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Julie Ingersoll, a professor at the University of North Florida who studies evangelical communities, said mental isolation is key to abuse, and websites telling the stories of abuse survivors “completely undermine the power of abusers to convince their victims that it's their fault and that they're all alone." Collectively, the stories have power.

Great article about the power of sharing collective and individual experiences. Denial doesn't work when there are many witnesses to the contrary.

#PHC #bju #scandal #patriarchy #patrick henry college #sexual assault #ati #doug phillips #bill gothard #G.R.A.C.E #abuse

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Not only do these honor codes make it impossible for the administration to respond to victims appropriately, they also make it impossible for victims to see their own victimization. In the dozens of interviews the author conducted with young men and women who had been expelled or shamed for their assaults, they repeatedly used words like “cowardice” and “shame” to describe their experiences. Because they might have technically broken some rule, they couldn’t see the abusive tactics used by their assailants that forced them into places and situations against their will. They blamed themselves for what happened instead of realizing that they were manipulated and coerced.

Honor codes, while designed to uphold a certain idealistic view of propriety, often fail and create a system that blames victims and prevents perpetrators from ever facing any responsibility.

When a school cares more about reputation and less about lives, we find the sorts of actions that PHC, BJU, and PCC have all performed to be considered normal.

#pcc #pensacola christian college #sexual assault #rape #rape culture #honor codes #honor code #slutshaming #purity culture #purity #patriarchy #bju #phc

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If colleges really want to tackle rape culture, they could start by making a few relatively simple and cheap changes to their campus policies.

Here are some great ideas to help protect people from sexual assault. Also, note the benefits of Title IX here that PHC doesn't have.

Opting out of Federal regulations isn't liberty if it is hurting people and making them vulnerable.

#PHC #Title IX #good policy proposals #proper handling of sexual assault #sexual assault

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Instead of talking about real news, such as how we should be demanding PHC, BJU (as well as other schools) make changes to prevent students from being sexually assaulted, some people in the PHC and homeschooled student/alumni communities are focusing their attention on a news article based off a contextual misunderstanding.

When the article refers to the 23 year old's marriage with children lifestyle with kids as alternative, it is obvious that the original article is clear that they are comparing him to the average lifestyle of a professional skier, NOT the average American:

David Wise is at the top of his sport. He’s always smiling among his friends and competitors, however, he’s not like the rest of the field. He is mature.  Not to say the rest of the freestyle skiers of halfpipe are not mature, but Wise is mature far beyond his years. At only twenty-three years old, he has a wife, Alexandra, who was waiting patiently in the crowd, and together they have a two-year-old daughter waiting for them to return to their home in Reno, Nevada.

Furthermore, the athlete himself calls it a lifestyle choice, which clearly he has made consciously compared to what his peers would expect:

Wise is, well, wise. He knows where his head should be at all time, focused on being the best father and husband he can be. Then comes skiing. 

“I think my lifestyle — the fact that I have a little girl to take care of and a wife — really takes the pressure off of my skiing, because first and foremost I have to be a good husband and father.” 

Really? He just landed two double corks… 

While the rest of his competitors are hanging with their friends, traveling the world searching for endless winter, hitting the party scenes accustom to their action sports lifestyles, Wise is hurrying home for quality time with the family. That is what sets his mental game apart from his competition. He likely has the most stable life of them all. -

Original article: http://www.nbcolympics.com/wrc/news/sthash.qHaXFTwD.dpuf#sthash.7z4M26P7.dpuf

#phc #stuff phc likes #stuff homeschoolers like #distractions #patrick henry college #bju #Bob Jones University #fake news #Barton Gingerich #Bart Gingerich

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Justia columnist and Cardozo law school professor Marci Hamilton comments on recent stories about the mishandling of reports of sex abuse and assaults at two fundamentalist colleges: Patrick Henry College...

Sexual assault in religious institutions is inexcusable. Check out this article for a detailed analysis of multiple scandals happening at the moment and the sources of the problem. Also, every institution mentioned here is a poster child on what NOT to do to the survivors of sexual assault and how NOT to deal with bad PR.

