Plot Thickens At Bob Jones University, by Rod Dreher, American Conservative (March 5, 2014)

Plot Thickens At Bob Jones University

By Rod Dreher
American Conservative
March 5, 2014

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/plot-thickens-at-bob-jones-university/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=plot-thickens-at-bob-jones-university

You may have heard that the influential Christian pastor Bill Gothard has been placed on leave by the organization he heads pending an investigation into sex abuse charges against him — a scandal that, if the allegations prove true, stretches back decades, and involves cover-ups. A reader who is a graduate of Bob Jones University, and who is upset over that school’s alleged history of covering up sex abuse within its community, sent this link to a piece exploring the role BJU professors played in masterminding an alleged Gothard cover-up. Excerpt:

In 1980, two BJU officials (only one is named, a Rev. Van Gelderen) were summoned by Gothard to help him downplay a scandal that was about to overwhelm his multi-million dollar ministry. You can read more about that scandal on Recovering Grace, but suffice to say that the two BJU men were used by Gothard in his attempt to hush up accusations of sexual harassment against Gothard’s brother. Gothard asked the two BJU officials to help convince the IBYC board not to send a letter to supporters admitting the scandal and apologizing, and they obliged. Their plot failed, however, and when the board overruled Gothard and the BJU staffers and demanded that the sexual harassment be dealt with, Van Galderen reportedly reversed his stance and regretted coming at all. This incident is a fascinating parallel to BJU’s current PR troubles, as the school clearly still clings to a strategy of withholding potentially damaging information until the story has already exploded in the media.

Most damaging in this narrative, though, is a remark Van Gelderen made to the IBYC board when trying to dissuade them from properly handling sexual abuse:

They explained that “this kind of thing had happened also at [Bob Jones] University and this is how they have always handled it there.”

This ominous declaration can only mean one thing: in the 1980s, BJU already had a firm process in place for dealing with cases of sexual harassment and scandal within its administration. Whatever else that process might entail, it’s clear from Van Gelderen’s testimony here that covering up information and keeping supporters in the dark was key.

Drawing conclusions from these incidents is simple enough: some of BJU’s highest-ranking, longest-serving and most-respected leaders were complicit in the horrifying abuses perpetrated by Gothard and his minions upon their staff. BJU was the first place Gothard turned to when he needed people to help him cover up scandal. And according to his own words, a respected BJU leader said that BJU, even in 1980, was already long practiced in “handling” scandals in a manner meant to protect leadership and silence victims.