In recent weeks we have written extensively about the scandal surrounding Cedarville University President Thomas White and his hiring and removal of known sexual predator Anthony Moore.
As more details of the scandal have come to light, concerned faculty at Cedarville have compiled a resource guide for current and incoming Cedarville students. Today we are pleased to share this resource guide, which we will maintain on a dedicated page of our site. From the guide’s introduction, written by faculty:
Most faculty and staff want you to have a positive, healthy and safe experience while at school and are ready to help you in a professional, caring way should a need arise. However, your experience may vary depending on whom you ask for help. We wish we didn’t feel the need to bring your attention to this, because we wish this wasn’t a part of the CU culture.
In recent months, published reports demonstrate some administrators, faculty and staff have not helped students in critical times of need. Furthermore, some intentional actions have made matters worse for students who sought help, and other actions have put the whole campus at risk. The pages below are an orientation to CU’s increasingly dangerous culture and share nearly 40 published reports, starting in April 2020 with the revelation that in 2017, President White, along with the Board of Trustees, hired and protected the confessed sexual predator Anthony Moore to work for White and, in a role in the School of Biblical and Theological Studies, teach students and lead field trips.
Top-level administrators under President White’s leadership have shown a pattern of decision making that indicates, at best, bad judgment and, at worst, a disregard for placing more and more people at risk. Qualified, caring faculty have had their employment terminated while others have been targeted and discouraged to the point of choosing to leave. Less-qualified, less-credentialed personnel have been placed in key decision making positions that affect the well-being of students.
The guide is downloadable as a PDF, and doing so will allow readers to use the active links in the guide.
We hope that Cedarville students as well as our regular readers find this guide helpful in understanding the impact of this scandal on campus climate.
Just curious how one can help get your resource guide “out there”
Good to hear from you again. Please feel free to send the link to our post directly to students, parents and alums. And of course, you might really consider sharing the link in FB groups where CU students and parents hang out, given that getting the word out is the point of the resource page. All the best to you.
Thanks for the tips. I’ll do my best. Unfortunately, comments I’ve made in the past were not well received at all. Parents tend to “jump on” any comment that seems to be questioning CU affairs…even to the most minor degree. The group administrator has deleted my comments (a very simple non threatening comment mind you) and explains how I am not following CU’s “code of conduct” and directs me to take up the issue with Jeff Bestie. A phone number and email is provided- I guess so they can explain how to post only loving and kind comments that appease to their code. They definitely don’t want to see any “truths” at this time or ever. I’ve personally gotten a glimpse of what others feel who have much much bigger personal issues with CU. There is no freedom of speech UNLESS they approve. I’m afraid if I post this link I’ll be officially ousted from the CU parent connect page
Wow. And, upon reflection, not surprising. One of the primary themes in the resource document is that the fundamentalist men now running Cedarville have no interest in hearing anything except echoes of their own dictates. So it is that they felt compelled to purge dozens of faculty and staff in 2013 and 2014, and they now feel compelled to silence all dissent.
Tyranny.
Gives me the willies.
Deep sympathy to the countless victims.
Indeed!
Well just as predicted. Managed to quickly (figuring my timeframe was limited) send 50+ links via messenger through the parent connect group and bam! After that kept getting red exclamation points for “couldn’t send”. The White’s are both on Parent Connect so messenger was the only route to go. Didn’t know it was possible to block through messenger but I’m not a techie and apparently when there’s a will (and there’s a will!), there’s a way. CU continues to block, control, and carries on with their ridiculous unethical masquerade.
I’m officially ousted from the CU parent connect group….just saying
Wow. Cedarville’s determination to quash all dissent is quite striking, even by fundamentalist standards.
The challenge we are witnessing is not that resources aren’t being shared. Instead, it’s that some students’/parents’/community members’ blind allegiance to Dr. White and/or CU results in their unwillingness to even read the articles. They dismiss all the articles summarily, saying they’re all biased against CU because all the journalists and bloggers “hate” CU. It’s a defense mechanism so that they don’t have to do the hard work of reading the articles and engaging in the facts. To be honest, the reactions show a disinterest in truth and a disregard for any perspectives–and pain–different from their own. These reactions are also cult-like because we know that administrators at CU have been telling employees and students not to read anything online because CU is “under attack from the devil.” (Faculty, staff, and students have all told us this.) Such manipulative, loaded language is used all the time in cults to silence voices of dissent and to compel members to toe the line. At a religious school like CU, it also carries this highly manipulative message: If you disagree with us, you’re demonic, too. But it’s not the devil attacking CU; the trustees let the fox in the hen house when they hired White. The enemy is within. Thankfully, there are enough CU employees, alumni, and students who see through it all and are raising the right questions that they demand be answered. We are shining the light in the darkness a la Ephesians 5. We weep over the students led astray (II Corinthians 11: 1-21 comes to mind). But the students at PoliTik give us hope along these lines: https://politikblog555475425.wordpress.com/?fbclid=IwAR3obpRpvZzysKxENhUw6o95u-3WBtwdUenjGcdY4TdZqq6hhEvSQPB4g4U.
Justice collective, your comments are always so appreciated. I think you are all brilliant!
And I wanted to encourage PoliTik, as I was not aware of these impressive justice seeking students until now. I believe your pursuance will be most instrumental in justice being served. Thank you young leaders for your tenacity. Keep a going!! You are key!
After being able to send the link to just a couple more members, again, the same problem occurred of “couldn’t send”. I’m thinking this is because I noticed there was a post from a parent on the connect page that said they received a message from a member they did not know that directly impacts the university. Cedarville responded and directed him to email them. I attempted to send another personal message to this member but apparently I’ve broken all rules of conduct and am unable to reach people….”couldn’t send”
With all of this churning in the public arena the CU BOT with their heavy SBC influence has a multi-layered problem with White. If they keep him… Damage control. Possible litigation? Student withdrawals? Loss of revenue? Loss of credibility? Loss, loss, loss. What level of risk are they willing to assume to keep him.
However, if they decide to cut him loose – What will make up his golden parachute provided he signs an NDA? Can they pay for that with tuition dollars not lost (if they had kept him on as president)? Who do they know – outside of the SBC circle – that would be willing to step in (as President… in July!) and dismantle the toxic culture that White and his cronies created? Would the Cedarville University community be willing to accept another protégé from the SBC? Finally, what in the world do they do with that house being built to fit White’s family needs?
So many questions unanswered. So little time. And we all know at the end of the day no information will be shared because it is a “personnel issue”. And the beat goes on… and nothing changes…
Thank you, Sarah, for this very thoughtful comment. You are right that there are so many questions to be answered. And behind these questions is yet another question: Will someone — White and/or Reno and/or the Board and/or someone else — finally take responsibility for the mess at Cedarville? Or will there simply be no accountability?
Well said, Sarah.
You’d think the town of Cedarville itself would be taking some sort of action. The surrounding community must be just as livid as the Cedarville University community.
I would like to talk to someone directly about possibly putting some information on this resource guide about alternative counseling options for students who are at Cedarville. Due to the nature of the culture and depending on who is paying tuition, students may feel they don’t have professional options for therapy and support. Given reports on other blogs, this seems to be a real need, and I’m aware of several in the area that are accessible and affordable.
This is sadly not the school I graduated from, and I do believe there are many people still there: students, faculty, and staff, who are invested in bettering Cedarville and trying to weather this storm. I’m staying anonymous On this forum because I’m connected to some of them.