There was a time when evangelical Christians said that they didn’t have issues with sex abuse or assault like the Catholic Church, because they did not have a hierarchical structure. The stories of Baptist abuse have challenged this assertion, as do recent stories about the mishandling of reports of sex abuse and assaults at two fundamentalist colleges: Patrick Henry College and Bob Jones University. - See more at: http://verdict.justia.com/2014/02/20/sex-assaults-evangelical-colleges-united-nations-vatican#sthash.Vie9qmUE.dpuf

#sexual assault #Vatican #BJU #Bob Jones University #phc #patrick henry college #patrick henry college scandal #scandal #rape #rape culture #patriarchy #victim blaming

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The quiet campus of Patrick Henry College has drawn national attention this week after an investigative article by magazine The New Republic detailed allegations that the college administration brushed aside reports of sexual assault from several former students.

The local police have weighed in and it seems at least one report was filed related to The New Republic's survivors.

Allegations of sexual assault from one former Patrick Henry student quoted in the article, Claire Smith—who said a classmate assaulted her in early May 2010—align with a report filed with the Purcellville Police Department that same week.

Thursday, Purcellville Police Chief Darryl Smith confirmed his department received the report May 10, 2010, when a young man came to the police station and said he’d heard of a party involving under-age drinking where a Patrick Henry student was possibly sexually assaulted or raped. Smith said Purcellville Police’s investigation later revealed the party had been at Sleeter Lake near Round Hill, and the case was given to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office because the incident occurred outside the town police department’s jurisdiction.

Of course, the real problems are that PHC can hide the facts all day and night because they don't have to actually let anyone know what happens on campus.

“We can’t force [PHC] to report to us,” Smith said.

Patrick Henry is not subject to federal laws that would require it to report criminal activity that occurs on campus. Because it is one of four private colleges in the United States that does not accept any federal funding, the college is not subject to the Clery Act or Title IX.

The Cleary Act states that schools must issue campus crime reports. Title IX requires schools to hold an investigation independent of a criminal investigation and ensure that victims can change dorm assignments and class schedules, get campus restraining orders, and receive help filing a police report if they choose to do so.

#Purcellville #police #phc #scandal #patrick henry college scandal #patrick henry college #rape #Title IX #news media #corroboration

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Ashley (Berry) Godyn strikes again! Apparently, if other people decide your experiences aren't valid, it's automatically libel. And by other people, clearly we mean omniscient types like Ashley. Because obviously the next logical thing to do is sue the victims.

(Un)Fortunately, Ashley believes that in the end, "the [PHC] administration is probably too compassionate to do it."

I'm not sure where obstruction of justice, mismanagement of sexual assault cases, and complete denial of all responsibility for such serious allegations indicates compassion.

Conveniently, Ashley is planning on becoming a lawyer herself. I imagine these finer points of 'justice' against victims will help her in her future career choices.

#Ashley Berry Godyn #Ashley Godyn #ashley berry #@ashleygodyn #phc #sue the victims #denial #patrick henry college #patrick henry college scandal #scandal #libel #lawyer #sexual assault

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A student is raped by a classmate, goes to the campus center for help, and is grilled about whether she provoked the rape, told she has to confront her accuser personally in order to be taken seriously, and, ultimately, hounded off of campus, since her post-traumatic stress makes her “unstable.”

You might recognize all the details from The New Republic‘s story about Patrick Henry College’s alleged mishandling of rape cases, but the above incident is drawn from Angie Epifano’s experience at Amherst. Patrick Henry’s Christian ethos informs the tone in which these students were brushed off (you’d be unlikely to hear concerns about purity at a public or secular private school), but the alleged underlying betrayal is more attributable to being a university than a Christian one in particular.

Patrick Henry College isn't the only university with a sexual assault problem or an administration that cares more about reputation than about its students. This article does a good job of exposing the links in university administrative culture across the board that create a negative environment for students.

I do not believe this any way reduces the experiences and problems with PHC, but it is important to remember this is part of a larger issue that needs reform. We may need to advocate for legal reforms to provide larger protection and insist as students, parents, and donors that schools live up to being places to better people, not simply businesses with potential reputation problems.

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Our hearts ache for each of the young women who were sexually assaulted at Patrick Henry College. Both the attacks and the college administrators' responses are appalling.

We urge college officials to fire Sandra Corbitt, the dean of student life and the school’s primary disciplinarian. 

If even one fourth of what several victims say about her is true, Corbitt should be ousted. It's clear that she has acted in ways that protect her reputation and the reputation of the school, but has endangered the vulnerable and further hurt the already-wounded.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has come out very clearly on the scandal. They go on to explain what federal protections Patrick Henry College has intentionally chosen not to be held by and how those protections work to help victims and prevent sexual violence.

