formally been trained in therapy and techniques Bob Jones’ make of biblical counseling. She was additionally trained by Berg.