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Bob
Jones University Halts Investigation
By Jamie Dean World Magazine February 12, 2014
http://www.worldmag.com/2014/02/bob_jones_university_halts_investigation
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Bob Jones University
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The Christian organization GRACE announced that Bob
Jones University (BJU) has terminated an agreement with the group
to investigate the way the school has responded to victims of
adult or childhood sexual abuse.
GRACE (an acronym for Godly Response to Abuse in the
Christian Environment) announced
late Thursday that officials from the Greenville, S.C., school
sent a notice of termination to the organization on Jan. 27. The
announcement said BJU officials had not informed the group based
in Lynchburg, Va., why they terminated the agreement.
BJU asked GRACE in November 2012 to conduct an
independent investigation into any complaints concerning BJU’s
response to students who reported they had been sexually abused
at some point in their lives.
Shortly after GRACE announced the termination, BJU released
a statement, saying, “Over the last several months, we grew
concerned about how GRACE was pursuing our objectives.”
The statement also said it is “BJU’s intention to
resolve its differences with GRACE, and we are disappointed a
resolution could not be reached before our differences were made
public.”
In an email response to WORLD on Thursday evening, BJU
public relations director Randy Page said the school’s concerns
about the investigation are “for discussion between BJU and
GRACE, not for a public forum.”
Over the past year, GRACE has collected information in
the investigation through a confidential, online survey, and
conducted in-person interviews. The GRACE announcement said the
team was set to conduct its final set of interviews and begin
drafting a final report (scheduled for publication in March) when
BJU terminated the agreement.
GRACE posted
a copy of the termination letter from BJU President Stephen Jones
(and also signed by Board of Trustees chairman Larry Jackson). In
the letter, Jones thanked GRACE for its service, but said the
school was terminating the agreement and asked for the group to
halt its work. He also asked that all documents, information, and
interviews be kept confidential.
The letter did not provide a reason for the termination,
but Jones noted he recently announced his resignation as
university president, effective in early May. (Jones has cited
ongoing health problems as the reason for his stepping down.)
In the letter, Jones said the leadership change has
“redirected a significant amount of our focus and energy,” and
“in view of the ongoing challenges in leadership change” the
school was terminating the agreement. Jones also said BJU
officials wanted to meet with GRACE and “reach a new agreement
that will enable us to accomplish our objectives. …”
It’s unclear what a new agreement would entail, or
whether the two organizations can reach a new arrangement.
GRACE’s statement on Thursday said the group still didn’t know
why BJU had ended the agreement. (The GRACE statement also said
the group had no prior indication from BJU that the school was
considering terminating the agreement.)
In his email to WORLD, BJU spokesman Randy Page said the
school still intended to complete the project: “We remain
committed to having a third party—whether GRACE or another
entity—complete the process and issue a public report at that
time.”
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