Wise words we hope that Patrick Henry College will take heed to and implement swiftly to prevent more people from being victimized!

#SNAP #Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests #phc #patrick henry college #patrick henry college scandal #scandal #sexual assault #proper handling of sexual assault #dean corbitt #sandy corbitt #sandra corbitt

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But the self-policing of courtship culture usually falls to women. Duh. Our sexy impure bodies have had the dark power to tempt even good Christian boys–who, after all, are only human!–off the path of God since time immemorial. As journalist Kathryn Joyce, who has done a lot of investigative work on the movement, explains, ”The lack of men’s responsibility or culpability for their own actions and the acceptance of male ‘urges’ as irresistible forces of nature is the understructure of Christian modesty movements and their secular counterpart.”

As you can probably imagine, this culture makes PHC a rough place for victims of sexual assault. Feldman interviewed numerous female students who reported assaults to the administration, were discouraged from bringing the crimes to the police (“He’s a nice boy. Are you sure you want to report this?”) and generally felt that “school officials blamed them instead of holding the accused male students accountable.”

More great analysis on the heart of the issues surrounding the sexual assault scandal at Patrick Henry College. Shocking that being drugged or drunk disqualifies rape from being real. We're back to the whole nonsense about legitimate rape again. That this is being promulgated by Dean Corbitt, a woman, to the detriment of other women is a sad testament to how bad ideology can go unchecked and justify people's bad behavior.

#sandra corbitt #sandy corbitt #dean corbitt #patriarchy #rape culture #scandal #patrick henry college scandal #patrick henry college #phc #legitimate rape #denial #news media

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WJLA 7 (ABC) News ran a story about the Patrick Henry College sexual assault scandal.

During the news clip, PHC Adjunct Professor of Journalism and Director of Communications told the news crew while awkwardly fumbling for something in his pocket, "You're going to have to stop the recording of the camera right now."

Strange that he can't respond given that PHC has been doing a lot of denying to both the original New Republic reporter and then later in a memo to the student body. Seems like something is not quite right here.

WJLA also interviewed Becky Ianni of Virginia, SNAP Leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests who pointed out that the first thing PHC should be doing now is firing Dean Corbitt. 

Will be interesting to see if PHC starts to come clean on this!

#David Halbrook #sandra corbitt #sandy corbitt #patrick henry college #patrick henry college scandal #scandal #rape culture #phc response #wjla #abc news #tv coverage #news media

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I think this picture speaks for itself. Anyone else spot something strange about the disconnect here? ;)

#patriarchy #quiverfull #Michael Farris #denial #why am I confused here? #patriarch in action

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If you had suspected that evangelical Christianity promotes sexual purity as an ideal that only women are responsible for upholding, then the exposure of Patrick Henry College's systemic sexual assault college will not come as a surprise.

The story has now been picked up by Jezebel!

They've done a great job of pointing out the crux of the matter and the wider impact that this problem is having on the college, its students, and the country:

As a result [of patriarchal conservative culture], when male students have assaulted their female peers, Corbitt has had the power given to her by Patrick Henry College's administration, donors, parents of students, the entire structure, to blame the women who come to her for help. Furthermore, Patrick Henry College does not accept federal funding, leaving this women no recourse with the government under Title IX or any other law after their college has failed them. The irony is that Patrick Henry College, aka "God's Harvard," is considered a feeder school into the highest positions of many top government agencies (to get a taste of its influence, check out a photo of founder Michael Farris testifying at a Senate hearing above). Not only are good Christian sexual assault perpetrators shaking off any consequence and then landing an influential job on a national level, but their female victims have dropped out or have understandably alienated themselves from these networks and what they stand for upon graduation. What Patrick Henry College is doing has consequences beyond this campus.

Let's also remember that the reason that Michael Farris is in the picture at the Senate hearing is to testify against the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We will post / reblog some more about that later, because it's highly interesting and concerning as well.

#PHC #scandal #patrick henry college scandal #patriarchy #patrick henry college #sexual assault #Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities #US Senate Hearing #Michael Farris #slutshaming

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Oh how sweet... husband and wife retweeting and favoriting each other's tweets. James Godyn, funny you didn't have twitter until 2 days ago. What's this you say about no idea on how to use twitter? ;)

Also, with a student body around 300-400 students, almost every single person who has attended PHC can claim to know most of the faculty and administration: not really a distinguishing factor.

I could even say the same thing, only I know both the victims and the PHC faculty/administration. And I can't think of anything that would exonerate the PHC leadership from the accusations in the New Republic piece.

Oh, and James--I've known these people longer than you and I was at PHC during at least one of the incidents mentioned. Nice try to invent bs facts.

#denial #scandal #patriarchy #rape culture #James Godyn #Ashley Berry Godyn #Ashley Godyn #@ashleygodyn #ashley berry #patrick henry college #married retweets #small audience #small campus #patrick henry college scandal #phc response #phc has jokes

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Here's something no one really explained to me when PHC got its TRAC accreditation: this is not some accreditation for Christian schools that want intellectual freedom... it's actually a Creationist accreditation organization.

Incidentally, a different sort of product of the ICR Graduate School is the creationist accrediting organization TRACS (Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools).

Patrick Henry College has always claimed it was a liberal arts school designed to compete with the best and the brightest. The schools that are TRACS accredited aren't remotely like the ones that PHC is trying to compete with. While they advertise being the Christian version of an Ivy League school, they are in solid company with some schools that do not share nearly the same level of prestige. Almost every single school is a theological seminary or Bible college.

Moreover, the credits from classes at PHC rarely transfer to other schools. This is yet another way PHC hurts their students: you lose all the money you spent if you drop out early and transfer elsewhere or you have to stay until you finish, even if there are problems the school can't resolve properly.

Interestingly, I ran across a link that relates to the degrees from another TRACS school and how this organization cripples people's career and educational goals: http://bjuaccreditation.org/content/112912/tracs-failed-prove-it-enabling

This has been an issue for years and at one point they discussed getting proper regional accreditation. Unfortunately, as usual, ideology overrides any real attention regarding the needs of students and they dropped that when they discovered they couldn't just manufacture their own version of reality in the classroom and get away with it.

I think we have to conclude that Patrick Henry College is not serious about actually being a proper liberal arts school.

#TRACS #phc #patrick henry college #unaccredited #accreditation #career disaster #grad school difficulties

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"Yesterday, PHC's Office of Communications released a 'Statement by Patrick Henry College to concerned alumni and students about article in The New Republic.' It was disseminated yesterday to alumn...

And here is more denial! Homeschoolers Anonymous does a good rundown on the different voices chiming in on the topic.

Sexual assault isn't something we can just say, "I didn't see it, it didn't happen" or blatantly contradict the accounts of multiple people who were hurt in the past.

It's also interesting to note that the current student body is reported to have cheered when this was released. It's sometimes hard to understand this mentality when you're not inside the walls. When you're a student, you feel part of a unified community as the college is so small. Between the sense of solidarity and the persecution complex that individuals such as Michael Farris are propagating, it sadly means that students are cheering abusers and those who give abusers a free pass. Hopefully, blogs like this one will help enlighten people about the real dangers that exist before they risk getting hurt too.

#denial #damage control #phc #patriarchy #rape culture #patrick henry college scandal #scandal #Michael Farris #Homeschoolers Anonymous

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Oh Ashley (Berry) Godwin, how can you be so insensitive? How do you know there is no rape-culture at PHC? How can you 'decide' that the New Republic article 'cannot be accurate'? Methinks you are pulling the wool over your own eyes because you can't handle the possibility that our school could be run by people who run roughshod over victims and you don't like how that sounds.

What you call 'personal vendettas', we call serious concerns that call for improvement and changes. When there is a cancer, you cut it out; where there is disease you should treat it. And can someone not have more than one issue with the school? We all had to deal with the dysfunction and some of us got messed up worse than others in the process.

I'm glad you had better luck with the PHC leadership than some of us did. I truly do. However, how dare you invalidate the experiences of others? Would you only believe the victims if you had been a witness to their assault? What if it had been you? How would you feel if people accused you of lying when you were reliving the pain every day?

And finally, what issue do you 'care deeply' about? Is it the reputation of PHC or is it the victims who were hurt, run over roughshod by PHC, and denied help through obstruction of justice and seriously messed up administrative nightmares?

I think you might want to reevaluate your priorities. Just maybe.

#Ashley Godyn #Ashley Berry #@ashleygodyn #phc #patrick henry college #denial #scandal #patrick henry college scandal #sexual assault #my experience is more valid than the victims #Ashley Berry Godyn